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I'm torn about essential oils being on topic here or on Health.SE.

Maybe some vegans/vegetarians use essential oils in their everyday life, but it could also be related to health matters. But maybe I'm wrong, this community could be more specialized than the Health one and could share their experience on the subject.

Example questions:

  • Does any essential oil can help in curing something?
  • Which essential oils can be used to purify my indoor air (in addition of opening windows)?
  • Can essential oils be safely ingested?
  • Can essential oil alleviate the lack of something for a vegan?

These questions are just examples and more could be asked in the future. However, they are not directly related to vegan/vegetarianism. The only connection I see is the usage of a product type issued from plants (not animal).

Is this link too weak to be on topic?

What are your thoughts?

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  • What kind of question? I assume a question about whether the manufacture of any particular essential oil used animal products would be on topic, or were you thinking of something else?
    – Robert Longson
    Feb 1, 2017 at 9:22
  • @RobertLongson I had first in mind questions on using essential oil for a symptom or well being. I've updated my question with examples.
    – Niitaku Mod
    Feb 1, 2017 at 9:47

4 Answers 4

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I would have voted to close the first three as off-topic because they are not connected to vegetarianism.

The last one would seem to be OK, you can absorb things through your skin so presumably it's at least theoretically possible that an essential oil would have some effect on your body chemistry.

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  • That's what I thought. I edited my question to add a precision: But I think, maybe I'm wrong, this community could be more specialized than the Health one and could share their experience on the subject. I would be grateful to have your thoughts on that too. :)
    – Niitaku Mod
    Feb 1, 2017 at 16:31
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I agree with Robert Longson's answer that the first three example questions are blatantly off topic. The last example is completely on-topic, as it is about essential oils in the context of veganism.

I would argue that a post is not on-topic here on the basis that it is about essential oils or aromatherapy. I think this would be equivalent to considering everything related to using plants on topic.

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An argument for "yes":

I am perfectly happy with veg* doing some of the job of debunking science-nutrition claims. We have a high bar ourselves, having to determine the answers to such questions as "Do I need a ton of protein?" and "can my dog live vegan?" and I believe we can show broader leadership in the health community by spearheading these questions.

This is a weak argument though. It does involve a boost of scope. For now I would let them slide, cite this post, and formalize a policy later depending on how well they thrive.

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There is already a lot of conflation between esoterics/alternative health visible in, for example, marketing of products and events.

While both interests do not conflict, and while there are certainly many people into both, I would not say that such conflation does anyone a favor. You might just as well consider questions about hardcore punk music (another subculture with strong veg*n ties) on topic here....

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