So many lavenders to choose from. This one in particular is distinctly different than the varieties of Lavandula angustifolia, commonly called True Lavender. Spike Lavender is definitely a "lavender" but from a different variety.
As you can see, Spike Lavender is not as expensive as our Bulgarian Lavender. This is true because when distilled, this plant produces almost three times as much essential oil as "True Lavender" and is, therefore, sometimes used to adulterate True Lavender. Another good reason to know how to read your GC/MS reports. Spike Lavender is also grown at lower altitudes and makes for easier farming and, as per Salvatore Battaglia, loves growing by the sea. Lavandin and Spike Lavender are often passed off to other industries such as soapmaking and perfumery to be used as "lavender".
The scent? I personally love this lavender because I know not to expect the flowery smell of the true lavender (which I do very much love - it's just different). You will notice the more medicinal, but not unpleasant, scent of this oil. It's bright and clean and fresh, but still smells like lavender. Which is why I like to use it in respiratory blends, muscle relief blends or antiseptic type blends.
Andrea Butje in her excellent book "The Heart of Aromatherapy" suggests that Spike Lavender could and should be used prior to a workout to help stimulate the circulation and prevent cramps. Also this is helpful for muscle pains when you still want to be alert and not in a more sedated condition that Lavandula angustifolia would cause. I love this that she wrote - "Spike Lavender has the same comforting, nurturing personality (as true lavender), but with a 'kick' that encourages you to get back out there and keep going. It loves giving pregame pep talks to make you feel empowered and congratulating you so you keep feeling good after you're done playing." I love the way she has written this book - please do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.
Below is a fairly recent GC/MS of Spike Lavender from Spain and is fairly representative of what you should expect. France and Italy are also countries that grow and distill this essential oil.
GC/MS of Spike Lavender (Lavandula latifolia)
|
USAGE AND SAFETY: Please, please, please do not drink essential oils. Do not put this essential oil in your water and use it ONLY diluted (see our dilution chart) for your specific purpose. This particular batch of lavender is from Spain, but it is not "Spanish Lavender", which usually has a higher camphor content and it's botanical name is Lavandula stoechas. Robert Tisserand says that Spike and Spanish Lavenders may be "mildly neurotoxic" due to their camphor content. However, because of its percentage of linalool, it may, as Robert Tisserand says, "mitigate the neurotoxicity of camphor" that exists in Spike Lavender. The camphor also, however, makes it useful for colds and respiratory issues, as well as aching muscles. The GC/MS on this batch of Spike Lavender has camphor as only 12%. Due to the relatively high content of linalool, this oil can possibly become oxidized, so keep in a cool, dark place and keep the dropper safety cap on when not in use. The oil when undiluted (don't do it!) can be irritating. Some of this can occur when an essential oil is not properly stored. Not hazardous during pregnancy UNLESS the camphor content is high - again check out your GC/MS prior to purchasing.
Useful in daytime blends and use cautiously in children under 10, just being sure to adequately dilute the essential oil.
Rosemary's Easy Focus Headache Inhaler (from Andrea Butje's book, page 213)
9 drops rosemary ct camphor
3 drops spike lavender
3 drops basil ct linalool
For children:
4 drops orange
1 drop lavender (assuming she means Spike Lavender?)
1 drop basil ct. linalool
This in my opinion is just one of the most underused, under-appreciated essential oils available and for a reasonable price it can be substituted for its more expensive cousin Lavandula angustifolia if you compare the different uses for each oil; i.e., one is a relaxant/sedative and the other (Spike) can be a stimulant.
Due to my hopes and dreams of some day growing and distilling, this plant is also a very good attractant for bees and butterflies. Do you want to grow your own? Here is some information about that. This variety can handle transplanting and requires full sun exposure. According to garden.org, plant lavender seeds beginning in summer and through the fall months. "They are slow to germinate, lavender seeds require patience. It will take about eight weeks for the seeds to develop enough to transplant to their final location."
Thanks for listening!
Ann
Find out more about me and Wingsets by clicking Our Story.
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health, nutrition herbalism and skin care. Ann was a Critical Care Registered Nurse, is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 15 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
See our disclaimer statements here.
]]>Finding a name for this blend was really difficult for me - I'm not sure why. I think because I felt inadequate at being able to describe the real emotional affect this blend has on me. I'm still not "happy" with the name and any suggestions would be appreciated. I do feel blissful and happy when I diffuse or use this blend, but it's really more than that. Research has shown that the oils in this blend do different things to the brain and, of course, everyone is unique and will experience different emotions. Basic Aromatherapy 101 (and abundant research) teaches us that all essential oils when inhaled quickly enter into the limbic system of the brain which is why they are such powerful modulators of mood. To make this blend, simply add it to about 2 ounces of a vegetable or massage oil (organic), your favorite unscented cream or unscented bath salts:
Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) – 5 drops
Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) – 1 drop
Jasmine sambac (Jasminum sambac) – 1 to 2 drops
Rose (Rosa damascena) – 2 drops
Mandarin (Citrus ritculata) – 2 drops
Sweet orange is well known for it's ability to make people feel happy and there are institutions and organizations - more and more now in the USA - who diffuse it into the air to bestow those feelings onto their customers and/or employees. We recommend organic citrus oils due to the potential build up of toxic pesticides in citrus peels.
Ylang-ylang is widely known and accepted in the aromatherapy literature as an aphrodisiac, but it also has some calming properties to it, as does Mandarin due to their ester (chemical constituent) content. These "constituents" in essential oils are natural according to our definition of natural - nothing added to nature.
Jasmine sambac absolute is a well-known anti-depressant with sedative type properties and also well known to be an aphrodisiac. Jasmine must be solvent extracted as an absolute and is quite expensive so be very careful where you purchase this oil, as adulteration is unfortunately common. Yes, we do use it in our blends, but no, we don't carry it for resale yet- still searching for a good reliable source, and frankly the financial resources to be able to purchase a substantial amount of this precious oil. The literature also attributes it with the power to diminish negative emotions such as anger. Dr. Amen calls them ANT’s – Automatic Negative Thoughts and they are particularly bad for you and your brain. Jasmine is quite a powerful scent and will overpower the blend if you add too much. We think 1 to 2 drops in this blend will round out the fragrance and the beneficial properties. I absolutely love Jasmine and swoon whenever I open a bottle of it – seriously. Thankfully, a little bit goes a long way.
Rose absolute (solvent extracted) or Rose otto (steam distilled), also very expensive and precious, can have up to 50% citronellol – per Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt,which accounts for its “tonifying” affects. He states, “…the physical and emotional impact of a drop of rose at the right moment can extend far beyond those effects (tonifying effects). This precious oil is one of my most favorites and has the reputation of being a very strong antidepressant. I would just add that if I had the financial resources, I would spend them on vats of rose essential oil. I have found this oil to have the ability to lift me from deep emotional pain - just a small scent of it left on a very small glass vial. I don't sell this oil, so you can be assured this is just true feedback.
Mandarin contains an interesting chemical constituent called N-methylanthranilate. This is a natural constituent as all unadulterated essential oils are natural in the truest sense of the word – nothing added. What’s interesting about this constituent is that it is not present in Tangerine oil – so don’t substitute the nice tangy fragrance of Tangerine for Mandarin. Again, according to Dr. Schnaubelt, this constituent called an “ester” has “pronounced relaxing qualities”. This is also a very good oil for children, which is why we include it in our Sleepy Baby Blend.
Let us know if you make this blend. You can, of course, tweak it to your own personal satisfaction and we'd love to hear about that - how you made it, how you used it and if you did, indeed, feel blissful after using it. We recommend using it in a diffuser such as our ultrasonic diffuser, or simply dropping a few drops on a kleenex, or as we mentioned previously - adding it to your unscented bath salts, unscented cream or massage oil.
This blog was originally published in 2010.
Thanks for listening!
Find out more about me and Wingsets by clicking Our Story.
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health, nutrition and skin care. Ann was a Critical Care Registered Nurse, is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 15 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
See our disclaimer statements here.
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This blog post was originally posted in October 2012. We haven't had a garden for the past few years, but this year's garden has been amazingly bountiful. I looked at the amount of eggplants "coming on" and I was trying to figure out all of my options other than giving a lot away - which we have and will - but this recipe came to mind this morning. When I originally made it, Warren and I both were in love with it. This is my eggplant section of the garden. Not bragging, just feeling very blessed and enjoying planting and seeing things grow this year.
My recipe records show that I first tried this recipe on July 7th, 2008, and that it was “really good!!” The recipe was adapted from “The Best Ever Vegetarian” published by Parragon Publishing, copyright 2003. I say all that because I don’t see authors listed which is interesting, and there are several other cookbooks with the same name. It is spiral bound, which I particularly like, and I have found this to be a useful guide. I like to scan the recipes and then I can write notes on the printed pages and put it in our family book of recipes.
Of course, this doesn’t have to be “meatless” and you can substitute approximately 12 oz of lamb to make it a truly traditional moussaka. You could also make it vegan by using a nut milk and cheese substitute. The original recipe called for a 10-1/2 oz can of green lentils. I didn’t use the lentils and if I had, I would have cooked my own since they are so easy. It would, of course, add some protein and make it an even healthier meal.
Ingredients:
Approximately ½ cup olive oil
1 onion chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Pinch of cinnamon and paprika
Salt and pepper
1 large fresh eggplant, sliced
Topping:
2 tbsp butter
2-1/2 tbsp brown rice flour
1-1/4 cup organic milk or milk substitute
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup (divided into ½ cup each) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in skillet and add the onion and cook until softened. Add the celery, garlic, the tomatoes and juice from the tomatoes, and the chopped parsley. Add the lentils here if you use them. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover this mixture and simmer gently for 15 minutes or until thickened.
2. Meanwhile, heat a little of the remaining oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the eggplant slices, in batches, if necessary, and cook until golden brown on both sides, adding more oil as necessary. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Eggplant has a tendency to soak up a lot of oil, so be sure to drain these well. Layer an ovenproof dish with the tomato mixture and the eggplant slices, ending up with a layer of eggplant. I actually used a 9 x 13 inch pan and was able to place one layer of the eggplant and one layer of the tomatoes. So – the size of your pan obviously will determine how many layers you will end up with. There is a cook’s tip that says to prevent the eggplant from absorbing too much oil during cooking, salt it first. Place the slices in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and let stand for 20 minutes to let them dry out. In the “olden days” we would salt eggplant to prevent bitterness, but the newer varieties are without that bitterness.
3. Topping: To make the topping, put the butter, flour, and milk into a pan and bring to a boil over low heat, whisking constantly. Season to taste with nutmeg, ½ cup cheese, salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat, let cool slightly, then beat in the egg. Pour the sauce over the eggplants, sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup parmesan cheese, and bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden.
This evening I’m thinking about using zucchini rather than eggplant, which of course, will make it something entirely different than a moussaka, but I think it will still taste good. I also think I'll add the lentils this time - red ones probably because that's what I have the most of. Let me know if you try this!
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
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3 to 4 carrots - tops removed, ends trimmed, scrubbed well, not peeled.
1 cucumber peeled
1/2 to 1 beet, scrubbed, may include stems and 1 to 2 leaves*
1/2 lemon (unpeeled if organic), seeds removed
1 inch finger ginger root, scrubbed or peeled if old.
4 stalks celery
1 apple (not peeled but seeds removed)
1 orange (peeled or not is optional and only use unpeeled if organic)
Kale, spinach, cilantro, parsley or any leafy greens of your choice (a handful) - my daughter loves to use fresh wheatgrass and I would too if I had any available.
We do highly recommend that you use organic produce whenever possible. We have some new stores here in town that sell organic produce at very reasonable prices. I think this is true of most towns and cities these days.
Cut produce to fit your juicers feed tube. Juice all ingredients and stir. Pour into a glass and drink as soon as possible. Serves 1 to 2
*We love the bright red color of the beet juice and the flavor, but other members of our family absolutely do not like the taste of beets in any shape or form, so this is an optional ingredient, but does add a lot of additional nutritional value.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE PULP?
I love to make crackers out of the pulp with a few additions. See that recipe here. Pulp leftover from juicing also makes an excellent addition to your compost pile. Here are more ways to use that nutritious pulp.
This is my favorite, quick, classic juice recipe that is adapted from the classic book on juicing, Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life, Unleash the Healing Power of Fresh Juices and Cleansing Diets. by Cherie Calbom, M.S. Cherie also wrote Juicing for Life. The name of the recipe certainly is true. Nothing can give you quite the energy lift like a fresh raw unpasteurized juice such as this. If I have a long list of "things to do", I make this juice rather than sitting down to a breakfast of eggs and fake bacon.
Let me know if you try this or any variation of it - and how you liked it, if it made you feel energetic and healthy.
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health, nutrition and skin care. Ann was a Critical Care Registered Nurse, is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
See our disclaimer statements here.
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Spinach, kale, chard and other green leafy vegetables of every type are great for the brain. In one study, Dr. Martha Clare Morris found that people who ate 1-2 servings of green leafy vegetables per day were 11 years younger—cognitively speaking—than those who consumed none. And that's really not a LOT of green leafies! They are easy to incorporate into our diets and so many ways to do it. That's one of the reasons she included leafy greens as one of the ten essential foods in the MIND diet, with a recommendation of at least six servings per week. If you can't quite make it to six, even two servings a week showed some benefit!
Here are four recipes to try this month if you'd like to incorporate leafy greens into your diet in new ways. Read more here.
Now here is what NOT to do - I let my swiss chard sit out on the deck during an ice storm not long ago. I think I can still maybe saute it? Or try it in this recipe. I love quiche, I love cheddar cheese and I love chard - so this looks like a winner.
Another good way could be to use it in a salad - this one looks really good too - swiss chard, cabbage and brussel sprouts salad!
Now sitting right beside the swiss chard is my patch of parsley that seems to grow regardless of heat or cold this year. I'm going to plant some kale in this area this week too because I've seen it last through even the harshest Nebraska winters.
Now I'm not sure what to do with this much parsley though. Freeze it, dry it? Any suggestions?
Do you have some good ways to incorporate greens into your diet? Please share!
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health, nutrition and skin care. Ann was a Critical Care Registered Nurse, is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
See our disclaimer statements here.
Family: Piperaceae
Main chemical constituents: b-caryophyllene, limonene, sabinene, b-pinene and a-pinene
Country of Origin - Sri Lanka, Certified Organic
Steam distilled from the dried berries
Gastrointestinal: Reported to relieve flatulence, and to be antitoxic, restores tone to lax muscles of the colon, a stimulant to the gastric juices, relieves nausea and decreases appetite. There are reports in the literature that black pepper can act as an antitoxic agent for food poisoning.
Musculoskeletal: Relieves aches and pains, sprains, muscle stiffness, rheumatism, neuralgia, and is generally an analgesic for muscular pain. We have found it to be very useful in our Spicey Muscle Oil to relieve muscular pain, nerve pain and reduce bruising in an almost immediate manner.
Central Nervous System: Reported to be antispasmodic and increases alertness and concentration. There are some indications in the literature that it is an aphrodisiac, perhaps this is why it is used in perfumery.
Urinary System: Reported to be a diuretic.
Respiratory & Immune System: Reported to be an expectorant, useful to fight against colds and influenza viruses. It is reported to be antimicrobial, diaphoretic, and reduces fever. Also reported to be an immune stimulant and helps relieve fevers.
Skin/Dermatological: Reported to be rubefacient (increases blood circulation to the skin), which is one of the reasons we use it in our Skin Renewal Intensive Facial Complex. I can personally attest to the undeniable fact that this oil has relieved severe bruising and pain almost immediately subsequent to closing my finger in a door on more than one occasion – yes, my proprioception might be of question, but the effectiveness of this oil is not.
General: There is a report from 1994 (Rose & Behm) that the symptoms from smoking withdrawal were lessened by the inhalation of the vapor from an “extract of black pepper”. Now whether we can extrapolate that to the use of an essential oil is not yet proven, but certainly should be tested.
Read my blog here for more about black pepper and cancer.
Safety/Cautions: The literature shows black pepper essential oil to be non-toxic and generally non-sensitizing, but could be a skin irritant in high concentrations due to its ability to increase blood circulation to the skin. It is also one of those oils that can easily oxidize and should be kept in a refrigerator or a cool dark location in an amber glass bottle.
IMPORTANT: All of our products are for external use only.
We also suggest you have a good working knowledge of the use of essential oils or consult with an aromatherapy professional prior to use. In addition, Essential Oils must be properly diluted before use in order to avoid any damages to property or adverse physical effects (including injury or bodily harm). Please read our Disclaimer before using our products.
COMPONENT |
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL |
Terpinen-4-ol |
44% |
Gamma-terpinene |
20% |
Alpha-terpinene |
10% |
Terpinolene |
3.0% |
|
|
Alpha-terpineol |
3.0% |
Alpha-pinene |
2.0% |
Para-cymene |
2.0% |
Delta-cadinene |
1.0% |
Alloaromandendrene |
0.10% |
|
|
Limonene |
1.0% |
Beta-pinene |
1.0% |
Viridiflorene |
1.0% |
Sabinene hydrate <cis> |
0.04% |
1,8-cineole |
3.0% |
alpha-copaene | 0.10% |
Caryophyllene <trans> | 0.30% |
beta-copaene | 1.0% |
Linalool | 0.04% |
alpha-humulene | 0.05% |
alpha-thujene | 1.0% |
Myrcene | 1.0% |
alpha-phellandrene | 0.50% |
beta-phellandrene | 1.0% |
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My first introduction into using fragrance oils commercially was back when we were making candles. I love fragrance! And I absolutely loved smelling my candles. Then along came essential oils. The first batch I purchased smelled (I thought at the time) pretty awful – I mean compared to my spiced apple and antique lilac! I purchased them because I had learned that essential oils have medicinal value that can’t be denied. I’ve learned since then that essential oils smell so much better once you’ve gotten off the “fragrance oil addiction wagon”. There is a difference. Other than the fact one causes me to have headaches and the other helps me relax, heals wounds, relieve depression, and helps me have a good night’s sleep.
So, why is there a debate about which is better than the other? Synthetic fragrances used to be cheaper. Not necessarily the case anymore as many of the “synthetic” fragrances also contain essential oils and the price of many essential oils has gone up drastically. Synthetic fragrances always smell consistent – at least from one brand or supplier to the next. Essential oils can vary from batch to batch depending on something as varying as the weather at the time they were grown, not to mention the differences in how they are distilled. Although I read somewhere that there are anywhere from 2000 to 5000 raw fragrance components used to formulate fragrance oils.
Then there are the phthalates. Phthalates are those unsavory elements in fragrance oils that we are reading more and more about. I won’t go into details here – just google it and someday I will blog about it, but in our opinion phthalates are to be avoided. Have we always done that? Well, no. We had to learn better. To my delight, it is now possible to source fragrance oils that still smell good and ARE phthalate free. Fragrance oils, even phthalate free, can still give me a headache though. I can use them in our soaps without problems – and I don’t say that just so you’ll think our using fragrance oils in our soaps is okay. It’s actually the other way around. I had pretty much ditched our fragrance oils and they were locked up in a closed cabinet in a closed bedroom until I could figure out how to dispose of them, but upon request from a customer made a batch of lilac soap. It smelled heavenly, I could even use it on my face and it didn’t cause my eyes to water or my head to ache. We’ve since tried different fragrances in our soaps to see if we have the same results. Bottom line though, the essential oils, although expensive, serve many purposes. And again though, saying that, our magnolia soap is one of my most favorite soaps to use, especially if I want to relax and soak for a long period of time. I realize the health benefits aren’t there, but aromatherapy isn’t always about aroma-THERAPY and for most of us the wonderful smell of freshly baked apple pie makes us feel warm and fuzzy - and that in my book IS therapeutic! So, even I'm conflicted about it and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone more passionate than I am about essential oils and their benefits. There have been discussions in the aromatherapy industry to which I belong that we need to change the name of what we do from "aromatherapy", since the term has been diluted and overused, to a different term to give the public a better understanding of the medicinal therapeutic properties of essential oils when used correctly and safely. And, of course, then we have to factor in the interference of the FDA (influenced of course by Big Pharma) as to how we word everything we write or talk about. Big Pharma is not happy about the proliferation of the use of essential oils and as the old saying goes - "they should be afraid, very afraid." Truthfully, even making that statement makes me a little uncomfortable and indicates clearly to me that the American fiction that we still have "free speech" is just that - fiction. Ahh - I digress.
That is your choice. You do have the right to know, however, which one is being used in the product you are purchasing. Many more people are coming to us with fragrance sensitivities – many more! You will see products on the store shelves that say they are full of “lavender”, when in fact they are full of synthetic chemicals. Even natural isolates are being used in many of the “natural” or “organic” products on the shelves. These are cheaper and again, more consistent in their fragrance and easier for the large commercial companies to use. Believe me – they could NOT sell you their lavender cleaning sprays and laundry wash if they were using pure aromatherapeutic (for lack of a better term) lavender essential oil. Even the high-end cosmetic companies are using isolates and you will see words such as "linalool" and "linalyl acetate". These isolates do not contain the full benefit of the plant as nature intended. There are many ways you can be fooled and fragrance companies do not have to disclose their ingredients as they are allowed to claim intellectual knowledge and seriously, the list would be too long to put on a label anyway. And would you even know what those names were? It’s an individual choice and I don’t like that people are demonized because they may like fragrance oils and choose to use them. I personally have been criticized and my credibility questioned as a certified clinical aromatherapist because we choose to use some fragrance oils in our soaps, a wash off product (seriously?!). It hurt at the time, but it seems many people are conflicted on this subject. Essential oil use in soaps is an entirely different discussion as not all essential oils will come through the soap making process - what a colossal waste of a good essential oil if it doesn't, just to be able to say you use ONLY essential oils in your soaps.
If you have sensitivities to a particular brand of lavender, don’t throw out ALL lavenders as being bad – the real deal lavender essential oil may be just what you need to calm your sensitivities! Lavenders are the most adulterated and there are many different varieties with varying properties from relaxing to stimulating. Know what plants DO produce “essential” oils and from what part of the plant. You won’t find a strawberry essential oil – you might now find a “natural” strawberry fragrance made from what they call nature identical – made in the lab or even extracted from the plant itself. If it is an essential oil, it will have a country of origin, it will have a botanical name and chemotype – and MOST IMPORTANTLY – it will have the natural synergy from the true plant. Once you learn how essential oils really smell, you WILL know when you are smelling a synthetic fragrance oil – or even a nature identical – just not the same. When I compare the true lavender essential oil that we use in our products versus the lavender fragrance oil we once used in our candles (and thought at the time that it was SO NICE), it is amazing to me that I ever thought that! Now, I just wrinkle my nose when I smell the false lavender. You may find just as I did that essential oils are something you can breathe in deeply, but if you take an opened bottle of synthetic fragrance oil, you simply can’t do that. Or if you do, it’s not enjoyable. All of that being said, people can have allergic reactions just a easily to essential oils. Always test one before using to see how you respond.
And finally, I decided rather than just trying to explain it myself, I'm attaching a link to the very BEST explanation of what defines an essential oil. This is from someone who can easily be said to be the foremost authority on all things pertaining to essential oils. Take a moment to peruse his blogs. You will get hooked on essential oils.
Oh! And did I mention that essential oils are natural - truly natural - so they are not a threat to our environment.
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning true aromatherapy, health, nutrition and skin care. Ann was a Critical Care Registered Nurse, is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
Read our legal disclaimer here.
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When I was a young child we would swim in a very cold river. The water flowed down from the mountains and was fresh, clean, wonderful – and cold! Some years later our little small town would build a city-wide swimming pool which is where we spent many a pleasant summer afternoon. What I remember though is the wonderful crisp, clean, deeply pungent smell of the “pine” trees that we walked through to get to the river which was surrounded on both sides with evergreens. I didn’t know then and I don’t know now the specifics of each evergreen, but the rich fragrance was something not easily recreated or forgotten. I didn’t think so anyway because I would smell the various artificial and often expensive “Frasier Fir” or “Douglas Fir” air fresheners found in some of the gift stores. They did smell good, but did not smell like nature and did NOT smell like I remembered the evergreens of my youth. Down through the years I would recognize that same real fragrance while hiking or kayaking but never in an air freshener. Not until I discovered the fir essential oils – silver fir (Abies alba), Siberian fir (Abies sibirica) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea). I began to use these essential oils in air fresheners in our house, began to sell them on our website and shop and then in a soap. I knew I’d found what I had been looking for. I also began to do more research about the benefits of these oils as well as any cautions. It was also about this time that Robert Tisserand published his newest edition of "Essential Oil Safety” and we learned that essential oils high in 1,8-cineole were not recommended for use with young children – and he recommended instead the use of evergreen oils such as fir, spruce and pine. Nice!
I then, of course, began to try to discover the differences for each of these oils as I could definitely smell a difference. I will say right from the start that the Siberian fir was and is my favorite, but I particularly like the three blended together. I wondered why they had a distinctly different fragrance and assumed it had to be because of the chemical constituents in each one. So I am giving you my breakdown and considerations of the similarities and, apparently, the differences would mostly relate to how they were distilled. And then, you have to consider the area and climate where any particular oil originates. As you would expect, they have more similarities than differences and as a group, they are extremely beneficial for many reasons. These oils are now my go-to oils for a lot of different situations and I particularly love that they are safe to use with young children. Some of the essential oils are steam distilled from the needles and twigs together, while others may be just from the needles (or just the twigs), which will give a different fragrance and chemical makeup.
All essential oils should be used with caution, and special caution with internal use. This practice is not recommended or encouraged by most professional aromatherapists unless you have a good working knowledge of the different cautions for each oil. The cautions are not, as many large companies are telling their associates, related to how pure a particular oil is. These cautions are related to many things, not the least of which would be whether you understand if a particular oil might interfere with any medications you may taking, including over-the-counter and herbal supplements. That being said, the fir essential oils carry an added caution against oral use. They also need to be well diluted prior to topical use. These oils also need to be fresh, and kept in dark bottles and preferably refrigerated. These oils can oxidize easily and thereby increasing the chances of skin irritation and decreasing their therapeutic value.
According to Wickipedia, “Abies alba, the silver fir or European silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and south to southern Italy and northern Serbia.” The essential oil we carry is from Bosnia. And the Balsam fir – “Abies balsamea or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central British Columbia) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia)." Since I grew up in West Virginia, I guess what I was smelling was Balsam fir! The Balsam fir essential oil we carry is from Canada. And finally, for the Siberian Fir – “Abies sibirica, the Siberian fir, is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the taiga east of the Volga River and south of 67°40' North latitude in Siberia through Turkestan, northeast Xinjiang, Mongolia and Heilongjiang.” Ours is from Russia; i.e. Siberia.
Not surprisingly, each of these oils share many of the same properties as listed below. Many of the aromatherapy texts lump them together as one.
• Anti-arthritic
• Anti-bacterial, moderately so, but also antifungal and effective particularly against Candida albicans
• Anti-parasitic (thread worm)
• Antiseptic – particularly useful for bronchial issues, rhinitis and sinusitis
• Antiseptic – for urinary issues such as cystitis
• Anti-spasmodic – making it useful for muscle tension and possibly for asthmatic issues
• Analgesic, especially for arthritic conditions
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-tussive, making this a useful essential oil for coughs since it is also anti-spasmodic
• Neurotonic and stimulant, useful for depression and stress. Probably not a good idea to use in the evening
• Cicatrizant – helpful for healing of wounds, burns and/or cuts
• Said to be a very balancing oil with uplifting properties and helpful during the winter months for those who become depressed with the dark days of winter
• Fir, pine and spruce oils are all considered to be useful as tonics for the adrenal glands and helpful to apply diluted in a massage oil to the lower back
• Due to its antiseptic properties, the fir essential oils have been used for skin infections and acne prone skin, although it can be drying
• Often used in cleaning products and air fresheners
• Believed to be able to increase circulation
According to the excellent book by Mindy Green and Kathi Keville, “Aromatherapy, a complete guide to the healing art”, I found this paragraph that I particularly found helpful: “Emotional attributes: The scent is used to increase a feeling of family harmony and goodwill. It combines the sensation of being grounded and elevated at the same time, and it increases intuition and releases energy and emotional blocks.” Perhaps this is why the Christmas tree is a wonderful thing to have at your family gathering this year. You could even add the benefits of an air freshener that contains the real essential oils and not the synthetic artificial scent. Here is my favorite air freshener recipe and some other uses for these very versatile and relatively inexpensive essential oils.
Christmas Fir Air Freshener:
In a 4 oz aluminum spray bottle add the following:
1 teaspoon vodka or denatured rubbing alcohol
30 drops Siberian Fir essential oil
30 drops Balsam Fir essential oil
30 drops Silver Fir essential oil
10 drops Scotch Pine essential oil
Fill to almost the top (leaving room so that you will be able to shake the bottle) with distilled water. Water and essential oils do not mix, but the alcohol helps the process. You still may find it necessary to shake the bottle prior to each use.
Re-energizing Foot Soak:
Small tub of luke warm water
2 drops of each of the fir essential oils (total of 6 drops)
2 drops of rosemary essential oil
2 drops of clary sage essential oil
1/8 cup of our unscented bath salts (or make your own blend with Epsom salts, Dead Sea Salts, Pink Himalayan Salts)
1 tbsp of honey (as an emulsifier and for its skin healthy benefits)
Mix the oils into the bath salts and place into the water, stirring until the salts are dissolved. Allow yourself to sit quietly and soak for at least 20 minutes in order to gain the benefit from the mixture. Towel dry.
Let me know if you try any of the fir essential oils or my recipes. I'd also love to hear if you find emotional benefits from these oils.
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health, nutrition and skin care. Ann was a Critical Care Registered Nurse, is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 15 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
See our disclaimer statements here.
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This series of blogs will be about skin care and how we can make the right choices while we search the aisles, go to home parties and read a bunch of "stuff" online. Now if you are new to this blog, you should know that we are unrelenting advocates of being label readers - always! I know, I really do. It takes time, precious time, but our health is as precious as it gets. I've been researching skin care ingredients for over 12 years and I've seen some very good and some very bad advice. I hope to help you with just the basics on what to look for in a good, healthy, effective skin care ingredient. This will be the first of a series and will be repeated in our Ingredient Benefits tab at the bottom of each page of our website. I have been juggling too many balls the past few years and have been remiss on sharing what I do know about skin care including carrier oils and essential oils. The winter months remind all of us that tight, dry, flaking and chapped skin is something to be avoided.
Occlusives - what are they?
I will make this abbreviated for now and go into more detail on each oil as we progress. We do actually have some information we've shared in the past about the oils we use in our products plus other ingredients. But this series is more about why you want or don't want a particular ingredient.
So, what makes an oil “occlusive” and what does that really mean? Occlusives generally get a bad rap because we automatically think of things that clog our pores, but that isn’t true. You need these protective oils. They prevent transdermal moisture loss, protect your skin from harsh winds, dry weather and cold weather. I’m sitting in front of our pellet stove right now. I love this stove and it is the only thing (well, maybe not the only thing) that keeps me sane through the cold Nebraska winters. But, I also notice a distinct drying of my skin as I sit here if I don’t use a protective cream that contains at least one occlusive oil, preferably at least two. There are so many quality ingredients now available to all of us through the internet and, of course, I recommend organic or certified organic and cold pressed, unrefined. Why? I have compared the cosmetic grade oils to the cold pressed unrefined oils that we now use and the difference in just the appearance tells me that the beneficial properties have been refined out of cosmetic grade oils. I have a picture I posted on our Facebook page probably two or more years ago of our beautiful dark green certified organic, cold pressed, unrefined avocado oil sitting in a clear glass container beside the expeller processed, cosmetic grade of avocado oil that we once used before I figured this out. The cosmetic grade is colorless, thin and odorless - something large manufacturers look for - plus it is significantly cheaper. The cold-pressed (i.e. without heat that ruins beneficial properties) is dark green, thicker and has a nice subtle plant-type fragrance. Before I knew better I thought – well, if it is cosmetic grade and I’m making a cosmetic, then that’s what I need. Simple right? Well, not so much. Oils retain their phytonutrients only if they are cold-pressed and unrefined, which means they are full of antioxidants that fight those free radicals that try to make those wrinkles on your face. Cosmetic grade oils, which are what you will find in your big box store and home party brands, have been stripped of their benefits! Do they still “feel” like they are doing something for your skin? Well, yes, they do because oil is still oil. It is what is going on beneath your skin at the cellular level that you can’t “feel” that makes such a huge difference.
So here is a list of oils that are “occlusive”:
Jojoba oil (one of our favorites)
Rice Bran Oil
Sesame oil (not the roasted kind that smells heavenly in any stir fry recipe)
Avocado oil (again one of our favorites)
Pumpkin Seed oil (okay, another of our favorites and I will tell you why in another blog)
Macadamia Nut oil (obviously not to be used with nut allergies)
Moringa oil (we are experimenting with this one to determine if the hype is hype or true information)
Mineral oil (which is petroleum product and we advise you to avoid any products containing mineral oil and it also clogs pores)
Why do occlusive oils work to protect our skin?
Oils are – well obviously fats. And we will talk in another blog about the different types of fats and why some work better than others. It is known that fats penetrate deeper into the surface layers of the skin and alleviate drying of the skin and help to retain the skin’s moisture by preventing moisture loss through evaporation. The healthier our skin is, the healthier our body is. It is truly a protective covering and keeping that covering intact, healthy, moisturized and elastic is key to overall health. Bacteria and viruses can enter quite easily through broken, red and chapped skin. It is more than just a beauty question (listen up here men!), or holding back the ravages of time and preventing and delaying wrinkle formation, it is essential to the health of your body overall. We all need and want (we really do) more supple, softer and elastic skin regardless of whether it is on our face on our feet.
I've just mentioned carrier oils here, but I should mention beeswax as well and probably the star performer in this lineup. Waxes in general are absorbed more slowly and can contribute to the “greasy” feel that a lot of us try to avoid. But beeswax provides more protection than oils. The greasy feel only lasts for a short period of time and it is so worth it. We all need that protective barrier and only by using some occlusive oils/waxes in our products can we achieve this function.
I know there are others and am just giving you a short synopsis. There have been newer oils on the market but we keep coming back to the ones we have used for years except, of course and importantly, we have switched to organic, cold pressed and unrefined.
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health, nutrition and skin care. Ann was a Critical Care Registered Nurse, is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
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Skin health does not always refer to having no wrinkles or even fewer wrinkles, although with all of the glossy photo-shopped magazine ads, that is usually the first thing most people consider - not really the actual health of their skin. What about the typical and pretty common skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis and rosacea? Interestingly enough, my family has a lot of these issues. I myself have rosacea, my daughter has had eczema since birth and my husband has a type of psoriasis, which we painfully discovered when he had a very bad flareup in November of 2011. So what do you do about these - and how do we keep the wrinkles at bay and our skin glowing and healthy looking?
Can you cure these skin issues or just calm them?
I am going to do this as a series and we'll start with rosacea. Rosacea apparently affects over 13 million Americans and usually causes facial redness and acne-like bumps and pimples. People like myself with rosacea will often blush much more easily or have "ruddy" cheeks. Bill Clinton is said to have rosacea and from looking at his pictures, I'd have to agree.
We've found that all of these skin issues are not "curable", but they can be relieved, calmed and alleviated unless you do something to trigger them. Each of us has our own individual triggers and it is important that we know what they are. I've been able to pretty much get rid of my rosacea; however I used to have red spots that turned into acne almost every day. That was before I started making my own creams and learned what triggers any episodes that I do get. I found that parabens will almost always cause a flareup with a cystic type pimple. I sample any new ingredients I receive because lots of parabens are hidden in other ingredients and are not declared. An example - I recently received a sample of a highly acclaimed and fairly expensive oil called Prickly Pear Seed Oil. It came with all sorts of accolades on how it would prevent wrinkles and other good things for your skin. I was very excited to receive this oil because of all the things I read about it. As I'm constantly searching and researching for new ingredients (part of the fun of being a formulator of skin care products) this one definitely sounded like something I wanted to add to our Skin Renewal Cream. We'll talk more about this particular oil in another blog, but the point I'm making here is - it had to have parabens in it because my face broke out in some pretty ugly cystic type pimples - big yuck for me, especially when my skin care line is our most popular line of products and I was afraid to "face" any of my customers for awhile. Not a very good advertisement. It took a few weeks to get them totally gone, but that's a long time in my experience. I'm super disappointed too because it does sound like a good oil to try. I will get samples from other places and let you know. This one was certified organic and Ecocert certified so how did a paraben get in here? I know some will say it was just the oil itself, but I know my skin and I know and understand the fatty acids in this particular oil and these would not have caused my face to break out to this degree.
Interestingly, the first time someone (a dermatologist) gave me a name for this skin condition was many years ago and she (and I think they still do) told me to use only "oil-free" makeup and creams. Which now makes me laugh whenever I hear that because it is just not true and if anything makes my skin more dry and flaky. Which as most of you know is why I started on this quest of healthy skin and being a skin product formulator.
So what can you do?
1. First of all, find out what your trigger is - it can be any of the usual allergy type triggers such as cheese, chocolate, soy, spicy foods and particularly alcohol can cause flares. I don't find any of these to be a problem anymore as long as I'm using a good skin care regimen and keeping my skin clean. My face does turn a bright red with any strenuous exercise - it just does and it goes away, so I don't consider that a problem except I often have to wash my face and add additional moisturizer after any routine that has caused my face to sweat - including gardening.
2. Secondly, find good organic skin care products. Your skin care products are really the biggest and best thing you can do to help or make worse your rosacea. It is really important to stay away from alcohol-containing products and as I said earlier parabens. I have found that I can use oil-based products and in fact my skin loves it when I use products made from unrefined organic ingredients such as shea butter, olive oil, avocado oil and others. It is important to find products that contain UNREFINED, COLD PRESSED oils because these retain the natural phytonutrients that actually feed your face and keep it healthy. Refined oils can also have solvents still in them, which will worsen the condition of anyone's skin. I recommend always to use products that contain as many natural ingredients as possible and I don't mean a cream that is full of just extracts of this and extracts of that. You need something in there to moisturize, soften and regenerate your skin. It is important if the product contains butters, such as shea butter, cocoa butter and/or mango butter - and this should be close to the top of the list of ingredients meaning it has a larger percentage contained in the total formula for that product, not thrown in at the bottom of the list as what I call eye-candy.
Tamanu oil is probably my favorite oil to use alone and for any breakouts or redness. I again encourage you to find unrefined, cold-pressed and organic and it does work wonders for your skin. Keep it out of your eye area as it will sting your eyes. I like to use it at night before I go to bed so I won't be taking the chance of inadvertently getting it into my eyes during the day. And finally, an oil that is truly a very good oil to use for the skin is neem oil. I did use this in our skin renewal cream from the beginning, but slowly phased it out simply because it does not smell very good - at all. I still use it in the garden as do other organic gardeners, but test it out first to see if the odor is offensive to you or not. Tamanu oil has a wonderful rich, almost caramel like odor, but I have heard some people say they don't like it or like the smell better if it is a refined Tamanu. Refined tamanu just doesn't have the same benefits for your face though, but these are individual choices you alone can make.
All products that contain water need to be preserved, although you will hear otherwise, it is just a fact of nature. So you will usually find phenoxyethanol as a preservative and from our testing with this preservative against many others, this is the one that did the best job, using the least amount and without causing problems with my skin.
3. Are there herbs or essential oils that work? Lavender, of course, is well known for it's calming properties, both mind and body which includes your skin. We love lavender and tea tree in our products and encourage others to search for those ingredients. My research turned up quite a few of our favorite herbs for calming and adding nutrients to the skin. Rooibos tea is well known also for it's anti-inflammatory properties and I have found that if I include that in our creams, it really does make a difference. I add green tea, calendula, chamomile and helichrysum to that mix for ways to calm your skin and keep it glowing, healthy and young looking. Drinking these herbs as teas is also beneficial. The essential oils from these plants are also very beneficial for healthy skin, especially for their calming and healing properties. Finally, one herb, well I guess it is technically a spice, is turmeric which has been gaining a lot of attention with an incredible amount of research in the past few years. It is highly anti-inflammatory and with lots of research backing up those claims. Turmeric can be taken in capsule form and is probably the most effective way to use it unless you eat a lot of Indian type foods - but then you are getting into "hot" foods, which can cause a flare of your rosacea. I love Indian food, however, and just accept the fact that my skin may be red for a little while. It isn't really the redness that bothers me, it is if and when my face gets those pimple-like spots. I know when that happens, which it very rarely does anymore, that I need to take a step back and figure out what I had done that might have caused that and avoid whatever that was in the future - like the Prickly Pear Seed Oil.
And how early should you start to be concerned about this?
In my opinion it never is too early. I know pediatricians will tell you not to use oil products or creams on your babies, but I also have read research showing when sunflower oil was used to massage newborn babies in a neonatal unit, the survival rates were much higher. This only makes sense for several reasons including the fact that touch is very important for all of us, as is massage, but particularly important for babies. The oil (and this is where the pediatricians I think must get it wrong) if organic, unrefined will soften and protect your babies' skin causing it to be stronger. Any broken, chaffed or red areas are places bacteria can quickly enter and cause problems. Keeping your baby's skin supple and hydrated is very important. I think the medical field thinks only in terms of what they know to be available and those are synthetic type products including mineral oil. Do not put mineral oil on your baby - please!! Baby oil that you buy in the stores is usually mineral (read petroleum) based and is definitely not a good choice. I would rather you used nothing than to use mineral oil - which again, may be why the pediatricians recommend using nothing. Vegetable oils when used without water do not need a preservative. Creams and lotions are a mixture of oil and water and do need to be preserved. However, a lot of vegetable oils need to be refrigerated or have vitamin E added to them to prevent oxidation.
So - let me know what you use to keep your skin healthy? I didn't mention too much about nutrition, but I always tell people that their skin will reflect what they do or don't eat. Another blog for another time. Did your pediatrician tell you not to use any creams or oils on your baby as a newborn? Which of these suggestions did you like best or have you used and why?
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
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DID YOU KNOW? "In a small study from Ohio State University, students given an omega-3 fatty acid supplement exhibited a 20 percent reduction in anxiety compared to students given a placebo pill. Rather than encourage the public to rush out to buy supplements, however, "people should just consider increasing their omega-3 through their diet," study co-author Martha Belury said in a statement." See here for more information.
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
]]>Did you know that fracture rates are significantly higher for those that drink 3 or more cups of milk daily? (Harvard Nurses Study). 190,000 men & women were evaluated over an 18 year period.Studies concluded, “Neither milk nor a high-calcium diet reduces osteoporosis.”Consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, especially high-calcium leafy greens such as spinach, kale, Swiss chard and broccoli. Leafy green vegetables such as kale and spinach contain higher calcium values than milk. One cup of kale has 350mg of calcium. Here is a really good synopsis of why cow's milk may not be your best choice.
Thanks for listening!
Meet Ann: Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
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I've recently been hearing rumblings within the aromatherapy community telling us that the often repeated recommendation to use essential oils on our feet was a useless method and now declared a "myth". The reasoning I've read is that the bottom of the foot is thicker than other areas of the body and the skin is a “barrier”. I read a few blogs where colleagues were repeating this, but intuitively I knew that this method has worked for me, my friends, family and customers now for over 10 years - so I was intrigued and wondering why they were saying it didn’t work? I put this thought in the back of my mind as I went about doing things that were further at the top of my to-do list. I did mention in a couple of places that I knew it (the foot rub) worked and I'd have to "ponder" it.
Then it was the proverbial light-bulb moment as I was doing a "foot rub" on myself before going to bed. I do this often for myself and my husband. We then cover the area with thick socks to enhance absorption. This time, as I was rubbing my feet, I'm thinking DUH!! Now do me a favor and take off your shoes and socks and look at your feet - what do you see? Veins!! There are arteries very close to the surface as well. This is one of the most vascular places on your body! This vast and intricate system of veins and arteries are also VERY close to the surface without additional subcutaneous tissue to have to penetrate - and this includes the bottom of your feet. Take a look at the picture above! Why do we nurses start IV's in the hands and feet? Because that's where the veins are close to the surface and there are a lot of them!
The Mythical Debate:
I believe the argument addressed mainly the BOTTOM of your feet and that the skin in this area is “thicker”. Well, this is true; however, when I do a foot rub for myself or when I would do it for my patients and husband, it is a full foot rub - top, sides, bottom and ankles, and when I tell people to do a chest rub, back rub and foot rub - that is what I mean. I don't really know of anyone who just rubs anything ONLY on the bottom of the feet. I need to ask some of my massage therapist friends, but regardless, a foot rub with essential oils diluted properly in carrier oil is not only very satisfying and relaxing, the essential oils are absorbed very effectively due to the extensive vascular system in that area. The other reason I always liked foot rubs for my patients was that it was not as invasive as rubbing a back or chest. In the hospital environment of pokes, prods, and open doors at all times of the day and night, it was just an easy way to bring comfort to patients. Hand rubs (massages) are also very effective for some of the same reasons - the hands are non-invasive and vascular, clothing doesn’t have to be removed and it takes very little time. You also don’t have to be a Licensed Massage Therapist to do it. So - please do continue to do "foot rubs" with your essential oils. It has also been proven that it does work so much better if you cover the area where you are applying the essential oils as absorption is increased many fold. I don't think we need research studies to tell us why that would be true, but there are some available.
Other Aromatherapy Opinions:
I did take another look through some of my favorite aromatherapy books and I found that Kurt Schnaubelt, Shirley Price and Jane Buckle all talk about foot massage and how effective it is. Shirley Price in her book “Aromatherapy for Health Professionals” also gives detailed instructions with pictures of how to perform a foot and lower leg massage. Jane Buckle mentions in a discussion about foot and hand massage that “touch has been shown to reduce blood pressure, reduce lower back pain, relieve anxiety and alleviate depression.”
I had a very difficult time finding pictures that I could legally purchase and use for this article. I even scanned some pictures from some of my textbooks, but decided that probably wasn't legal either. So here is a link that shows an assortment of pictures of the vascular system for our feet.
So there the "myth" has been de-mythed!
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
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Atrial fibrillation - afib for short, an irregular heart beat. A problem we saw often when I worked in the Critical Care Unit. It wasn't one of those issues that caused your adrenaline to spike when you saw it on your patient's EKG, but it was nonetheless concerning and required a call to their doctor and medical - pharmaceutical - intervention. Usually chronic administration of a medication -or two. Afib can cause symptoms that reduce a person's quality of life and it can sometimes progress to something more acute.
Surprisingly for the doctors I think, but not really so surprising to me and possibly you, is a recent article in MedPageToday.com. They found evidence (enough to convince them to review the research and write about it) that yoga actually improves the burden on the heart caused by afib, and also improved heart rate, blood pressure, anxiety and depression! Now think about it - how many different medications would one have to take to do all of that!? Exactly! Not to mention all of the side effects from EACH of those medications. It took only three months of yoga training to improve "quality of life parameters, including physical functioning, general health, vitality, social function and mental health" - and this is not the first study to evaluate the effects of yoga for improvement in cardiac problems. Not to be taken lightly, atrial fibrillation can still cause disabling and bothersome symptoms that adversely affect a patient’s quality of life. These doctors agreed that: "One way to help manage the disease and improve quality of life may be to add adjunctive complementary and alternative therapies, such as yoga, meditation, acupuncture, therapeutic hypnosis, or tai chi into routine care." That in and of itself is pretty amazing!
If you or a family member, friend or co-worker suffer from ANY cardiac disease, please show them this article for more information including the impressive benefits of practicing Tai Chi. Do I do either of these? Well, actually I don't. I've often considered it, but after reading this and the research studies they provided - and many other articles I've read confirming the benefits, I am going to check out yoga. Well, maybe an at-home video first. At one time I actually thought yoga was a sort of religion and therefore not something a good conservative Christian girl would do. I was so totally wrong about that and I wish I had considered this sooner. And - you don't have to be fit, slender and young as depicted in almost every picture I searched to find something to post here! Do you practice yoga or tai chi? I'd love to know what you think. I'm having coffee with a couple of very dear friends of mine tomorrow morning - both of their husbands have undergone cardiac catheterizations and are on medications. I am copying the article and will take a couple copies with me tomorrow. Maybe we can all start a yoga or tai chi class together - that would be a good way to start the new year!
Below are direct quotes from the article in MedPageToday.com's article. Take a few minutes to read it in more detail here.
Tell me this isn't so much better than taking a lot of pills!! Seriously, I'm just very excited that this totally allopathic website has chosen to publish this article and giving credence to what most of you probably already knew. Show it to your doctor and as with any new exercise program start out slow and do keep in touch with your physician. Hopefully, you can regulate those medications downward and to the point of not taking them at all.
Thanks for listening!
Ann
Ann's mission statement truly is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
References provided by MedPageToday.com:
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Red raspberry seed (Rubus idaeus) oil was thoroughly analyzed in one 2000 study and among other impressive benefits was its SPF. But it is the ONLY study I can find.
But this particular carrier oil has an additional array of very beneficial properties which are the reasons that we include it in our Skin Renewal Intensive Facial Complex.
I love this oil and here are the reasons why. This oil will be available for sale on our website soon. Our virgin Raspberry Seed Oil is cold-pressed, unrefined and extracted from the seeds of raspberry fruit without solvents or chemical processing.
1. Contains 83% and greater (depending on source of information) of essential fatty acids, which is quite high by the way, and the ratio of linoleic, alpha linolenic and oleic, has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of oxidative stress - free radical damage - which equals aging and wrinkles.
2. Contains high levels of carotenoids, which is vitamin A, and well-known for its skin healthy and anti-aging benefits. Scientists say that mixtures of carotenoids when used with other antioxidants, such as vitamin E, can increase the overall activity against free radicals."
3. Contains "exceptionally high levels of alpha & gamma tocopherols (Vitamin E) and when combined with its Vitamin A content, provides excellent antioxidant activity." The gamma tocopherol (137-272 mg/100 grams) is "much higher than those reported for other vegetable oils and foods."
4. Due to its high levels of phytonutrients and antioxidants, it is believed to contain clinically significant anti-inflammatory properties. Which is why it is good for rosacea.
5. High SPF broad spectrum, UVA and UVB, protection? The one and only study that is often quoted is from 2000 by Oomah, et all, and goes into quite some detail about the properties and benefits of this oil. They say that one of the really unique and beneficial properties about raspberry oil is its very high levels of natural SPF ranging between 28 and 50. In fact, it was noted that this oil when tested at full strength was equal to titanium dioxide in sun protection capabilities. You will find titanium dioxide used in many sunscreens. SPF values are never exact and how one person responds compared to another depends on many factors including skin health in general. However, adding this oil to any formula could possibly increase its natural sun protection properties. So - that being said, I would not depend on the proported SPF in this oil to provide the skin with significant broad-spectrum protection from both UV-A or UV-B rays.
I read several different and conflicting opinions as to color, texture and smell of this oil. One source said it had a "fishy" odor and another that it had a "mild, pleasant, berry-like" odor. I have purchased from 2 different reputable sources over the past 6 to 7 years and I find it to have a pleasant, almost berry-like odor as well. It's a light golden color. The viscosity is medium, it absorbs quickly and is non-greasy. Due to its stability and significant antioxidant properties, it could be used in a formulation to help extend the life of other oils more prone to early oxidation. I still keep it refrigerated though, in dark glass bottles.
Finally, not only does the oil have important benefits for the overall health of your skin, it also has specific benefits that significantly improve the texture and dryness of your skin. It is emollient, very moisturizing, and as mentioned earlier anti-inflammatory - which is why it is particularly good for those of us with rosacea. Use is as a stand-alone anti-aging wrinkle reducer or add it to other oils for an easy answer for moisturizing AND sun protection. We like to add it to jojoba oil which has a low SPF value of around 4 - but there are only a few oils that have sun protection properties.
We include this oil in our Organic Skin Renewal Intensive Facial Complex you can find here.
Have you used raspberry seed oil? Have you used it as a sunscreen and how well did it work for you?
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
Warren and I have been on a sugar-free, gluten-free, and as raw as possible quest since November 2011 when Candida became a huge problem in our household. We've learned a lot and have come up with some pretty neat recipes and I think this goes into our file of keepers. I've been trying to make decent energy bars since 2011 and haven't been very successful. I couldn't think of a way to keep everything together without baking or using the ubiquitous agave nectar.
Problem solved! I've recently discovered a very cool product called "Coconut Manna". It is available (from what I can tell) only from Nutiva and the first time I tried a spoonful I was hooked. They seem to run out of it quickly once they get it back in stock - so I'm not the only one who thinks it's a great product. I bought two jars this time!! I won't go into details about what this product is, but it is NOT considered raw and on their website they tell you why. So this recipe is not totally raw - just wanted to let you know that if you are really strict about being 100% raw. Check out their website for the details about this coconut manna. These are so easy and take only a minimal amount of time to make.
RECIPE:
1/4 cup raw organic sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw organic hemp seeds (also available from Nutiva)
1/4 cup raw organic pecans
1/4 cup raw organic walnuts
3/4 cup coconut manna (Nutiva)
1 tbsp cocoa - or raw cacao nibs
1 tsp vanilla extract
sweetener of choice and to taste - I used 2 packets of Nu-Stevia
Measure out all of your nuts and seeds. Preferably they should be soaked for at least 2 hours or longer. I always forget to soak mine but am trying to do better. Now measuring out the coconut manna can be an issue depending on time of year and temperature in your house. It is a hard solid and requires some effort in the winter time here in Nebraska, but this summer it is a gooey liquid that can be scooped up. It tends to separate like natural peanut butter and you have to mix it together - not really a big deal, but just to let you know. Warm it only enough to melt it so it can be stirred - not over 110 degrees preferably. Add the cocoa to the manna along with the vanilla and then blend this with the nut/seed mixture. Spread evenly in a non-stick pan. I still spray the pan with coconut oil. Place in freezer. Once firm they can be kept in the refrigerator.
Now these bars will melt outside in warm weather and if you can think of a way to keep this from happening, I would love to hear from you. I like to just break off a little piece if I'm feeling hungry but not ready to eat a meal. The nutritional analysis of this recipe is impressive and with no sugar, no gluten, vegan and mostly raw. This is also a very good recipe for anyone suffering (and they DO suffer) from a Candida or yeast issue.
Let me know if you try it!
Thanks for listening!
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Finding a name for this blend was really difficult for me - I'm not sure why. I think because I felt inadequate at being able to describe the real emotional affect this blend has on me. I'm still not "happy" with the name and any suggestions would be appreciated. I do feel blissful and happy when I diffuse or use this blend, but it's really more than that. Research has shown that the oils in this blend do different things to the brain and, of course, everyone is unique and will experience different emotions. Basic Aromatherapy 101 (and abundant research) teaches us that all essential oils when inhaled quickly enter into the limbic system of the brain which is why they are such powerful modulators of mood. To make this blend, simply add it to about 2 ounces of a vegetable or massage oil (organic), your favorite unscented cream or unscented bath salts:
Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) – 5 drops
Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) – 1 drop
Jasmine sambac (Jasminum sambac) – 1 to 2 drops
Rose (Rosa damascena) – 2 drops
Mandarin (Citrus ritculata) – 2 drops
Sweet orange is well known for it's ability to make people feel happy and there are institutions and organizations - more and more now in the USA - who diffuse it into the air to bestow those feelings onto their customers and/or employees. We recommend organic citrus oils due to the potential build up of toxic pesticides in citrus peels.
Ylang-ylang is widely known and accepted in the aromatherapy literature as an aphrodisiac, but it also has some calming properties to it, as does Mandarin due to their ester (chemical constituent) content. These "constituents" in essential oils are natural according to our definition of natural - nothing added to nature.
Jasmine sambac absolute is a well-known anti-depressant with sedative type properties and also well known to be an aphrodisiac. Jasmine must be solvent extracted as an absolute and is quite expensive so be very careful where you purchase this oil, as adulteration is unfortunately common. Yes, we do use it in our blends, but no, we don't carry it for resale yet- still searching for a good reliable source, and frankly the financial resources to be able to purchase a substantial amount of this precious oil. The literature also attributes it with the power to diminish negative emotions such as anger. Dr. Amen calls them ANT’s – Automatic Negative Thoughts and they are particularly bad for you and your brain. Jasmine is quite a powerful scent and will overpower the blend if you add too much. We think 1 to 2 drops in this blend will round out the fragrance and the beneficial properties. I absolutely love Jasmine and swoon whenever I open a bottle of it – seriously. Thankfully, a little bit goes a long way.
Rose absolute (solvent extracted) or Rose otto (steam distilled), also very expensive and precious, can have up to 50% citronellol – per Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt,which accounts for its “tonifying” affects. He states, “…the physical and emotional impact of a drop of rose at the right moment can extend far beyond those effects (tonifying effects). This precious oil is one of my most favorites and has the reputation of being a very strong antidepressant. I would just add that if I had the financial resources, I would spend them on vats of rose essential oil. I have found this oil to have the ability to lift me from deep emotional pain - just a small scent of it left on a very small glass vial. I don't sell this oil, so you can be assured this is just true feedback.
Mandarin contains an interesting chemical constituent called N-methylanthranilate. This is a natural constituent as all unadulterated essential oils are natural in the truest sense of the word – nothing added. What’s interesting about this constituent is that it is not present in Tangerine oil – so don’t substitute the nice tangy fragrance of Tangerine for Mandarin. Again, according to Dr. Schnaubelt, this constituent called an “ester” has “pronounced relaxing qualities”. This is also a very good oil for children, which is why we include it in our Sleepy Baby Blend.
Let us know if you make this blend. You can, of course, tweak it to your own personal satisfaction and we'd love to hear about that - how you made it, how you used it and if you did, indeed, feel blissful after using it. We recommend using it in a diffuser such as our ultrasonic diffuser, or simply dropping a few drops on a kleenex, or as we mentioned previously - adding it to your unscented bath salts, unscented cream or massage oil.
Thanks for listening!
Find out more about me and Wingsets by clicking Our Story.
Ann has an interesting and varied background in both allopathic and natural health care. She was a Critical Care Registered Nurse for about 11 years. After working in the corporate world for many years, she returned to college to obtain her nursing degree. At the beginning of her hospital career she worked a little over a year in the Operating Room, a couple years on the Orthopedic Floor and a couple years in Short Stay (outpatient surgery), finally deciding that Critical Care was the place she wanted to be until total burn out in combination with foot surgery sidelined her to her real passion - healing and helping people with natural personal care products, nutrition and aromatherapy. Discovering the amazing health benefits of essential oils and natural/organic ingredients moved her into the realm of cosmetic/personal care products formulator. Having a passion for nutrition and natural health, she has also furthered her education in the area of medicinal herbal remedies, became a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has delved enthusiastically into the area of natural health & nutrition, raw food, vegan and vegetarianism. She is a research addict and loves to blog about a wide variety of things she is discovering and hopes her blogs will benefit you and your family.
]]>Basically, what is wrong with generic drugs? I'm going to show you a few significant reasons you should take a second look at those generic drugs.
I recently went to the pharmacy to pick up my thyroid prescription. Along with the prescription I was handed a piece of paper to sign along with the pharmacist telling me that they had changed manufacturers of this particular drug - again. It was THIS time though that he caught my attention and probably because THIS time I was required to sign a piece of paper, which I assume was to release them from any liability. And THIS was when I decided I needed to take a closer look at generic drugs. Here is what I found and what you can do to protect yourself and your family.
1. OVERSIGHT:
Oversight for the manufacturing of generic drugs has huge issues. It has been reported that approximately 80% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in generic medications are actually made in other countries. Along with that we are told that 40 to 60% of these pills are assembled in another country. What does this mean for you? It means that an enormous number of ingredients are being made in chemical companies that have never been nor ever will be inspected by the FDA. Although the FDA has recently pulled several drugs off the market there are many drugs that are obviously not even being checked. In October 2012 the FDA pulled Wellbutrin (specifically Budeprion XL 300 mg) off the market because it was found to not be "bioequivalent." The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defined bioequivalence as, "the absence of a significant difference in the rate and extent to which the active ingredient or active moiety in pharmaceutical equivalents or pharmaceutical alternatives becomes available at the site of drug action when administered at the same molar dose under similar conditions in an appropriately designed study." Again in November 2012 a generic for the common medication Lipitor was recalled after it was discovered there were tiny particles of GLASS in the bottles. This recall included hundreds of thousands of bottles. Tiny particles of glass - seriously?!
2. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM CONCENTRATION GAP:
Once a patent on a pharmaceutical drug expires the components are revealed but pharmaceutical companies are not required to reveal the exact manufacturing processes involved. The FDA standards simply require the new generic drug to "perform in the same manner" as the original drug. However there is a large gap allowed in the manufacturing of generic drugs with a maximum concentration of an active ingredient being allowed to be not less than 80% below or 25% above the original medication's concentration. So, basically, your generic drug could be 20% less effective or even 25% above the original safe dose determined in preapproval status. One study in particular by researchers at the University of Utah discovered that patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation who switched to a generic form of warfarin (popular blood thinner) after taking the brand-name version Coumadin, or vice versa, experienced a greater risk of bleeding problems. Obviously with some drugs, absorption can make a very big difference in the outcome. This is a concern always in those drugs with a narrow therapeutic index between the amount that has a therapeutic effect and the amount that can have a toxic effect.This large gap results in very real issues when we're talking about generic drug substitutes for thyroid disease, blood thinners, seizure meds, and or heart problems - to name just a few.
3. LARGE PERCENTAGE BEING USED:
It is estimated that nearly 80% of all prescriptions are filled with generic drugs. This is a good thing if we're only talking about saving money. And in the USA we spent $192 billion in 2011 alone on generic substitutions. Obviously, the main issue is that insurance companies will only reimburse for the cost of generic drugs if there is a generic available. And those individuals who don't have insurance coverage will certainly opt for the lower price of a generic drug - often much lower in price. Now, if you know me at all, you know I am not a fan of pharmaceuticals. However, I do know that there are times when they are necessary and life-saving. But do they REALLY need to cost that much? Another discussion for another day.
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
1. Make a note of the name of the manufacturer of your generic drug. Some pharmacies print the name on the bottle - mine didn't. I had to call to find out the name of the previous manufacturer as well as the present manufacturer.
2. Use pharmacies you know you can trust. My pharmacy has made numerous errors from small ones to quite big ones. We should have changed pharmacies years ago. We are now. And the pharmacy we use is a big one in this town. Be very careful buying drugs online or from catalogs.
3. Whatever the symptoms are for your particular generic drug, once you change from one manufacturer to another, keep a record of your symptoms and your lab values. There is no regulation requiring a pharmacy to use the same generic manufacturer from one month, year or day to another. They also are not even required to let you know. So either ask or pay close attention to the size, shape and color of your pills. If your pharmacy does tell you they are changing to a different manufacturer, let your doctor know and get your lab levels checked more frequently.
4. I was told that if your generic drug isn't working as it should be for you, you can talk to your physician and he can specify to your insurance company - "no generic allowed" and receive prior approval from your insurance company to cover the brand name drug. Check with your doctor and insurance company.
5. The FDA does have a website where you can access information about the manufacturer of your generic drug. This is where the FDA shows a continuous update of ratings for approved generic drugs. You can find that here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/ob/default. I think it would be a good idea to check this regularly.
Of course, I'd rather we didn't have to take pharmaceuticals at all. And that each of us would explore alternatives by looking at herbal substitutes with a proven track record - and believe me there are many available. Or maybe just some lifestyle changes would get us off of that Metformin.
Thanks for listening!
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I don't know about you, but we spend a good deal of money every month purchasing my omega-3 fatty acid capsules. I've read a lot about mercury and lead contamination and possible rancidity in the different capsules. So I was very excited and pleased to see that Consumer Lab has done a large analysis of all the potential benefits and whether or not they are real or just perceived. Are we just spending too much money on something that doesn't work? For that reason I wanted to share this information with you. I would, however, highly recommend that you purchase a very reasonably priced subscription from consumerlab.com because the extensive report they published covers far more than what I am able to cover in this blog.
EPA and DHA are two principal fatty acids found primarily in fatty fish, krill and calamari. You are probably very familiar with the term omega-3 fatty acids. DHA can also be obtained from other sources such as algae. The body can only manufacture limited amounts of EPA and DHA from food as well as alpha linolenic acid (ALA) from plant foods such as flaxseed and walnuts. Consumer lab.com recently did an extensive analysis of the research concerning the benefits, which are many, of supplementing or consuming omega-3 fatty acids. Below you will find a list of the proposed benefits as well as the research that supports these benefits or has shown a lack of substantial justification for taking the supplement.
The FDA has approved the labeling of supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids to state that research shows "supportive but not conclusive evidence that consuming DHA and EPA may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease." There is also an approved pharmaceutical prescription of a high-dose highly concentrated EPA/DHA product derived from fish oil. Heart healthy benefits attributed to omega-3 fatty acids include:
1. Reducing triglyceride levels
2. Raising levels of the good cholesterol (HDL),
3. Possibly thinning the blood
4. Reducing homocystine levels
5. And also reducing blood pressure.
Conclusion:
After a review of 14 studies Consumers Lab found no significant difference in outcomes between those who did from those who didn't take fish oil supplements.(1) Prior research has suggested a benefit for individuals with a history of cardiac disease. Clinical trials since 2010 now cast doubt on the benefit for both healthy individuals or those with prior cardiovascular vascular disease. However it was also stated that these studies may have been too short or small to detect small or modest benefit.(2) An additional review of twenty studies published from 1989 to 2012 also concluded that supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids was not associated with a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, cardiac death, sudden-death for all forms of death among people. It should be said that most of these participants in the studies were at increased cardiovascular risk and were probably taking cardiovascular medicatio.(3) However, one study looked specifically at cerebrovascular disease (strokes) and found benefit from fish oil supplementation as well as eating fish. Another analysis of thirty-eight studies found that eating two to four servings per week of fish resulted in a 6% lower risk of stroke compared to eating one or fewer servings per week.(4) It was believed that the decreased risk of stroke was seen with fatty fish types and not whitefish types and that the beneficial effects of eating fish could very well be due to a wide range of nutrients that are found in fish. So in conclusion, although it has been widely believed that supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids was beneficial in reducing cardiovascular events it does seem to remain generally not substantiated following the review of these studies. However, eating fish at least twice a week may be beneficial as long as it is not fried or deep fried.
It is known that increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids from fish alters the body's production of prostaglandins and therefore reduces some forms of inflammation. Because of this fact, supplementation with EPA and DHA has been used for symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and does seem to work in the early stages of the disease. However it was believed that fish oil probably doesn't slow progression of the disease. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties there have been other diseases with inflammatory components that have been studied and in one large study it was shown that people with the highest consumption of DHA had a 77% reduction in the risk of developing ulcerative colitis. (5)
After looking at studies regarding the prevention of cancer of the prostate, colon/rectum, and breast, it appeared that current use but not past use of fish oil supplements was associated with a 32% reduction in the risk of breast cancer. The risk reduction was more effective for ductal carcinoma of the breast than lobular carcinoma. It was suggested that the anticancer effects may be due to the anti-inflammatory property of fish oil because chronic inflammation is associated with cancer risk and progression. It was noted, however, that researchers felt fish oil cannot be recommended for breast cancer prevention without further study. An additional study did find fish consumption to be associated with a large reduction in late stage or fatal prostate cancer.(6)
Chemotherapy:
It was found fish oil could be helpful to prevent weight loss during cancer chemotherapy. Although not all studies did show this benefit a recent study showed significant benefit.(7)
And analysis of the use of supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids did show that those with the highest intake of EPA and DHA were 30% less likely to develop diseases of the retina. Decreased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration was also shown in a study of over 30,000 female health professionals. Those who ate fish at least once a week had a 42% reduction in developing AMD compared to those eating less than one serving per month. It appeared that the greatest benefit was with consumption of canned tuna or other dark meat fish such as mackerel, salmon, and sardines.(7)
Omega-3 fatty acids appear to help mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia although there have only been a limited number of double-blind trials.
Depression:
In a study comparing depressed older women in a nursing home showed significant improvement and remission of 40.9% compared to 16.7% of those taking placebo.(8). The same study also showed a significant improvement in their self assessed quality-of life.
Suicide:
A study was done on military personnel who had committed suicide. Prior to suicide they had a significantly lower blood level of DHA than personnel who did not commit suicide.(9) It was found that in this mostly male population the risk of suicide was 62% greater among those with low serum levels of DHA compared to those with higher levels. As a side note the researchers found that omega-3 fatty acid levels were generally lower in the military personnel who participated in the study, in fact much lower, than in the general population.
Anxiety:
Using medical students in the United States for comparison, researchers found that those who received the high-dose omega-3 fatty acid showed a 20% reduction of anxiety symptoms compared to those receiving placebo treatment. They also noted that the students treated also had a 14% decrease in a marker of inflammation.(10) It should be noted however that the study used a very concentrated fish oil which was high in EPA because evidence points to EPA as having a relatively stronger anti-inflammatory and antidepressant effects than DHA.
Alzheimer's disease:
It has been shown in previous population studies the consumption of DHA is associated with reduced incidents of Alzheimer's disease. Animal studies also have demonstrated that DHA consumption reduces Alzheimer-like brain disease. It should be noted however that DHA from algae has not shown these same benefits even though plasma levels of DHA tripled and the amount of DHA in cerebrospinal fluid increased by 38%, meaning the DHA was absorbed. There was, however, no significant change from those taking placebo.
Age-related cognitive decline:
In contrast to Alzheimer's disease, age-related cognitive disease is not actually considered a disease but is more of a gradual declining of mental capacity and perhaps a normal consequence of aging. One study involving a small population of those 65 and over with mild cognitive impairment showed that those receiving a large amount of DHA with EPA had improved scores on verbal fluency, although not on any other memory or cognition test compared to those in a control group. The researchers rightfully noted that depression is a risk factor for progression to dementia so if there is a reduction in depressive symptoms this may also reduce the risk of dementia.
Memory enhancement in healthy individuals:
In one small study of healthy young adults, improved working memory performance was found to result with higher levels of DHA but not EPA. Participants were then asked to take higher concentrations of fish oil containing EPA and DHA daily for six months and they were tested again and scores improved.(10)
Considering the fact that omega-3's have been shown to play a role in the plasma membrane and cell function of muscles, studies were done on mostly sedentary women in their mid 60s who were given supplements of fish oil containing both EPA and DHA. After 12 weeks of supervised lower body resistance training three times a week, the strength of those taking the fish oil had improved more than those who did not take the fish oil. It was also noted that what is referred to as functional capacity, assessing the speed of rising from a chair for instance, also increased more among those who took the fish oil. However simply taking fish oil without strength training did not show any benefit.(11)
It's perhaps important to note that neither the FDA nor any other federal or state agency is responsible for or actually does routine tests on fish oil supplements for quality prior to being placed on the market. For this reason consumerlab.com chose to independently evaluate omega-3 products on the market today that claim to contain EPA and or DHA. They proceeded to test them for the levels of omega-3 fatty acids as indicated on their labels (EPA, DHA and, if listed, ALA), mercury, lead, PCBs, and signs of decomposition. An abbreviated list of the quality concerns and the issues that consumer lab tested for follows below:
Contamination:
Contamination has always been an issue because fish can accumulate toxins such as mercury, dioxins, and PCBs. Mercury is also a well-known element that can damage the nervous system and is particularly dangerous in a fetus. Dioxins and PCBs may be carcinogenic even at low levels of exposure over time and may also have other harmful effects.
Freshness:
The freshness of an oil is always an important consideration because fish oil can go rancid resulting in an unpleasant odor and taste. More importantly than odor or taste is the fact that rancid fish oils can produce a variety of compounds, some of which could cause health concerns. A study by the government of Norway concluded that there would be some health concerns related to the regular consumption of rancid fish/marine oils particularly in regards to the gastrointestinal tract. However there's not enough data to determine the amount of risk.(12)
Whew! I know this has been a long blog, but an important one I think. Consumer Lab found that of the 35 products they selected for review only 24 passed quality testing for meeting requirements for freshness, purity, and if they contained the declared amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. If the supplement had any enteric coatings they tested to see if they were properly absorbed. Considering all the various and important potential benefits of supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids and or eating fatty fish, it seems to me that it would be advantageous to read the full report that Consumer Lab published. There was in this report detailed discussion of all the varieties and ways you may be spending your money on a product that is not effective and even potentially harmful. In this report they also talk individually about each of the products they tested and why they were or were not approved. It is an extensive list of specific brand names and shows an analysis of prices, some of which are ridiculously expensive with "very low concentration" of Omega 3's. This list also shows what you are actually getting for those diminishing dollars in terms of the actual concentration of DHA and EPA. This is an important discussion because there is much confusion in this area. My husband and I have spent many hours looking at the various labels with our calculators in hand. This is no longer necessary with this excellent comparison done for you. Obviously, I'm not going to list the brands they analyzed, but just as an example, Dr. Mercola's very expensive Krill Oil was analyzed as containing a "very low" concentration of Omega 3's and at a very high cost. As a matter of fact, most of the krill oil supplements showed low to moderate levels of concentration, and these are usually more expensive. So, if you don't take Omega 3 fish oil or eat fatty fish on a regular basis, I suggest that you do. If you want to be sure that you are purchasing the best for the dollar, then spend that $33 for a one-year subscription to Consumerlab.com. No - they aren't paying me for this recommendation. They have no idea I exist other than perhaps in their record keeping as I purchase their subscription every year.
Do you take Omega 3's? If you are a vegetarian, do you find that the ALA in plant-based foods is sufficient? How much do you spend on your supplements and where do you purchase them? Can you tell a difference when you don't take them. I can - both from an inflammatory and vascular standpoint. I can also tell from one brand to another. Trader Joe's didn't work - for me anyway.
Thanks for listening!
1. Kwak S, Myung S, Lee Y, Seo H, Korean Meta-analysis Study Group f. Efficacy of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements (Eicosapentaenoic Acid and Docosahexaenoic Acid) in the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Meta-analysis of Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Trials. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(9):686-694. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.262.
2. Hu FB, Manson JE. Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease—Is It Just a Fish Tale?: Comment on “Efficacy of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements (Eicosapentaenoic Acid and Docosahexaenoic Acid) in the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease”. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(9):694-696. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.463.
3. Rizos EC, Ntzani EE, Bika E, Kostapanos MS, Elisaf MS. Association Between Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation and Risk of Major Cardiovascular Disease Events: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA. 2012;308(10):1024-1033. doi:10.1001/2012.jama.11374.
4. Chowdhury R, Stevens S, et al, Association between fish consumption, long chain omega 3 fatty acids, and risk of cerebrovascular disease: systemic review and meta-analysis: BMJ 2012;345:e6698.
5. Hart 2009.6. Szymanski KM, Wheeler DC, Mucci LA.Fish consumption and prostate cancer risk: a review and meta-analysis:
Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Nov;92(5):1223-33. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29530. Epub 2010 Sep 15.
7. Christen WG, Schaumberg DA, Glynn RJ, Buring JE. Dietary ω-3 Fatty Acid and Fish Intake and Incident Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Women. Arch Ophthalmol. 2011;129(7):921-929. doi:10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.34.
8. Rondanelli M, Giacosa A, Opizzi A, et al. Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation on Depressive Symptoms and on Health-Related Quality of Life in the Treatment of Elderly Women with Depression: J Am Coll Nutr February 2010 vol. 29 no. 1 55-64.
9. Lewis M, Hibbeln J, Johnson J, et al. Suicide Deaths of Active-Duty US Military and Omega-3 Fatty-Acid Status: A Case-Control Compariso: J Clin Psychiatry 2011;72(12):1585-1590
10. Narendran R, Frankle WG, Mason NS, et al. Improved working memory but no effect on striatal vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 after omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation: PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e46832. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046832. Epub 2012 Oct 3.
11. Rodacki C, Rodacki A, Pereira G, et al. Fish oil supplementation enhances the effects of strength training in elderly women: Am J Clin Nutr February 2012 ajcn.021915.
12. Torkildsen Ø, Wergeland S, Bakke S, et al. ω-3 Fatty Acid Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis (OFAMS Study): A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Arch Neurol. 2012;69(8):1044-1051. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2012.283.
]]>Raw ground pork and pork chops were tested by Consumer Reports. Their analysis of pork found very high rates of the bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica. This bacteria can be dangerous, particularly to children, and can cause fever with other G.I. upset such as diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps. Currently the USDA's inspectors spot test for a limited number of pathogens and Y. enterocolitica isn't even one of them. They also found bacterial contamination in approximately two-thirds of the 198 pork samples they tested! Equally concerning, and perhaps MORE concerning, the Consumer Reports analysis revealed that those bacteria were also resistant to antibiotics. (See chart below)
Along with this startlingly and scary discovery, they found in one-fifth of the samples low levels of ractopamine, which is banned in China, Taiwan, and Europe for safety reasons. Ractopamine has played a big part in the recent trade controversies with these countries since they ask that U.S. meat imports to be pigs not fed ractopamine. According to Consumer Reports, "The European Food Safety Authority, which advises the European Union on food policy, concluded that it couldn’t establish a safe level for ractopamine in food after reviewing the only study of its effect on humans (involving just six men). But it noted that drugs like ractopamine can cause restlessness, anxiety, a fast heart rate, and other conditions." FDA documents show that it increases the risk of injury and lameness in pigs.This drug is routinely used as a growth promoter and is approved for use in the USA. Consumer Reports believes that the discovery of ractopamine is a concern and they stated, "No drugs, including ractopamine and antibiotics, should be fed routinely to healthy animals for growth promotion and to prevent disease."
Sample Results:
Bacteria |
Number Tested |
Number Contaminated & resistant to one or more antibiotics |
|
|
|
Staphylococcus aureus |
14 |
13 |
Salmonella |
8 |
6 |
Enterococcus |
19 |
12 |
Yersinia enterocolitica |
132 |
121 |
One sample was found to contain MRSA. Ground pork was more likely to contain bacteria than pork chops.
Growth Promoters:
It is no secret that approximately 80% of ALL antibiotics sold in the USA are for animals as growth promoters, not to treat infections. It is also not a secret that this practice is accelerating the proliferation of drug resistant superbugs.
When I was growing up trichinosis (a parasite) was the main risk factor with eating pork. That risk is now apparently not an issue and has been reduced by changing some industry practices and some additional legislation. Hopefully, the attention given this study will bring about more changes.
What can you do?
Aside from cutting out pork altogether, and I know that becomes even more difficult for you rib lovers in the summer time, there are things you can do to reduce your risks of consuming contaminated meat. As with any raw meat, but particularly with pork, wash your hands at least long enough to sing happy birthday to yourself at once. Use separate cutting boards for meat and wash them thoroughly with soap and water or clean them in the dishwasher. Use a meat thermometer to assure the pork is done with an internal temperature of 145 degrees and 160 degrees for ground pork. These temperatures should kill any harmful bacteria.
Buy "certified organic" whenever possible, or buy locally from a farmer you know uses good practices and no antibiotics. Other signs to look for include "Animal Welfare Approved" or "Certified Humane". If you see, and we have often, the terms "Natural" or "No Hormones Used" labels, know that these are meaningless and misleading terms since we know that "natural" has nothing to do with whether the animal received antibiotics and/or was raised humanely. Hormones are not an issue since they are barred in any pork production.
You can also feel safer purchasing your pork from some food companies who say they don't sell any meat from pigs raised with ractopamine, such as Niman Ranch, Whole Foods and Chipotle. And by the way, Trader Joe’s does sell meat given antibiotics, even though a lot of their employees didn’t know that. See here: http://notinmyfood.org/posts/3617-trader-joes-employees-offer-misleading-claims-about-their-meat. There are two websites where you can find additional information as to restaurants in your particular area who use pork without these additives. And finally, Consumer Reports' own website devoted to food safety - notinmyfood.org.
You can find the original report here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/01/what-s-in-that-pork/index.htmDo you eat pork? Will knowing this change that in any way?
Thanks for listening!
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We’ve been experimenting with quite a few sugar free, gluten-free, yeast-free breads and desserts. We have had some victories and a few disappointments, but I wanted to share them with you. This is an adaptation to our Blueberry Muffin recipe posted last week – see here. For anyone with yeast overgrowth or even just some yeast issues, these will help starve that yeast and get it eliminated from your body. Often times we don’t even realize we have yeast and the possibility that they might have taken control of our intestinal flora. Do you have lots of bloating after eating? Probably yeast. Can’t lose weight even though you’re starving yourself? Probably yeast. We have to starve it by eliminating ALL sugar and yeast from our diets. Other things need to be eliminated too, but these are the main culprits. To say it's difficult to find a sugar-free, gluten-free, and YEAST-free bread is an understatement. Let me know if you do. We've experimented with a few recipes and found some we really liked. I will be posting those recipes very soon.
Now, just a short note about these recipes. They are adapted from a book called "The Joy of Gluten-free, Sugar-free Baking" and I highly recommend the book. However, I suddenly realized with my last two recipe attempts, the authors are WEIGHING their dry ingredients. For instance, one recipe says 1 cup (4 oz/113 grams)! Well, I've been baking since I was a kid and one cup to me is 8 ounces in a dry measuring cup - so totally NOT 4 oz! So I decided to actually weigh the flour this time at 85 grams and I think they turned out better than the last batch. Which, really if you think about it, each "flour" has a different weight - it's a bit different than using all purpose flour which stays the same. The almond flour I purchased and is available in most grocery stores, but for the pecan flour, I simply ground up raw organic pecans in the spice grinder. And seriously? If you don't have yeast issues or aren't worried about the glycemic load, you could use sugar in these recipes. Hmmm - and did you notice? There are NO oils or fats added? The fats are naturally derived from the nuts - and they are the healthy fats!
Ingredients:
¾ cups (3 oz/85 grams) pecan flour
¾ cup (3 oz/85 grams almond flour
½ cup Stevia in the Raw Extract (we were able to find this at Russ's! One of our least health-oriented grocery stores.)
1/3 cup hemp seeds
1/3 cup organic dried coconut
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs (approximately 3.5 oz/99 grams)
½ cup (4 oz/113 grams) unsweetened coconut milk
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 packet NuStevia
½ to 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (I put them in still frozen)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9 to 10 muffin cups with paper liners. I like to spray them with olive oil spray (optional). Mix the pecan flour, almond flour, Stevia in the Raw, hemp seeds, coconut, baking powder and salt until well blended. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla, lemon juice, and NuStevia until well blended. Add the egg mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon for 1 to 2 minutes. I’ve found that this is an important step to get the correct consistency of the batter. I even set my timer for 2 minutes after I pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture but I’m a little OCD-ish. Fold the raspberries into the batter – gently of course. Again, no need to thaw them out first - easy and fast.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and the cups should be just about full. They don’t rise much if at all. Place the muffin pan on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Test them with a toothpick and if it comes out clean, they’re ready. I like to then set them out on a wire rack for cooling. Well, truthfully, I like to pull a really hot one out and slather it with butter and eat it right then - my reward.
We liked these a lot and Warren took a few to work with him today. I will do a nutritional analysis, but just knowing that I’m using nut “flour” (and we use organic raw nuts), NO sugar, and coconut milk – the amount of fiber and protein has to be high. The raspberries of course were not sweetened – so more goodness for you.
Let me know if you try these and how they turned out. If you have any questions, let me know!
Thanks for listening!
]]>One of the biggest issues for us this past year has been following a totally gluten-free, sugar-free, yeast-free, soy-free eating plan. This was needed due to a very serious yeast overgrowth issue in our family. It's been a life-changing difficult path, but we've learned a lot and we are thankful we've learned to eat a more healthy diet. I was very excited when I found the cookbook from which this recipe was taken (see below). Finding ANY bread, cake or muffin that has no yeast, no sugar or no gluten is impossible. Or I thought it was until I found this cookbook.
¾ cup hazelnut flour
¾ cup almond flour
½ cup Stevia Extract in the Raw or ¼ cup New Roots Stevia Sugar
1/3 cup almonds or hazelnuts, chopped
1 TBSP baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
½ cup unsweetened soy milk (or other milk)
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp liquid stevia
½ to 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 muffin cups with paper or foil liners, then lightly mist them with spray oil (or omit the liners and generously mist the muffin cups with spray oil).
In a medium bowl, combine the hazelnut flour, almond flour, stevia extract, almonds, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until well mixed. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla, lemon juice and liquid stevia together until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon for 1 to 2 minutes to make a smooth, sticky batter (see page 27). Gently fold in the blueberries.
Spoon or scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it evenly among them; the muffin cups should be just about full.
Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate and bake for 20 more minutes, until golden brown and firm and springy when pressed in the center.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack.
Taken from “The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking”, by Peter Reinhart & Denene Wallace
Let me know if you try these!
Thanks for listening!
My recipe records show that I first tried this recipe on July 7th, 2008, and that it was “really good!!” The recipe was adapted from “The Best Ever Vegetarian” published by Parragon Publishing, copyright 2003. I say all that because I don’t see authors listed which is interesting, and there are several other cookbooks with the same name. It is spiral bound, which I particularly like, and I have found this to be a useful guide. I like to scan the recipes and then I can write notes on the printed pages and put it in our family book of recipes.
Of course, this doesn’t have to be “meatless” and you can substitute approximately 12 oz of lamb to make it a truly traditional moussaka. The original recipe called for a 10-1/2 oz can of green lentils. I didn’t use the lentils and if I had, I would have cooked my own since they are so easy. It would, of course, add some protein and make it an even healthier meal.
Ingredients:
Approximately ½ cup olive oil
1 onion chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Pinch of cinnamon and paprika
Salt and pepper
1 large fresh eggplant, sliced
Topping:
2 tbsp butter
2-1/2 tbsp brown rice flour
1-1/4 cup organic milk or milk substitute
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup (divided into ½ cup each) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in skillet and add the onion and cook until softened. Add the celery, garlic, the tomatoes and juice from the tomatoes, and the chopped parsley. Add the lentils here if you use them. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover this mixture and simmer gently for 15 minutes or until thickened.
2. Meanwhile, heat a little of the remaining oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the eggplant slices, in batches, if necessary, and cook until golden brown on both sides, adding more oil as necessary. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Eggplant has a tendency to soak up a lot of oil, so be sure to drain these well. Layer an ovenproof dish with the tomato mixture and the eggplant slices, ending up with a layer of eggplant. I actually used a 9 x 13 inch pan and was able to place one layer of the eggplant and one layer of the tomatoes. So – the size of your pan obviously will determine how many layers you will end up with. There is a cook’s tip that says to prevent the eggplant from absorbing too much oil during cooking, salt it first. Place the slices in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and let stand for 20 minutes to let them dry out. In the “olden days” we would salt eggplant to prevent bitterness, but the newer varieties are without that bitterness.
3. Topping: To make the topping, put the butter, flour, and milk into a pan and bring to a boil over low heat, whisking constantly. Season to taste with nutmeg, ½ cup cheese, salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat, let cool slightly, then beat in the egg. Pour the sauce over the eggplants, sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup parmesan cheese, and bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden.
This evening I’m thinking about using zucchini rather than eggplant, which of course, will make it something entirely different than a moussaka, but I think it will still taste good. I also think I'll add the lentils this time - red ones probably because that's what I have the most of. Let me know if you try this!
Thanks for listening!
Ann's mission statement is to provide health and wellness information to you and your family that you may not find in your every-day newspapers or Prevention magazines. Her college studies, certifications and passionate self-study have provided her with a huge spectrum of understanding of the intricate issues and debates concerning health and nutrition. Ann is a Critical Care Registered Nurse, a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, and has been studying nutrition, aromatherapy, skin care health and medicinal herbalism for at least 13 years. Not so surprisingly, all of these interact for health and wellness at a level we all want to achieve. She is an ardent pursuer of verified research and information and spends huge amounts of time searching for information that is relevant and evidence based. We sincerely hope you benefit from her efforts.
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Let me just start off saying I am addicted to coffee. My name is Ann and I am a coffeeaholic. I am in no way making fun of that very familiar phrase, but I just wanted to add that bit of information because that admission may influence my bias about any articles I read and/or post about caffeine. The fact my mother and grandfather had Alzheimer’s also adds to my bias to find ways to prevent this from happening to me or one of my siblings, children or grandchildren. So – when I find what to me seems to be yet another reason to justify my coffee-drinking habit and at the same time prevent the onset of Alzheimer's, I’m happy to share that information. The fact is, however, I do limit the amount of coffee I drink every day to no more than 2 cups and often I don’t finish that 2nd cup. I do think I NEED that coffee though and there is little argument that caffeine is addictive – and so is sugar.
This study adds to the evidence that caffeine blocks the inflammation that contributes to brain cell damage, memory loss and ultimately Alzheimer’s Disease. According to Gregory Freund from the University of Illinois’s Division of Nutritional Sciences: “We have discovered a novel signal that activates the brain-based inflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases, and caffeine appears to block its activity. This discovery may eventually lead to drugs that could reverse or inhibit mild cognitive impairment."(1)
This study took a look at the how caffeine affected memory formation in mice with one group being given caffeine and the other group receiving none. Both groups of mice were then subjected to a simulation of interruption of blood flow to the brain and then allowed to recover. Having worked in a critical care unit for many years, I know firsthand how loss of even a short period of blood flow to the brain, as in cardiac arrest, can affect short-term and long-term memory as well as overall brain health. Loss of oxygen to the brain does, in fact, kill brain cells. Interestingly, in this study those mice given the caffeine were able to recover new memory formation 33% faster than the group not given caffeine. The authors of this study suggest that caffeine has the ability to block the inflammation associated with many neurodegenerative diseases.
Without going into a long discourse as to all the negative assumptions and cautions about caffeine, let me just say that as with anything, moderation is always the most important consideration with anything that is potentially addictive. So – for those of us who are already addicted, most studies and nutritionists agree that IF you drink coffee, keep your consumption to 2 cups a day or less. If you don’t already drink coffee, there’s no reason to add another potentially addictive substance to your already complicated life.
Thanks for listening!
1. G. S. Chiu, D. Chatterjee, P. T. Darmody, J. P. Walsh, D. D. Meling, R. W. Johnson, G. G. Freund. Hypoxia/Reoxygenation Impairs Memory Formation via Adenosine-Dependent Activation of Caspase 1. Journal of Neuroscience, 2012; 32 (40): 13945 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0704-12.2012
]]>RED LENTIL ARTICHOKE STEW:
1-1/2 cups water
2 medium sized yellow onions, diced
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin (we always use more cumin than called for in everything – so
use more if you want!)
1 tsp ground coriander (take the whole ones and grind them up with a mortal and
pestle – no comparison to ground spices in the bottle at the grocery store)
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp fresh organic lemon juice (I use organic cold-pressed essential oil if I
don’t have the organic lemons, just a couple drops)
1 can (24 oz) chopped tomatoes undrained
1 can (15 oz) drained artichoke hearts
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste
Sauté onions until transparent. I like a little brown on them as it sweetens and mellows out the flavors but I also sometimes get distracted and they brown to the point of bitter, so just keep an eye on them. Add the garlic until just warm and you can smell it, then add the spices. Blend this just until the fragrance rises from the pan. Add the water, lentils, bay leaf, lemon juice, tomatoes with liquid, artichoke hearts and red pepper flakes (we don’t always do this, but we’re wimps when it comes to “heat”.) Bring this to a boil. Lower the heat to just a simmer and let it simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Now I have to admit that I’ve been writing down recipes since I was 16 yrs old (or younger), so I wasn’t sure where this one came from, but I googled it and apparently I wrote this one down during one of our afternoons at Barnes & Noble since I don’t have the book or at least can’t find it right now, but I have way too many cook books – or so my family would tell me. I’m not sure you can EVER have too many. It apparently was “adapted” from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I’m much more careful now when I write down a recipe to make sure I also make note of the original author.
Let me know if you try it, how you liked it, or how you would improve it. I have never ever followed a recipe that I didn’t change it somewhat and then change it again the next time I cook it. Which is why I make a photocopy of each recipe and then note the date I first try it, who was there, what was the occasion, and how did we like it. It gives me great joy to go back through some of my recipes and remember some of the family occasions where we first tried them.
I've posted another artichoke recipe that is one of our favorites - here - and also why we think artichokes are one of nutrition's super hero's here. AND - three more nutritional reasons to try this recipe - here.
Thanks for listening!
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Now – I’m sort of doing this backwards. I just made some regular old hummus and found this old recipe in my stack of OLD recipes, so I don’t know where I got it from or I’d give credit where credit belongs. I am posting this because I thought it looked really good and let’s face it – we’re all wanting to do something with pumpkin now at the beginning of fall.
So – my questions would be – has anyone tried anything like
this? Did you like it and/or would you make it again. I’d also like to hear if
anyone else thinks this looks really good or not so good. Obviously, I am a
little undecided or I would have just gone ahead and made it. Now - this has to be one of the healthiest snacks I can possibly think of what with the raw garlic and the garbanzo beans - than add pumpkin puree to that!
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp Tahini
2 Tbsp water or olive oil to thin to the consistency you like
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp coriander
¼ tsp cumin
Place everything in your food processor blend until you have
the consistency you like best.
I posted a blog a year or two ago about how to make raw hummus and why that's a good idea, but to be honest, I've been so busy (or translate that as lazy) that I've been using canned garbanzo's. I really am going to go back to soaking and cooking dried beans - really!
Thanks for listening!
Arnica (Arnica montana) is a well-known and well-established herbal cure for anyone who has ever experienced the debilitating
pain and inflammation of arthritis, broken bones, sprains, gout, pulled muscles
or torn ligaments. We began infusing (also commonly referred to as macerating) our own Arnica oil several years ago when
we realized that some of the most important constituents in this amazing herb
can be lost if processed at high temperatures. This herb has also been referred to as Arnica chamissonis, leopard's bane and mountain tobacco. The product we use is from the flowers of Arnica montana that are collected at the end of the summer and dried for medicinal use. We are diligently looking for local growers and our dream, of course, is to have land of our own to grow and dry our own plants. In the meantime, we carefully source our herbs from a company who is extremely concerned about the environment and tests for pesticides and heavy metals. We receive fresh herbs that still have their natural color and brightness intact, as you can see from the picture. If not used immediately, we store our herbs in dark glass in dark closed cabinets.
What are the benefits of Arnica montana oil?:
Traditionally the benefits from this plant are obtained from
the flowers and the roots. In countries where Arnica is indigenous it has been
used as a popular remedy for pain, bruises, rheumatism, as well as many other
inflammatory conditions. In North America the flower is what is used most
frequently and this is in fact what we use in our organic Arnica infused oil - not to be confused with an essential oil. Although due
to its potential toxicity the internal use of Arnica is allowed only in
homeopathic remedies - this caution does NOT apply to the external topical application. In fact, this particular
plant is well-known as one of the best remedies for external local healing and
can be used as a compress or included in a massage oil or cream. Which is why it is one of the main ingredients in our very popular Spicey Muscle Oil.
According to the most reliable authority, The Complete German Commission E Monographs, arnica contains helenalin, its most active sesquiterpene lactone, responsible for its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects (1, 2), for those who are interested, and 11,13-dihydrohelenalin. This plant also contains the flavanoids of isoquercitrin, luteolin-7-glucoside, and astragalin, the volatile oil (with thymol and its derivatives), phenol carbonic acid (chlorogenic acid, cynarin, caffeic acid), and coumarins (umbelliferone, scopoletin). Arnica montana is known to contain 10 different constituents which have anti-inflammatory and pain relieving benefits. According to the Aromatic Guide to the Use of Herbs by Kolbjorn Borseth, the essential oils of this plant "stimulates the mopping up and reabsorption of blood from the bruised tissue and hastened the replacement of damaged tissue with new cells.” According to Richo Cech in his classic book Making Plant Medicine, he indicates that "arnicated oil" is an excellent penetrating anti-inflammatory for treating traumatic injuries such as bruises, sprains and torn ligaments. He goes on to say that “Arnica resolves stuck blood.” And in yet another herbal classic entitled "The Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook" by James Green, he indicates that Arnica oil can also be blended into equal parts with infused calendula and infused St. John's Wort oils for soothing traumatic injuries including small to major ones. We are also offering these two infused oils on our website and, of course, they are the base for our previously mentioned Spicey Muscle Oil.
Our organic herbal tradition process:
While making our unique infused oil, we use only the
certified organic flowers of Arnica montana and infuse these flowers in a
certified organic high oleic sunflower oil. The sunflower oil alone has an
amazing array of benefits the details of which can be found on our website. Research has shown that sunflower oil when used on premature infants
actually increased their ability to survive. Use in soaps, creams,
lotions and/or massage oils. As mentioned previously, we infuse these
flowers for weeks at low temperatures to ensure that we are obtaining the
maximum amount of healing constituents. We are now offering this infused oil to
the public on our website in a one ounce treatment bottle, or 2 or 4 ounce
glass amber bottle. The amber glass is used to protect these precious healing constituents from UV light. Our prices are extremely competitive as our
overhead costs are substantially lower than larger operations. Additionally, in
the best herbal tradition, we do this
process in small batches and fully believe that the energy of good will and
purpose as we stir these oils daily will be reflected in the overall quality of
the end product. Our final infused/macerated oils are stored in recycled wine bottles
with vacuum pumps to insure no benefits are lost - and we store them in a
refrigerated room to insure their freshness.
SAFETY AND CAUTIONS:
All herbalists agree that Arnica montana oil should not be applied to an opened wound. Repeated application to the skin can cause irritation. Do not apply to broken skin and this herb is not recommended while pregnant or nursing.
Thanks for listening!
1. Lyss, G., T. J. Schmidt, I. Merfort, and H. L. Pahl. "Helenalin, an anti-inflammatory sesquiterpene lactone from Arnica, selectively inhibits transcription factor NF-kappaB." Biological Chemistry 378.9 (1997): 951-61. Web.
2. Lyss, G., A. Knorre, T. J. Schmidt, H. L. Pahl, and I. Merfort. "The anti-inflammatory sesquiterpene lactone helenalin inhibits the transcription factor NF-kappaB by directly targeting p65." Biological Chemistry 273.50 (1988): 33508-16. Web.
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Do you still have pearly white teeth? And I'm sure you are aware that the health of your teeth is more valuable than gold? Energy drinks may sound like a good thing and obviously they are popular for different reasons for different people. But did you know they can cause serious damage to your teeth if you drink them often? A recent study which took a look at 22 different energy drinks, including Red Bull Sugar Free and Rockstar were acidic enough to harm tooth enamel. The Red Bull Sugar Free and Rockstar were the most acidic of the 22 tested. The authors of the study tested different brands of drinks for their effects on tooth enamel and found both energy drinks and sports drinks caused damage. Energy drinks, however, were twice as bad. Damaged tooth enamel cannot be fixed. Enamel is the hard outer layer of a tooth made mostly of minerals. Tooth decay is caused primarily by bacteria as they feed on the sugars in the food you eat - and they form acids. The acids attack the teeth for 20 minutes or more after eating. Over a period of time, these acids destroy tooth enamel, resulting in tooth decay. So by exposing your teeth to even more acid, you are speeding up the process.
The study:
Poonam Jain, BDS, MPH, associate professor and director of community
dentistry at the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine and her
associates tested 13 sports drinks and 9 energy drinks for acidity. They tested
six drinks for their effects on tooth enamel
and found both types caused damage. Energy drinks, however, were twice as bad. The
study is published in the journal General Dentistry. (1)
Those who don't agree:
As would be expected, the industry itself has made various comments attempting to refute the results of this study. I don’t think any one questions that acidity damages the enamel on teeth, so it would probably depend on how many energy/sports drinks you drink a day and how long your teeth are exposed to the acid in your particular choice of drink. I am working on a blog about energy drinks in general and they aren’t good for you for many reasons, this being only one of them. However, if you want to continue drinking your energy drinks/sports drinks, my suggestion would be to use some xylitol chewing gum immediately after and drinking water to dilute the acid levels. Xylitol has been found to kill bacteria in your mouth. We've found a NOW brand of xylitol in a local health food store and use it as one of our sugar free replacements and in our homemade toothpaste. The authors of the study suggested that brushing your teeth immediately after drinking the energy drink is not a good idea as it will spread the acid further. Their suggestion was to wait approximately one hour afterwards and then brush your teeth.
My suggestion, of course, would be to JUICE your own energy juice using real organic vegetables and fruits.
Thanks for listening!
1. Academy of General Dentistry. "Sports and energy drinks responsible for irreversible damage to teeth." ScienceDaily, 1 May 2012. Web. 10 Sep. 2012.
For further reading and information on this subject:
http://www.agd.org/about/newsmedia/pressreleases/Default.asp?PubID=45&IssID=1499&ArtID=10618#body
http://www.naturalnews.com/035830_energy_drinks_acid_teeth.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/sports-energy-drinks-teeth-tooth-damage-enamel_n_1468401.html
CITRUS PARADISI (PINK GRAPEFRUIT) ESSENTIAL OIL:
I’m talking about the pure essential oil, undiluted and unadulterated. This particular essential oil has many well proven beneficial and healing properties not the least of which includes animal and human studies showing its potential to prevent several types of cancer. In this article I present some of the most compelling research available including well-controlled studies as well as anecdotal evidence and information from some of the more reliable aromatherapy texts on the market. I purposefully avoided reading or considering information listed on the various aromatherapy websites. Some of them have very good, accurate and researched information. However, many of them are simply copied and pasted from either aromatherapy texts or other websites throughout the Internet, which simply leads to confusion and contradiction.
Citrus paradisi is known to be native to Asia and the West Indies however there are many different cultivars being developed and grown in other countries including the USA and Israel. From the information I read, the grapefruit is a recent hybrid. The essential oil is obtained from the cold-pressed peel.
WHY USE THE ESSENTIAL OIL?:
Kurt Schnaubelt, a well-known authority and author on the practice of aromatherapy and the use of pure essential oils said in a brochure for a 2009 conference in San Francisco: "The idea of dominating nature with chemicals and drugs is losing some of its luster. In aromatherapy this is reflected by an increase in research and empirical knowledge about essential oils in the context of serious disease. It is also reflected in conventional medicine. As pharmacology has been reduced to an adjunct of the corporate profit motive; biology is moving center stage."
The therapeutic value of an individual essential oil is related to its composition, which represents a complex make-up of many chemical components each with different biological activities. These varied compositions show wide variations that depend on their source. However, that being said, much of the research available to us today is being done with isolated components of individual essential oils. The influence of trace components on the therapeutic effect of essential oils has not been studied sufficiently. It is believed that these minor components probably contribute significantly to not just the odor of the oil but to the combined synergistic effect of all the components in order to appreciate the full healing potential of any given oil. In fact, grapefruit oil supposedly receives its olfactory character almost entirely from its minor components. I’ll first give you a short overview of what the popular aromatherapy texts say, and then I will delineate some of the current research available concerning this essential oil and/or constituent.
AROMATHERAPY BOOKS:
Out of all the texts most of them agree that grapefruit essential oil has the following benefits and properties:
Cleansing, detoxifying, energizing, uplifting, stimulates the lymphatic system, increases circulation, stimulates liver and gallbladder function, mental stimulant, antidepressant, useful as a room deodorizer, antiseptic, antiviral, diuretic, anti-cellulite, astringent, immune stimulant, tones the skin and tissues. As with all pure essential oils, and unlike pharmaceutical drugs, one oil can provide many proven and non-related benefits.
What I've chosen to do with this article is point out and give proof to some of the more compelling beneficial properties of this particular essential oil. To do this most of the research refers to the main chemical constituent (sometimes referred to as component) of this oil which is made up of over 90% d-limonene.
ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH STUDIES:
1. Skin penetration enhancer: In two separate studies that I found, d-limonene was found to affect the skin barrier in such a way that it was shown to enhance the transcutaneous penetration of other substances. This is useful information both for medical applications in skin patches and for cosmetic formulators such as myself (1, 2).
2. Immune stimulant: This is a particularly exciting property of d-limonene and has been proven in both animal and human studies. Animal studies have shown that this happens in various ways. The immune system is complex. White blood cells are soldiers and defend our bodies against infectious disease and foreign materials. They are found in the blood, in the lymphatic system as well as other body systems. White blood cells are divided into five types and each type has its own particular assignment with each one often assisting the other. For instance, while in nursing school the characteristic of the macrophage that performs what is referred to as phagocytosis reminded me of Pac-Man and that's how I remembered its purpose and method of operation. If you remember Pac-Man then you'll understand what I mean. The reason I go into these details is to give you a better understanding of why d-limonene is of great importance in enhancing your immune system and increasing your ability to resist and fight bacteria, fungus, viruses and even cancer. In the many studies that I found it has been shown that d-limonene can increase white blood cell count, increase natural killer cell activity, increase the number and activity of macrophages and stimulate antibody production (3, 4, 5). Not directly related to its immune enhancing properties, pink grapefruit oil has been shown also to reduce stress which would also enhance immune function. And finally d-limonene has been used successfully in randomized clinical trials in a combination with other constituents that proved to produce better results than antibiotics and all treatments were more effective than placebo for acute bronchitis (6).
3. Lipolysis and/or weight reduction: Probably one of the most talked about and misunderstood benefits of this component regard its ability to cause decreased appetite and weight loss. The major study that looked at these properties was actually related to olfactory stimulation (the inhaled essence of grapefruit oil) rather than internal intake. There are many websites on the Internet now that are copied and pasted endlessly from one to the other that refer back to a particular multilevel marketing product where one is encouraged to take "eight drops to a glass of water and drink in between your meals during the day to help you manage hunger and overcome cravings." In actuality the main study that I found was done on chronic olfactory stimulation (inhaled); i.e., 15 minutes per day three days a week for six weeks which did in fact result in a "significant decrease in caloric intake and body weight" (7).
Currently, professional aromatherapy organizations do not allow their members to advocate the internal use of essential oils and their insurance does not cover this activity. Essential oils suggested for digestive issues can be applied to the abdomen in a carrier oil or lotion and massaged in a clockwise direction. The entire discussion concerning the oral use of essential oils is greatly debated but most everyone in the professional arena agrees this should not be done without guidance and direction from a professionally educated aromatherapist who has an in-depth understanding of the risks, benefits and pathophysiology. And let me add, this is not accomplished in a 10-day course and should result in an internationally recognized certification.
A professional aromatherapist might suggest that this discussion, specifically concerning d-limonene, revolves around a well-known book written by Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, translated from French and edited by Robert Tisserand. In this book, Gattefosse states that “taken internally terpenes (which would include d-limonene) dissolve mucus, damage the stomach lining, cause auto digestion, alterations and painful irritation.” However Robert Tisserand made an editorial comment in that book, page 142, and also replied on a LinkedIn aromatherapy group discussion that “indeed terpenes are very useful for dissolving mucus; however, they do not cause the problems that the author list here unless perhaps if taken in abnormally high doses.” He goes on to state that “everything depends on concentration -- any essential oil used in flavoring will be very dilute and will not cause the G.I. tract irritation. Any essential oil -- of whatever composition -- should be properly dispersed before ingestion. It is inadvisable to ingest essential oils undiluted or in water." This of course only makes common sense since essential oils are lipophilic (not soluble in water) and would simply sit on top of a glass of water. One wonders why this is recommended for this particular company's blend. Essential oil molecules are very small and regardless of how the oil is introduced, either by rubbing them into the skin or by inhalation, these routes are in many cases more effective than internal ingestion. According to a study done at the University of Nottingham's school of health, a consideration and caution concerning the ingestion of essential oils such as those containing d-limonene, since it is able to inhibit a broad spectrum of organisms, the d-limonene could also potentially cause an imbalance in beneficial gut microflora.
All of that being said, however, d-limonene has been shown in laboratory studies to increase the metabolism of adipose (fatty) tissue and more recently has been shown to be helpful in alleviating insulin resistance (8). It has also been proven in studies that d-limonene deposits and accumulates mostly in adipose tissue. This particular attribute is one of the reasons it is thought to be effective against breast cancer. See cancer discussion below.
4. Anticancer/anti-tumoral: One study shows clearly that rats with stable mammary tumors when given a 10% d-limonene diet had an 87% regression of tumors. It also showed those fed d-limonene have significantly increased survival time. In other animal studies d-limonene showed antitumoral action in cancers of the breast, liver, pancreas and stomach (9, 10, 11, 12). These results were believed to have been mainly due to the metabolites of d-limonene. On the assumption that d-limonene is a lipid soluble bioactive food component found in citrus peel, a study in the Tucson metropolitan area was done comparing citrus and black tea intake and its effects on non-melanoma skin cancer. The total combined citrus peel and black tea intake was associated with a 78% decreased risk. Black tea alone was associated with a 40% decreased risk but was not considered significant. However citrus peel intake was associated with a 70% decreased risk. It was believed that this study gives evidence in humans that biologically active components exist in the peel of citrus that may have a protective effect against select cancers, and especially those cancers related to adipose (fatty) tissue such as skin and breast.
5. Antifungal: According to a study published in the Journal Food Chemistry the essential oils of lemon, mandarin, grapefruit and orange all exhibited antifungal activity and against common food molds. The researchers attributed this finding to the "monoterpene content of these essential oils", which would be d-limonene (13).
SAFETY & CAUTIONS: Grapefruit essential oil due to its d-limonene content has a very high potential for oxidation when exposed to light, heat, moisture and air. If and when this should happen, the likelihood of skin irritation is also more likely. I recommend first of all purchasing only an organic essential oil and keeping it tightly closed in an amber or blue bottle and refrigerated. We refrigerate all of our citrus oils. As are most other citrus oils that are cold-pressed (opposed to steam distilled), this oil is photo-sensitizing which means exposure to direct sunlight or a sunbed within the next 24 to 48 hours could result in severe burns or irritation. It is recommended to use this essential oil in dilutions of 1%. The regular cautions concerning medications and interactions with grapefruit juice would most likely apply to the use of the essential oil as well.
IN CONCLUSION: Athough there are many other studies available showing additional beneficial properties for this particular essential oil, due primarily to its high content of d-limonene, I have covered the ones that seem to have the greatest amount of recent research studies proving these properties. At some point I would like to go into more detail about the anticancer/antitumor possibilities of not just this essential oil but others as well. Another area of great interest is the use of pink grapefruit essential oil during pregnancy. Coming soon!
Thanks for listening!
REFERENCES: