Wellness Voice

These days, between drug stores and TV commercials, we’re inundated with so many choices to relieve pain, colds and flus, diarrhea, upset stomachs, allergies, and so on.How do you know which products are best? And why the heck do we need so many?

We can surely waste a lot of time in the drug store searching for the perfect remedy. Reading label after label and hoping we don’t suffer any funky side effects. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to use natural medicine for almost all of your health concerns without the fear of side effects? Well you can. The solution is therapeutic grade essential oils.

Essential oils have been used as medicine for thousands of years. And today, the rediscovery of true, medicinal aromatherapy is affecting thousands of people in profound ways. I am one of those fortunate people who have experienced, first hand, the medicinal benefits of essential oils. And I will never be without them!

Please know that I’m not suggesting you stop any prescription medications you might be taking. Those are very important for your health. Always consult with your doctor before stopping or lowering your dose.

Here are 3 easy natural remedies for some all-to-common ailments using pure therapeutic grade essential oils:

1. For Fevers: Rub 3 drops of Peppermint essential oil on each foot. This has worked for me and many people I know, and it’s especially good for children. For children under 2, dilute 1 part essential oil with 10 parts organic vegetable oil.

Peppermint essential oil is also great for upset stomachs, headaches, stuffy noses, indigestion, improving concentration and healing insect bites. One bottle of peppermint essential oil could easily replace at least 6 different medications in your medicine cabinet.

2. For Allergies: Rub a drop or two of Lavender essential oil on your cheeks and under your nose to help clear allergic symptoms, such as sneezing, stuffy nose and watery eyes.

Lavender essential oil is a natural antihistamine and it’s also a great stress-reliever. It helps to calm the body and mind when inhaled. It also cleanses cuts and wounds, prevents scaring from burns and helps heal sunburn. Having a bottle of lavender essential oil on hand can replace quite a few common medications.

3. For Joint Pain: Rub a few drops of an essential oil blend called PanAway on sore joints, as needed. This blend has helped me with back pain more times than I can count!

PanAway essential oil blend contains wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum), clove (Syzygium aromaticum) and peppermint (Mentha piperita.) This blend is also helpful to relieve muscle soreness associated with exercising. By using PanAway, you’re able to replace over-the-counter muscle rubs and even common pain reliever pills.

The beauty of using therapeutic grade essential oils is that you are able to get the same results as if you were using common medications, but without the side effects. Please remember that when you are using essential oils as medicine, ONLY use therapeutic grade.

© 2008 Christa McCourt

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The Lavender essential oil is one of the most popular and most healing essential oils on the market. In this article, we’ll give a brief overview of the history of the Lavender essential oil, go over the wide range of ailments this essential oil can cure, then finally practically ways you can use the lavender essential oil. By the end of this article, you’ll know both what Lavender is used for, as well as how to use it.

A Brief History of the Lavender Essential Oil

The Lavender Essential Oil was first discovered by Dr. Rene Gattefosse in the 1920’s. He was doing experiments in his lab when he made a mistake and burned his hand. The only thing that he had on hand at the moment was a jar of extracted lavender oil that he had next to him. The first thought that came to mind was to plunge his hand into the extracted lavender oil.

To his great surprise, he instantly felt soothed and relieved. His burn healed much more quickly than it would have otherwise. He realized that his hand was soothed as a result of the lavender oil.

As a scientist, he got very curious about the effects of lavender and other essential oils. He began to do further research into lavender and the extracts of other plants. His research started the trend that has today become aromatherapy.

Uses of the Lavender Essential Oil

There are many uses of the Lavender Essential Oil, from curing very common ailments to the more obscure.

Some of these include:

Sweaty Skin, Acne, Stress Relieve, Allergies, Reducing Anxiety, Reducing Itching, Faster recovery of stress marks, relief from mild sunburn, Athlete’s Foot, Asthma, Blisters, Bruises, Burns & Scalds

As you can see, lavender really has a wide range of uses.

How to Use the Lavender Essential Oil

There are many ways to use the lavender essential oil. Here, we’ll go over three simple ways:

1) Drop 10 drops into a bathtub full of water and enjoy a nice, relaxing soak. The diluted essential oil will gradually affect its healing properties on your body while you take a bath.

2) You can dilute the lavender oil in carrier oil and rub it directly on your skin. It’s generally not a good idea to rub essential oils directly on your skin, even with lavender.

3) You can diffuse the oil in the air. One way to do that is to soak a tissue with the oil and put it on a fan. This will have the oil gradually spray itself throughout the air.

You now know what the lavender essential oil is, its uses and how to use it for yourself. While you can experiment with the lavender oil at home, it can also be an amazing experience to experience the healing effects of the lavender oil at the hands of an aromatherapist or a massage therapist.

Keep in mind that if you have any serious physical ailments, consult a doctor before applying your own cures. Lavender oil isn’t a replacement for real medical attention when it comes to more serious issues.

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Out of all the essential oils, peppermint is one of the most popular. It has a wide range of healing properties for a wide range of ailments. In this article, we’ll go into a brief overview of the peppermint essential oil and then go into its various uses and application. By the end of this article, you’ll know exactly what peppermint is and how to use it for your own purposes.

What is the Peppermint Essential Oil?

The peppermint essential oil is made by distilling the peppermint plant. The plant grows in various parts of Asia and Europe. When most people think of the peppermint plant, they think of purple because the buds of the flower are purple. However, when the whole plant is processed and the oils are extracted, the color is usually light yellow or green because of the rest of the plant.

Peppermint goes by many other names: Brandy Mint, Lamb mint, or Mentha Piperita is just some of the names peppermint is known by all over the world.

What can Peppermint Essential Oil be Used For?

The lists of ailments peppermint can help cure are simply endless. Here we’ll go over just some of the more common ones.

Peppermint can help relieve headaches quickly. It can also help relieve digestion problems naturally without medicine.

Peppermint is also the only essential oil that can help cure both jet lag and motion sickness. It can also help stave off mild anxiety attacks and reduce nausea.

When applied on poison ivy and hives, peppermint can help quickly provide relief. Peppermint can also help provide relief from low blood pressure or menstrual cramps. It can help with tooth aches, coughs and colds as well.

Finally, peppermint can also be used to help relieve aching feet or muscle aches. As you can see, the uses of peppermint are widely varied.

How Do You Apply Peppermint?

There are many ways to apply the peppermint essential oil. Oftentimes you can buy ice creams, teas or capsules that contain the essential oil in them already. If that’s the case, just follow the instructions on the label.

If you’re buying it in its essential oil form, here are some ways to use it:

Muscle Aches – Drop ten drops into a bathtub and soak. The peppermint essential oil will slowly absorb itself through the skin.

Headaches, Migraine – Mix the essential oil with carrier oil and rub it near your temples. The carrier oil is important because essential oils can be hazardous on the bare skin. Remember not to ever use an essential oil in its raw form on your bare skin.

Aching Teeth, Bad Breath – Mix about 3-5 drops in a cup of water and use it as your mouth wash. Do this before applying tooth paste if you’re brushing your teeth.

Motion Sickness – Either dilute and place on a tissue and inhale, or dilute into carrier oil and rub onto your temples.

You now know much more about the peppermint essential oil than most other people. The peppermint essential oil can be a great way to cure yourself of a wide variety of ailments. Have fun exploring and experimenting!

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Essential oils are the fragrant nectar found in various plants all over the world. There are dozens of different essential oils, each with their own uses and properties. In this article, you’ll learn a little more about three amazing essential oils: Frankincense, Cedarwood and Peppermint.

After you read this article, you’ll know exactly how you can use these three essential oils to help yourself and others.

Frankincense

Frankincense is one of the most amazing essential oils available. Its history dates all the way back to Jesus Christ, when one of the sages gifted Frankincense to baby Jesus. This oil has found its way from the east all the way to Europe and the United States.

One of the most amazing properties of Frankincense is because it can bypass the barrier of the brain and activate different areas of the brain. Because of this, Frankincense can help cure emotionally and physical ailments that other essential oils can’t. It can help in the healing depression, brain damage and even tumors or cancer.

There’s a wide variety of other uses, including: Treating allergies, improving the immune system, helping combat infections and many more.

Cedarwood

Cedarwood is known to many as the essential oil of “Harmony.” Just like Frankincense, it also has many different uses.

Cedarwood is one of the few medicines in the world that have proven to help in curing impotence.

Cedarwood can help in repairing damaged hairs. It can even help get rid of flees from dogs. Cedarwood can also act as an insect repellant for humans.

Cedarwood can also be used to help provide relief from asthma symptoms.

Peppermint

Although peppermint has now gotten popular as an ingredient in food, few people understand the healing properties of its essential oils in its purist form.

Peppermint can help relieve both bad breath and diarrhea. It can help with the digestive system and relieve indigestion.

It can help relieve various aches all over the body, including foot and muscle aches. Peppermint is also the only essential oil that can really help with headaches.

Finally, believe it or not, peppermint can help you recover from jet lag by setting your natural time clock back on track. Carrying a bit of peppermint on your travels can make a big difference in your jet lag recovery time.

3 Amazing Essential Oils

You now know about these three amazing essential oils and their healing properties. Each essential oil has its own story, its own uses and healing properties. The lists provided in this article are by no means comprehensive.

Each essential oil has a wide range of uses, some of which depend on how they’re applied. An aromatherapy massage therapist may choose different scents and essential oils than an aromatherapist. Experiencing essential oils through a massage therapist, an aromatherapist and through your own experimentation are all different yet equally amazing experiences.

Although essential oils are amazing in their curative properties, do remember to consult a doctor in the case of any serious medical issue. That said; enjoy your exploration of essential oils. It could be an amazing journey.

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Aromatherapy is a herbal medicine which uses the healing effects of essential oils, absolutes, floral waters, resins, carrier oils, infused oils, herbs and other natural substances as treatment for physical and mental conditions. Aromatherapy is based on the concept that different scents have different effects on the mind and body.

Essential oil, is a liquid volatile aromatic compound, extracted from plants. Essential oils are used in aromatherapy, cosmetics, perfumery, incense, for flavoring food and drink, and cleaning products. Essential oils are referred to as “oil of” the plant from which it was extracted. Examples are oil of antimony, oil of clove, oil of eucalyptus. The term essential means that the oil is the fragrant essence of the plant from which it is extracted.

Medical use of essential oil in aromatherapy The medical use of plant oils has a long history. Aromatherapy is currently one of the most popular ays of de-stressing. The origins go back thousands of years. Essential oils are concentrated, they generally should not be applied directly to the skin undiluted. Some can cause irritations or allergic reactions. Essential oils should be diluted before being applied. Olive, hazelnut, grapeseed are often used as carrier oils. Organically produced essential oils are best particularly if you are going to use it on your skin.

Aromatherapy is often used with massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, herbology, chiropractic and other alternative therapies. In an Aromatherapy massage, essential oils may be blended to suit the individual needs of the client. Aromatherapy massage is for anyone who appreciates a massage, the importance of skin care, and stress relief.

Essential oils are extracted from flowers, seeds, roots, leaves, wood, bark, or peel.

Most of the common essential oils are distilled using water. Raw plants are put into an alembic over heated water. As the water is heated the steam passes through the plant material, extracting the volatile compounds. The vapors are condensed back to liquid and collected. The liquid recondensed from the distillation process is called herbal distillate, plant water essence or hydrosols and is sold as a fragrant product. Examples of distilled oils are lemon balm, rose water, lavender water, clary sage or orange blossom water.

Citrus peel oils are usually cold-pressed, due to the large quantities of oil in the peels.

Volatile oils from flowers are delicate, carbon dioxide is used to extract the waxes and the essential oils that make up the concrete. Concretes are a mixture of essential oil, waxes, resins, and other plant material. The concrete is then processed with liquid carbon dioxide to separate the waxes and resins from the essential oils. When the pressure is reduced, the carbon dioxide reverts back to a gas, leaving no residue. This is a lower temperature process that prevents the decomposition of the essential oils.

Oil from the same plant can have a different name when a extracted in a different way. Rose oil is extracted from the petals of Rosa damascena and Rosa centifolia.

Steam-distilled rose oil is known as “rose otto” while the solvent extracted rose oil is known as “rose absolute”.

Essential oils must be treated like medicines. It is advisable that you exercises caution and consult a qualified aromatherapy practitioner before using aromatherapy for medical use. The internal use of essential oils should be fully avoided during

pregnancy without consulting with a licensed professional, as some oils can be abortifacients. Read safety precautions before you use them. Some very common oils such as Eucalyptus are extremely toxic internally. The smoke from burning essential oils may contain potential carcinogens, never smoke essential oils of any kind. Essential oils should always be kept out of the reach of children. Some oils can be toxic to some animals, particularly cats.

When it comes to feeling better, rejuvenating your spirit, stimulating your mind, and boosting your physical prowess, aromatherapy is the ultimate.

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Essential oils are basically the therapeutic grade oils found in plants, trees, roots, bushes, flowers and seeds. With essential oils, it is possible to oxygenate and transport nutrients to the cells of the body. Nutrients cannot be assimilated in the body without any oxygen. This is how oxygenating essential oils are useful in maintaining one’s health.

There are numerous types of essential oils where lavender and tea tree are two of the most famous essential oils having numerous benefits. There are other essential oils having their individual benefits in aromatherapy. All essential oils are basically antiseptic with the tea tree being the strongest natural disinfectant known to man.

Essential oils are also antifungal, antibacterial and they even help in controlling pressure, anxiety, coughs, colds, burns, sites, stomach disorders, problem skin and many other health issues. Essential oils can be used in numerous ways; they can be applied topically to deal with skin, muscular and joint problems or inhaled to cure breathing problems, infections and maintain mental health.

On inhaling essential oils, a chemical process is triggered in the brain that sends hormones and chemicals to the body. These chemicals produce positive thoughts and emotions that surpass any negative emotions and thoughts a person may have. This is why many people find that they benefit from balancing their emotions on inhaling or being massaged by essential oils.

It is usually better to dilute essential oils to render them safe for application to the body as moisturizers. It is also possible to place diluted essential oils in a burner so that it can be diffused in the rooms of your home. It can also be created into disinfectants by adding to water. Add them to humidifiers to combat infections, drip them into the Hoover bag to give a wonderful smell in the house while vacuuming or perhaps popped on your pillow to give you a sweeter slumber.

Aromatherapy uses lots of essential oils to help in the healing of aesthetic, physical and psychological ailments. This is the only therapy that uses the most neglected of the five senses, the sense of smell. With aromatherapy, it is possible to stimulate and invigorate your mind in the morning and then calm and soothe it at the end of the day. Essential oils are used to soothe inflammations, help ease all forms of dull pain, act as an antiseptic and help in stimulating digestion.

Essential oils also indirectly or directly affect the physiological systems of the body. A few drops of peppermint taken orally helps in digestion and inhalation of mucolytic oils tend to help in providing relief from respiratory symptoms. It is also possible to treat minor skin conditions using essential oils because of its antiseptic and soothing effects. Essential oils can also indirectly raise and lower blood pressure wherein it is possible to normalize the secretion of hormones in the body.

There are multiple benefits in essential oils; it is up to you to use your imagination and ideas to create better and more effective benefits of essential oils.

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Aromatherapy massage actually improves the texture and appearance of the skin Aromatherapy uses essential oils that are thought to have healing properties. Aromatherapeutic massage utilizes the power of Essential Oils to help soothe the body and elevate emotions. Aromatherapy is the ancient science of healing, relaxing and energizing by the use of plants and their parts. Aromatherapy also acts on the central nervous system, relieving depression and anxiety, reducing stress, relaxing, uplifting, sedating and stimulating. Aroma Vera Massage Oils are produced with the highest quality ingredients, and are perfect for either professional or home use. Aromatherapy helps to strengthen the healing processes by indirect stimulation of the immune system. Aromatherapy and the use of essential oils have been in use since ancient times for a multitude of reasons, from religious ceremonies and meditation to healing and seduction. Massage benefits the body by the stimulation of touch receptors and the regulation of energy flow via acupressure pathways. The combination of massage and essential oils is an ideal way to combine the benefits of both therapies. Aromatherapy can help ease a wide assortment of ailments; easing aches, pains, and injuries, while relieving the discomforts of many health problems. Room Diffusion method is used to diffuse a beautiful aroma through the house, disinfect the air if someone is sick and to boost immunity through inhalation. Depending on type of diffuser, add 10-15 drops of your chosen oil or oil blend. Bath is helpful for overall absorption into the body, boosting immunity, skin conditions and general relaxation.

Aroma Essential Oils are refreshing, fragrant plant extracts which can have an uplifting effect on the state of mind and body. Aromas and the sense of smell influence memory recall, moods, and bodily responses such as heart rate, respiration, hormone levels and stress reactions. Essential oils help to create harmony in body, mind and spirit and promote feelings of well-being, relaxation, confidence and receptivity. Essential oils work by entering the body in two ways, through the nose and through the skin. The nose is a powerful sense organ, and the sense of smell is connected directly to the limbic system of the brain, which helps control emotions, memory, and several functions in the body. Essential oils with their potent aromas can be used to enhance moods, promote relaxation, and increase energy levels. Essential Blend’s therapeutic-grade essential oils deliver positive benefits to the body through smell & direct absorption into the skin. Massage and/or Aromatherapy masssage is the systematic and scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. Antiseptic, calming, stimulating, soothing, our essential oils bring balance to all systems of the body. Focusing on the powerful medicinal capabilities of essential oils. Sunspirit Aromatherapy carries an extensive range of therapeutic grade pure essential oils, whilst also embracing their emotional and spiritual effects. There are many different ways of applying the essential oils depending on the effect you want to achieve. Inhalations are used particularly in the case of upper respiratory issues, such as colds, coughs and sore throats.

The “Matriarch” of oils, very gentle, soothing and calming to the mind and body. Using aromatherapy for pregnancy and birth is also an age old process. Some form of essential oils was used in almost every native culture. Today, aromatherapy is widely practiced in North America and Europe. Foot and Hand baths are highly beneficial in situations where it is impractical to enjoy a full aromatherapy bath – perhaps if you are elderly or have a disability. The essential oils used in aromatherapy are plant volatile oils from the flowers, leaves, stems, buds, branches, or roots that have been extracted using steam distillation, water and stem distillation or cold-pressing. Aromatherapy can be used for a variety of health conditions, such as allergies, stress, bruises, burns, diarrhea, earache, prementrual syndrome (PMS), energy, insect bites, relaxation, poor digestion, headache, menopause, insomnia, nausea, bronchitis, colds, flu, sinusitis, sprains, wounds, shingles (herpes zoster), muscle and joint pain, arthritis, nervousenss, restlessness, and scars. Essential oils can be used at home by inhalation or topical application. Steam inhalation is often used for respiratory conditions. Steam inhalation involves adding 2-3 drops of essential oil of eucalyptus, roosemary, tea tree, or other oil to hot water and holding the face over the pot with a towel draped to form a tent.

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Plants and herbs give us oxygen to let us breathe safely. But this is not the end and there are practices like aromatherapy to rejuvenate our mind and body, which are mainly based on the use of essential oils. Use of aromatherapy essential oil gives our mind and body a glow that is certainly natural.

Aromatherapy is the therapy to cure human life through the use of these extracted natural substances and they work for the betterment of human life, not essentially for the beauty purpose. However, aromatherapy through the use of essential oil adds to beauty and health to your life.

Aromatherapy essential oils are naturally extracted through a distillation or expression process. The essential oil comes out of the volatile aroma compounds of a plant or herb. This is a concentrated, liquid taken from the aroma of the plant. In simple terms, it is the oil of the plant as the oil of clove. The term essential carries the meaning that the oil has got distinctive scent or essence of the plant. These aromatherapy essential oils are used for different purposes such as in perfumes and cosmetics, for flavoring food and drink etc.

In aromatherapy, the use of essential oils is unique. Aromatherapy essential oil is used basically to reduce health problems like cold, arthritis, aches, skin problems as well as stress and anxiety like problems. Essential oil is not a sticky substance like many other oils, although it is earmarked as oil. And, in aromatherapy, essential oil embraces all the health problems only to cure them. When tunes with the harp of aromatherapy, essential oil fragrance directly hits the brain of a person and effect then positively. This positive effect leads you towards a healthy life.

However, while you go for the treatment of essential oil in aromatherapy, do not for get that there are types of essential oil for various different reasons and these are not identical. For every particular use or treatment, there is a particular fragrance of aromatherapy essential oils.

There are blends too in aromatherapy in the use of essential oil. If you want to use the various types of essential in an effective mix, it is available and a mixture of essential sometimes works really great because in this case, you are not to go for buying individual essential oil. Yet, there are problems and these may come with an itching or something alike for which it is essential to consult a doctor.

So, being in touch with the aroma of the aromatherapy essential oils can make a rainbow effect on your body and mind and to the soul as a whole and we get rejuvenated with a glow which was never before.

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We have gotten a great deal of information warning us about our intake of fat. We have been told for a long time that fats are bad. Food store shelves are full of “fat-free” foods. We have not gotten enough information about good fats. The good fats that are essential for us to live. Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) is the good fat that we need. Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) are accurately named because they are essential for our health. Our bodies do not produce EFA so we must get them from our food or through natural nutritional supplements. Since we are eating more processed foods than ever we do not get the amounts of Omega 3 & 6 that we need. Processed foods are stripped of their Omega 3 content to allow for those foods to have a longer shelf life. Many of the good fats in our diets have been partially or fully hydrogenated (saturated) to make cholesterol-free replacement for fat. Omega 3 and omega 6 are polyunsaturated fats that our bodies can easily “recognize” and use to keep us alive and well.

We know that we are experiencing EFA deficiency when we experience skin problems such as dry, eczema, dandruff, poor wound healing, excess sweating, loss of pigment, and/or weak blood vessels i.e. bruising. Other signs of EFA deficiency are obesity, high cholesterol, poor sugar metabolism, hormone imbalance, PMS, ADHD, depression, autism, behavioral disturbance, enlarged kidneys or kidney failure, blood in our urine, shrinking of our pancreas, and/or shrinking of our salivary and tear glands.

The American Heart Association recommends that people with heart disease consume at least one gram of omega 3 fatty acid per day. They recommend that we eat at least two servings of fish per week because fish are rich in omega 3. Unfortunately, fish has been very contaminated with environmental toxins, mercury and dioxines which are a potential health hazard to us, especially if we are a pregnant mother or a young person under 16 years of age. Therefore it would seem to be a safer alternative for us to rely on natural supplements such as flaxseed oil or primrose oil and properly filtered and metal/toxin free natural fish oils to receive the EFA that we need.

So why do we need essential fatty acids i.e. good fat? We need essential fatty acids to manufacture and repair cell membranes, to help our cells get maximum nutrition, and to eliminate harmful waste products.. EFA are essential for the production of prostaglandins that regulate heart rate, blood pressure, blood clotting and immune system functioning to fight inflammation and infection. EFAs are essential for our children to grow properly and especially in developing their neurological development and sensory system.

Those of us who supply our diets with adequate amounts of omega 3 essential fatty acid have higher HDL i.e. “Good cholesterol levels. Omega 3 helps in the production of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) which actually reduces LDL i.e.”bad” cholesterol and triglycerides. This is especially important for our cardiovascular health and in lowering high blood pressure/hypertension. Keeping our blood pressure lowers our risk of stroke. This is because omega 3 helps reduce the development of plaque and blood clots that clog arteries that often lead to heart disease and heart attack.

When we have high triglycerides and low HDL levels we are at risk for diabetes. Omega 3 essential fatty acid lowers triglycerides and raises HDL levels as well as regulating blood sugar. People who are overweight suffer from poor blood sugar control, diabetes and high cholesterol. When following a weight loss program, it is important for us to supplement our diet with a proper amount of EFA.

Essential Fatty Acids are reported in numerous studies to reduce inflammation and pain in joints, reduce morning stiffness and enable people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis to reduce the medication they had been taking for pain and discomfort. Essential Fatty Acids help increase levels of calcium in our bodies and improve our bone strength. This is especially important for people suffering from osteoporosis. Omega 3 essential fatty acid has been shown to increase grip strength and enhance walking ability in people suffering from osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.

Essential Fatty Acids are especially important for efficient brain function. People who have increased their intake of omega 3 fatty acid have experienced natural depression relief. People with Manic Depression (Bipolar Disorder) reported fewer and shorter mood swings and recurrence of either full depression or mania. People with schizophrenia experience an improvement with the use of Omega 3 essential fatty acid. Children who suffer Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experienced reduction of learning difficulties and behavior problems (e.g. anger and sleep disturbance) when increasing their intake of essential fatty acids. People suffering from anorexia nervosa i.e. eating disorders, have experienced a reduction in symptoms and lessened their compulsive tendencies. For those of us not suffering from any particular emotional or cognitive disorders, we will find that essential fatty acids improve our ability to concentrate, recall, be emotionally centered and calm, experience more restful sleep and cope more easily with normal everyday stress.

Other benefits of essential fatty acids is the reduction of disorders and protection of our skin, improvement in our intestinal health (i.e. reduction of bowel inflammation, easy elimination, reduction in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), reduction of asthma symptoms and respiratory ease, reduction and prevention of macular degeneration and vision improvement, enhancement of wound healing (e.g. burns, cuts, etc) and improvement in hormonal balance e.g reduction of menstrual pain and PMS symptoms. Studies are now being conducted, with promising results, to determine the specific benefits of essential fatty acids in preventing and treating breast cancer and prostate cancer. Primary evidence in other studies of omega 3 essential fatty acid indicate improvement in protecting against infections and treatment of conditions such as ulcers, migraine headaches, preterm labor, emphysema, psoriasis, glaucoma, Lyme disease, lupus and panic attacks. Other studies have shown that essential fatty acids increase energy, performance, stamina, muscle development and repair, fatigue reduction, strengthening of immune system, cell growth and activity and appearance i.e. beautiful hair, skin and nails.

Given all the evidence of the health benefits we receive from essential fatty acids and the climate of processed foods and anti-fat warnings, it would be well advised for us to take care of ourselves by supplementing our diet with essential fatty acid supplements i.e. flaxseed oil and primrose oil and clean metal/toxin free natural fish oil supplements.

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Aromatherapy is the use of pure essential and absolute oils. Essential oils are complex, highly fragrant and volatile substances, with varying degrees of complexity, fragrance, and volatility. Essential oils and fatty/vegetable oils are two completely different types of oils. Essential Oils are one of nature’s great gifts. In Aromatherapy it is held that once extracted, the chemical constituents of a particular essential oil will determine its primary action. The plant’s essence molecules are approximately 75-100 times more concentrated as an essential oil than in the dried plant. In aromatherapy it is held that simply inhaling an essential oil elicits an immediate olfactory

response and provides for ready absorption in the bloodstream.

Essential oils should not replace proper health care. Essential oils as implied by the term “Aromatherapy”, have a powerful effect through our sense of smell. Essential oils are the fragrant and therapeutic essences distilled from herbs, flowers, leaves and bark. Essential oils have been found to provide both psychological and physical benefits when used correctly and safely. There are many essential oils. Essential oils are usually administered through massage, baths, compresses, or inhalation. When used in massage and bathing, essential oils are absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. Essential oils can be blended together to also provide an especially pleasing aroma or a specific therapeutic action. Always mix essential oils in glass, porcelain or aluminum bottles as the oil will react with plastic.

Aromatherapy provides health and body care on a completely natural basis, and the subtle qualities of the oils lend themselves best to a gradual experience. Always mix essential oils in glass, porcelain or aluminum bottles as the oil will react with plastic. Essential oils are very concentrated substances and should be diluted before applying them to the skin. Add about 12-15 drops of essential oil to one ounce of carrier oil, such as jojoba oil and shake to blend. Add & mix 3-5 drops of essential oil to a bowl of warm or cool water. Soak a wash cloth, wring and apply. Essential oils can cause a prickly, irritating sensation to the skin. Do not rub water on the area. Apply any vegetable/carrier oil to the area; this will cause the essential oil to be absorbed and ease the irritation in minutes.

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