Wednesday, October 9, 2013

35 Uses For Lemon Essential Oil

Lemon is known as a powerful aromatic, topical, and internal cleanser.
Lemon Essential Oil from doTERRA is cold-pressed from lemon rinds to preserve its delicate nature and potent properties. This oil truly has limitless uses. Here are just a few:

(I got these from
http://www.doterraeveryday.com/101-uses/ but added one of my own)


Home Use
1. A Cure for Laundry Neglect. Lemon essential oil takes out ALL odor when you forget and leave your load of laundry in the washer way too long!

2. Tame Oozy, Sappy Trees. Whether the sap is on your carpet, clothes or seeped into your skin, lemon oil is excellent for removing pine gum and tree sap.

3. Stop Grease in its Tracks. You just fixed your bike. Your hands are black and greasy. Soap alone won’t remove the grease, but lemon oil mixed with your soap will.  Lemon oil is a great de-greaser!

4. Disinfect the Disgusting. You can add lemon oil to a spray bottle of water and attack what may be living in your range hood, on your tables, countertops and other surfaces. For some extra chemical-free firepower, a little vinegar is a traditional favorite.

5. Lose the Gas Mask. When you clean the gunky build up in your shower, do you practically have to wear a gas mask to survive the fumes? Go gas mask free and clean with lemon oil. Just a small amount of lemon oil will go a long way in removing hard water build up.

6. Nourish Your Leathers. Whether you ride a Harley in style or cherish the patina of your leather sofa at home, your leathers are not maintenance free. Use a lemon oil soaked cloth to preserve them, and prevent leather from splitting.

7. High Ho Silver. A lemon oil treated cloth is a great remedy for the early stages of tarnish on silver or other metals. You may not eat on silver every day, but bracelets, earrings, necklaces often need some love.

8. Deactivate the Sticky. Lemon oil can help you avert a hair cutting crisis the next time you deal with gum in hair. Got kids with obsessive addictions to stickers or temporary tattoos? Works for those too. Not for wide receivers.

9. Love Your Luster. Bring your furniture back to life with lemon oil! Just add a few drops of lemon oil to olive oil for a non-toxic furniture polish. Lemon oil leaves a beautiful shine, prevents fine wood finishes from drying out, and replaces lost moisture in antique woods as it penetrates worn finishes.

10. De-Smudge Your Stainless. You don’t need to hunt down that “single use” stainless steel cleaner anymore. Multi-use lemon oil is great for cleaning stainless steel appliances. You’ll love the way stainless looks and smells!

11. Clean Granite or Porous Stone. What is living in the pores of your natural stone counters or floors? Lemon oil cleans deeply, seeps into stone and leaves you with a “real fresh lemons” aroma, rather than that fake lemon chemical smell.

12. Energize your Brush.  If your toothbrush seems a bit tired, add a drop of lemon and peppermint oils to chase away that run-down feeling.

13. Quarantine Pungencies. Moldy kid’s sneakers, a baby’s blowout, potty training … it all adds up to an less than desirable aroma. Diffuse or spray lemon oil and neutralize odors at their source!

14. Take the Spine Out of Scuffs. Got a scuff mark that just won’t go away? Lemon oil lifts scuff marks in remarkable ways!

15. Curtail the Dank, Musty or Mildewed. Things get stored away. Things get old. Things don’t see the light of day. Chase away that “old smell” and inject new energy with a good lemon oil wipe down.

16.Stop Cutting Board Bacteria Palooza. Cutting boards can harbor bacteria in your kitchen.  Nobody wants to taste the chemicals you have in your cleaning closet, yet most people love the taste of lemon!

17. Control an Aphid Invasion, Naturally.  Aphids — those pesky little bugs that dine on your roses and other plants.  Lemon oil (or peppermint) with water in a garden spray bottle are a natural pesticide that kills aphids and their larvae on contact, but leave your plants looking lovely.

18. Spot-Free Dishes. Add a few drops of lemon oil to your dishwasher soap container with each load.  Your dishes will come out looking like new… spot-free!

19. Refresh Bad Smelling Washcloths. When your kitchen washcloths smell foul and could use a boost, add lemon oil to your detergent, soak overnight, wash, dry and your kitchen will smell so much better!

Cooking & Food
20. Energy Boost. For a quick, refreshing energy boost, combine a couple drops each of lemon essential oil and peppermint essential oil in a glass of water and drink up. Add a lemony taste to your bottled water.

21. Zest Up Your Sugary Indulgences. There are an infinite number of ways lemon oil can add a bit of freshness to your sugary savors: Lemon frosting • Lemon meringue • Sour cream lemon pie • Lemon cakes • Lemon tart glaze • Lemon squares  • Lemon cookies  • Breathtaking, awe-inspiring lemonade

23. Pep Up Your Entrees. With lemon oil, there are countless ways to make the bland zippy, or the blah peppy:  Roasted salmon & asparagus with lemon oil, Linguine & shrimp with lemon oil, Lemon oil drizzled over vegetables (especially broccoli),  Lemon garlic shrimp  … or to add a fresh kick to an already great salad.

24. Preserve What You’ve Got. Use lemon oil in a spray to keep your cut fruit fresh until serving.

Body & Mind
25. Ease Respiratory Gunkity Goop. When used with a humidifier, it’s a great way to slow wheezing, colds, cough, and other upper respiratory problems.

26. De-scratch Your Scratchy Throat. Adding a couple drops of lemon essential oil to warm water & honey can change that yucky sore throat feeling, slow a nasty cough, and douse a fever. Lemon oil fights bacteria, as well as viruses.

27. Honeylicious Hair Highlights …Chemical Free. Skip the expensive salon highlight treatment, and use lemon oil to create your own hair highlights.  Just go in the sun after using with your hair product, and it will lighten your hair.  Be careful, it works well!

28.  Fight the Fungus Among Us. Tired of seeing that unsightly nail fungus?  Lemon oil is great for nails, and can help fight against nail fungus.

29.  Halt the Nervous Nellie, In You. When combined with lavender oil and diffused into a room, you’ll find you feel less anxious, a better  mood, more even keel, and well … linear.

30. Clear Thinking & Clear Focus, Made Visible. A clear mind, a clean slate, a fresh outlook.  It’s all good.  Real good. Diffuse lemon oil and you got it.

31. Take the Heat Out of Cold Sores. When you have a gnarly cold sore that’s just begging for attention, douse it with a few drops of lemon oil and you’ll have a new best friend.

32. Nice Mood … No Really.  Chase away the moody blues (not the band), with a bit of blah-reducing lemon oil. Whether you choose to diffuse it or apply topically, it’s hard to not improve your outlook with lemon oil around!

33.  Was That a Crusty? Next time you notice hard, crusty skin on your feet, (e.g. corns, calluses or bunions) regularly add a few drops of lemon oil and you’ll soon have softened skin!

34.  A Brighter Complexion. Lemon oil can help remove dead skin cells and exfoliate.  For a homemade exfoliant, add 4-5 drops to a small amount of oatmeal and water for a homemade scrub.  Feels great!

35. Germ Killer. Use as a hand sanitizer. Just a drop on the palms and rub in!



To order Lemon Essential Oil or other Essential Oils from doTERRA click here.






"Lemon" by Master Isolate Images



Monday, October 7, 2013

The Power Of Z's



What's in a Z?

I wanted to write a blog post about sleep since the last few years have been quite troublesome for me in the sleeping department. As I was researching and learning, a thought came to me: Why on Earth do people use the letter "Z" to represent sleep? Was "Z" just a lonely letter and someone felt sorry for it so they felt it needed to be used for something? Why don't we use, say the letter "A" when referring to waking up in the morning? "I can not wait until morning when I can catch some A's!"
So, I decided to look it up. This has really no importance to the purpose of this blog but I was just so curious I couldn't help myself.
It all started with comic strips! You know how when you read comics you see a lot of words that represent certain sounds and actions? For example, Boom! Pow! Crash! Bang!
Those comic strip creators needed something to represent sleep. ZZZzzz just happened to sound  the most like snoring. To me, snoring sounds a little more like Gnfffnnnss. But, hey, who am I to judge? They started using Z and it caught on and has been handed down for years as a way of representing sleep. Honestly, I was hoping to find something much more in depth and interesting about why Z was used to explain sleep. It's a fun fact nonetheless!

Why Do Older People Wake Up So Early?

I wasn't sure if it just tends to happen as you get older or if it's just me but I seem to wake up on my own earlier and earlier as each year goes by. I remember when I was a kid I would wonder why my grandma would wake up before the sun came up and put the coffee on. I would think "Why would anyone want to get up this early!?"  I certainly want to sleep in everyday but why can't I?
Well, I realize that there are many factors that contribute to not being able to sleep. There are the obvious reasons why someone would get less sleep. These reasons would include things like stress, bladder issues, chronic illness, hot flashes in menopause, body aches, etc. I decided to find out what a less obvious reason might be.

Here's what I found:

When we get older our bodies produce less growth hormones and melatonin. These are 2 important sleep hormones. Melatonin effects our sleep cycle. When there is less melatonin being produced, people may find themselves getting tired earlier in the evening and waking up earlier in the morning.
Growth hormone is something that children have a lot of. This is why they are able to sleep so deeply. Less production of this hormone results in a less deep sleep for us older folks.

So, what can we 'melatonin and growth hormone deficient' people do?
  • Getting at least 2 hours of sunlight per day can increase melatonin production.
  • If you have trouble sleeping at night, limit napping during the day.
  • Some people choose to take melatonin supplements though I have not tried this so can't really recommend it.
  • Keep your body cool. As your body temperature drops, it signals to your body to produce more melatonin.


Sleep Does A Body Good

Memory booster!
Through a process called "consolidation" your sleeping body connects and improves your memory of something that you learned while you were awake. You can learn new things through practice but the memory of that learned skill is only enhanced through proper sleep. I was very engaged by reading about this process of consolidation. If you just started a new job, be sure to get a good amount of sleep after learning something new and you will be sure to retain it better!

Inflammation reducer!
I have direct experience with this. When I stay up late and wake up early, I notice more aches and pains in my body and my skin issues are worse. Studies have found that there is a particular protein called a C-reactive protein that is commonly associated with heart attack risk and it was found to be at higher levels in people who slept less than 6 hours per night. That's incentive for me!

Lessen depression risks!
Less sleep can increase anxiety. Anxiety and depression generally go hand in hand. A common sign of depression is insomnia. A proper amount of sleep for an adult is 8 - 9 hours per night. Sleeping is a restorative process. Your body is rebuilding itself. This includes your mental and physical state.

Boost creativity!
Looking for some inspiration? While sleeping, your brain can reorganize what is in it. This can result in your creative side coming to a more prominent place. "Researchers at Harvard University and Boston College found that people seem to strengthen the emotional components of a memory during sleep, which may help spur the creative process".


I think we're all aware that sleep is important. After reading many articles, I'm realizing that needing sleep is not just about trying to avoid being so irritable that you bite your husband's head off. Getting enough sleep is not just about feeling rested. It is essential to life, brain function, and creativity. I hope that you have been inspired to catch some more Z's or Gnfnnnss, whichever you prefer. I am so excited to pursue a life of lots more sleep. Although, I'm not so sure my family will be quite as excited as I am about this pursuit.






Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/sleep/resources.htm
http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-sleep-disorder
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Sleep/
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20459221_5,00.html
http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_aging.htm
http://www.livescience.com/13666-older-people-sleep-wake-early.html
http://longevity.about.com/od/sleep/a/sleep_aging.htm

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

6 Natural Immune Boosters To Keep You Well This Flu Season

  
   With flu season approaching, our immune systems need all the help they can get. There are many natural ways to stay healthy through this time of coughs, body aches and sniffles. Here are 6 natural immune boosters to keep you kicking this winter.


Eat kiwi 

 Generally when we hear of foods high in vitamin C we think of oranges. Vitamin C is a nutrient that is vital to our health. It is an antioxidant, it can help repair body tissue, and help our body fight off illness. It is good as a preventative measure in fighting illness. The recommended value per day for an adult man is 90 mg/day, an adult woman 75 mg/day, kids (ages 9-13) 45 mg/day, kids (ages 4-8) 25 mg/day and kids (ages 1-3) 15 mg/day. (source) One navel orange has 82.7 mg of vitamin C which is not bad. However, when you're trying to kick your immune system into gear, a kiwi packs a much more powerful punch at 137.2 mg. If you can't find kiwi, eating one cup of red bell peppers will give you 190.3 mg of vitamin C. The human body can not hold much more than 2,000 mg per day of vitamin C so it is not necessary to go beyond that. Small amounts, more often throughout the day is better since vitamin C does not stay in the body for long.


Walk 

 Ummm, what? Yes, walk! Walk your little butt off. I know you're thinking "well, I already walk every day!" Be that as it may, more walking doesn't hurt! Instead of grabbing that close parking spot at the grocery store, park far away and walk that extra distance. Take the stairs at work. Take a walk around the block when you have time. Take the dog for a walk. Getting your blood flowing by walking contributes to good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently. (source)


Make time for friends 

 I know your curiosity is killing you, right? How can this boost your immune system? Getting away from the usual routine of things more often can reduce stress. Chronic stress suppresses the immune system. If you are one of those people that has laughed until you cried with your friends, even better! Laughing reduces stress hormones and increases endorphins and growth hormones. Endorphins and growth hormones benefit the immune system. (study)



Reduce sugar intake 

 Most of us know that we should reduce our sugar intake for many reasons. Here is one reason you may not know about. In a study conducted by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that 100 mg of sugar prevented the ability of white blood cells to fight off bacteria for 5 hours. This means that if you were to drink around 3 cans of soda (or something comparable like cookies, pasta, etc.) and your body was exposed to bacteria, you would be more susceptible to illness for up to 5 hours afterward. Reducing your sugar intake throughout each day will help keep your immune system healthy. So, next time remember to turn down that second cookie!  (source)


Learn the alphabet 

 Okay, so I had to make this amusing somehow because that's just how I roll. What I mean by learn the alphabet is finding out what vitamins you should consistently consume so that your immune system can work at it's optimal ability. Vitamins A, C (which was already discussed), D and E are great immune boosters. My favorite two vitamins to increase around this time of year are vitamin A and D. It is best to get them from food sources. However, if your diet is not the best then a supplement will suffice. Vitamin A helps the body make certain enzymes that can kill germs entering the body. It can keep the mucous membranes (inner lining of nose, throat, etc.) soft and moist. This helps the body to trap germs more efficiently that attempt to enter the body. Vitamin D can regulate adaptive immune responses. A deficiency in vitamin D can result in autoimmunity and increases susceptibility to illness and infection. Vitamin D is something humans get from the sun. Our bodies were meant to get it this way rather than from food. For those who live in an area like I do (Northeast Ohio), there seems to be limited sunlight and also it's freezing for half the year so I won't be out there enjoying the sun everyday in, say January. Luckily, for us Ohioans (and the like) it is still possible to get adequate amounts of vitamin D through food and/or supplements. I prefer using food over supplements for vitamin D when I'm not getting adequate sunlight. Foods such as fatty fish & eggs contain vitamin D. It is synthetically added to things such as milk, cheese, breads, and cereals. Unfortunately, trying to get vitamin D from some of these sources brings on another host of issues of consuming too much sugar. (source)


Be On Guard 

  I use essential oils regularly in my home to help combat and prevent illness and have had great success! Essential oils are natural extracts from the seeds, stems, roots, flowers, bark and other parts of plants. Protective Blend is a blend of essential oils that are known for their immune boosting properties. The blend of wild orange, clove, eucalyptus, rosemary and cinnamon essential oils will kick that immune system into gear. Be sure to always look for the CPTG logo (Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade) when purchasing essential oils to ensure their safety and efficiency.  


There are more well known ways of boosting the immune system that should not be left off the list. These include but are not limited to: making sure to drink adequate water to flush toxins, take supplements if you're not getting proper amounts of vitamins from your diet, get 8 hours of sleep per night,  take probiotics, keep the weight off, and wash your hands. These are all things that will contribute to keeping you healthy through this cold and flu season. Now, go out there and put your armor on!






This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice. Please see your healthcare professional if you have any questions regarding your health.