Three Pillars of Health: Eat Right

It can be really hard to eat right, especially when there are so many opinions on what "eating right" means!

The first step is to stop eating wrong.  Make a list of those things you know are in your current diet which are hindering your health and work to eliminate them.

Example:

Breakfast cereal

Fast food lunch

TV dinners

Carbonated beverages

Candy

Processed snack foods

White bread

Choose one and work to change your habit.  Let's take carbonated beverages.  Say you drink a soda every day with your lunch.  For the first few days, swap your soda out and replace it with fruit juice mixed with seltzer water.  Then swap the seltzer water for probiotic-rich water kefir, eventually lowering the amount of fruit juice with the goal of eliminatin the juice entirely.  Just this one change can make a big impact on your health!  

What if your diet is clean?  You drink water and herbal tea, limit sugar and processed foods, eat plenty of vegetables and healthy proteins, but portion control is a problem.  Aromatherapy can help.

Portion Control Aromastick

Prepare an aromatherapy inhaler with:

5 drops cardamom eo

3 drops vanilla absolute

2 drops peppermint eo

2 drops pink grapefruit eo

Take two deep breaths in each nostril before eating.  The sweet scent helps to curb the appetite.

Real Bread

Mmm mmmm mmmm!  Nice warm bread from the oven.  Bread has a bad reputation though.  All that gluten, all that starch!  But, it doesn't have to be that way.

Pictured above is naturally leavened whole wheat bread.  A good portion of the gluten protein matrix as well as a significant part of the starch and sugar is broken down by the natural leavening process, leaving a healthy loaf of REAL bread.  

Natural leavening yields what we commonly call sourdough.  It is begun with a "starter" which, when active, is full of beneficial bacteria which digest the flour and produce a small amount of alcohol and carbon dioxide which results in a rising loaf.  This particular loaf was made from Camaldoli (perpetual) starter which is quite mild.  The starter is fed every day and used when wanted.

For much more information about the amazing health benefits of REAL bread, check out The Vintage Remedies Guide to Bread by Jessie Hawkins.  There are plenty of recipes in her book as well.

"Real Tree" Spray

Vines of Wellness "Real Tree" Spray

An artificial tree at Christmas time certainly has its advantages, but it misses the mark with regard to scent.  Here is my take at a "Real Tree" room spray:

Storage

I do a lot of traveling with my family, particularly, camping.  One challenge is taking any aromatherapy blends I may want on the road.  Here is one solution that works well for me:

This shotgun shell box is divided into 25 mini compartments.  I found it at a sporting goods store.  It is compact and keeps small items separated.

There is a removeable insert.  With the insert in place, 1dram vials and aroma inhalers fit nicely.

Without the insert, a 5mL rollerball is held secure.

The box is deep and closes neatly over the organized aromatherapy supplies.  It snaps shut and does not pop open easily.  

A nifty, inexpensive solutions for a happy camper.  

Books

The world of aromatherapy has grown exponentially in the last ten years.  Availability of quality essential oils has increased, but so has the availability of adulterated oils.  Solid research and evidence-based education has increased, but so has unsafe word-of-mouth advice.  

Above, is just a sample of some of the better books on aromatherapy.  There are a couple in on the shelf that I would not recommend, but most of these are solid.  Len and Shirley Price and Jennifer Peace Rhind are my go-to authors for reliable monographs and safe effective essential oil use.  To the right, is a partial view of my text books from Vintage Remedies.  

My current favorite beginner level book is:

This is a fun book with plenty of ideas including a good starter list of basic monographs for essential oils, carrier oils, hydrosols, and other ingredients.  It advocates safe practices such as dilution for topical application and avoidance of certain EOs in the presence of various contraindications.

Always learning

It is important to always expand the knowledge base.  As aromatherapy has "come into its own", more research and more information is becoming available.  Safety and effective usage is possible through best practices and evidence-based use.

Here are a few ways to dig deep into aromatherapy:

• Get your education from multiple sources.  There is always a bias in information.  Being familiar with a wide variety of philosophies is helpful.
• Find a mentor who is an experienced clinical aromatherapist.  This can include getting an education from a solid school of aromatherapy. (Vintage Remedies, and others)
• Read evidence based books by solid experts in the field (Len and Shirley Price, Jennifer Peace Rhind, and others)
• Learn to fact check research citations.  Note:  Evidence-based resources will be well cited!
• Become familiar with the "best practices" laid out by Alliance of International Aromatherapists, National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy and similar organizations.
• Set up a consultation with a certified aromatherapist.

Chai blend

Nothing says autumn quite like the aroma of chai.  A couple drops of this blend in a diffuser adds a sweet spicy warmth to the air invoking the beauty and calm of the fall season.  

Chai Diffusion Blend

Equal parts:

Black Pepper EO

Aniseed EO

Clove Bud EO

Ginger EO

Sweet Fennel EO

Cinnamon Leaf EO

Cardamom EO

It only takes a couple minutes for this blend to fill a room, so diffusing for a short period of time a couple times per day is sufficient.