All you wanted to know about Lemon and more!

All you wanted to know about Lemon and more!
Lemon…
This $12 bottle of oil that packs a punch. The list of uses almost seems endless. I am going to list some below, but rest assured, that list could go on and on. Here are some fun facts about lemon oil.

Fun Facts: 
It takes 75 lemons to get one 15 mL bottle of Lemon Oil.
Lemon is distilled from the rind, not the fruit portion. What does this mean? Lemon is pH neutral. If you are someone that struggles with an acidic tummy, lemon oil may be a better option over lemon juice.
Key Constituents: 
Limonene, Gamma-terpinene, Beta-pinene
According to the Essential Oils Desk Reference, lemon oil is considered an immune stimulant, supports the circulatory system, can support issues related to UTIs, is a great addition to a skincare routine when it comes to breakouts, and can be used to support the digestive tract. 
 
Diffusing: 
Diffusing lemon not only helps with stale odors and air, but its cleansing properties make it the perfect addition to an immune support blend. It is also perfect when trying to promote relaxation and balance your mood when you are feeling down in the dumps. 
 
Topical: 
Lemon is a great addition to a DIY face toner or moisturizer. Please note, it is considered photosensitive, and caution should be taken if you are going to be out in the sun. It is also considered a “hot” oil. This means it requires dilution with use of a carrier oil before applying to your skin. I personally, love lemon in our immune support roller blend with Thieves and Frankincense. 
 
Internal: 
Lemon is a great addition to your water or to a capsule with carrier oil. If you are looking to support your circulatory system, your digestive tract, or just wanting to provide your body with another load of antioxidants, incorporate it into your daily routine. I like to add it to my Ningxia daily to help “cleanse” the system and provide an extra dose of nutrients. 
Please note, never put your oils into a plastic or Styrofoam cup. Stick with stainless steel and glass. 
 

All the ways to use Lemon…
-I like to call it “Nature’s Goo Gone”. Use it to remove residues from sticky surfaces. 
-Drop a few drops into a grimy pan. Add hot water, let sit for five minutes and you are set to clean. No soaking required. 
-Lemon’s antibacterial properties make it a stellar addition to your bottle of Thieves Household Cleaner. I add 5-7 drops per 16 ounces. 
-Make a glass cleaner with 7-10 drops Lemon, ¼ cup vinegar, and 16 ounces of water. 
-Add Lemon to a roller bottle with Thieves and Frankincense for a stellar immune support roller. 
-Massage Lemon over the bridge of your nose when stuffy. 
-Add Lemon oil to your favorite DIY toner or cleanser to help with clogged pores and acne. 
-Add Lemon oil to DIY face mask to brighten complexion. 
-Drink 1-2 drops of lemon in your water daily to for an extra support to your liver, kidneys, and circulatory system. 
-Add Lemon to a roller of Peppermint and Digize for to sooth an unsettled stomach.
-Add to your DIY Soft Scrub recipe to double down on that grime. 
-Diffuse with Peppermint and Rosemary while studying or trying to focus. 
-Pair with Purification in the diffuser when drying to eliminate odors in your house. 
-Diffuse with Thieves when an illness is being passed around the house. 
-Pair with honey, apple cider vinegar, and warm water for a “healthy gut” tea. Add some Thieves for an extra boost of immune support. 
 
I just know I am missing something on this list. Please, share the ways that you love to use your lemon oil below!

Three Ways to Use your Thieves Oil

Three Ways to Use your Thieves Oil
Well, I don't know about you but that warm and cozy aroma of Thieves has been making a daily appearance in this house. Tis' the season for supporting your immune system and Thieves oil is one of the tools we like to keep on hand. Lucky for us, the aroma of Thieves is warm and cozy with a little bit of spice. Perfect for the fall and winter months! While it stands alone quite nicely, it also pairs well with citrus oils, tree oils, herbs/spices, and some of our floral favorites. 

If you are looking to step up your Thieves game this season, here are three simple ways to work this oil into your routine. 

It is that time of year when you come home from work and start brewing a cup of Thieves tea:)

This was the first thing my dad asked for when he arrived at my house. This could be a daily drink to support the immune system or a drink you take when you are feeling run down! It is VERY popular with the men in my life 

Here is the recipe:
1-2 drops Thieves- immune support
3 drops Lemon-  immune support
1 TBSP honey
8 ounces of warm water

Optional 1-2 tsp. ACV to support a healthy gut

Who loves their Thieves Tea?!? 



If tea isn't your thing, surely making the house smell heavenly will peak your interest! We LOVE our Thieves for the aroma BUT it can be a great tool in the diffuser when we are looking for an extra tool to help us through the germy months. Try the above diffuser blends! 

Last, make a wellness roller! My kids love this addition to their nightly routine. Ratios may vary based on age. I will give you the ratios for an adult. I cut this recipe in half my kiddos. We roll this concoction on the feet and down the spine before bed. If one of us does get sick, we roll ever two hours and may add some extra oils based on our symptoms. Again, oils are a tool. Always consult your doctor when needed! Here is my favorite wellness roller recipe (adult version). 

15 drops Thieves
15 drops Frank
15 drops Lemon
Drop into a 10 mL roller bottle. Top with liquid carrier oil such as fractionated coconut oil or Young Living's V-6 oil. 

Using your oils doesn't have to be overwhelming. The above three recipes are perfect to incorporate into a self-care routine for yourself and your family!

Immune Support: A Basic Approach

Immune Support: A Basic Approach
Well, it is officially November! Is anyone else trying to be more on top of vitamin intake, cleanliness, and all the extra Thieves?
 Immune support has been on everyone's radar more this year than ever. Now that we are in the middle of fall and approaching winter, we are definitely on high alert. As busy as life is, we want to make sure we are keeping our routine simple, yet highly effective. Consistent use of high quality products and oils is key. 
I say this every year, and I am going to say it again. Just because you are using essential oils, doesn't mean you will not get sick. Essential oils and high quality supplements are tools that can be incorporated into your immune system support. My family has notice that if we do get sick,  we don't get hit has hard, symptoms don't linger, and in the cases that we do require medication, our oils come in handy to help our overt symptoms while the medication does it's work! 

We want a strong immune system to help prevent frequent illness and to make sure our body is strong and ready to fight when we do encounter a bug. Today, I am going to break some simple routines down for you. You will see a routine for the adults, the kiddos, and the babes! You can most definitely do more than what I list, but these are tools you may want to take a peek at if you are looking at simple routines. 

THE ADULTS
A healthy gut does a lot for someone's immune system. This time of year, our gut needs all the help it can get as we overindulge and probably consume more sugar that we usually do. Life 9 Probiotic is the PERFECT addition to your bedtime routine. It contains 17 billion live cultures for 9 beneficial bacteria strains. Replenishing the good bacteria after a long day is critical in your daily immune boosting routine. 


I could tell you to beef up on Vitamin C, and D...and so on...OR I can tell you to save your money on the individual supplements and support your body with a FANTASTIC full-spectrum multi-vitamin such as MASTER FORMULA. Initially, I turned my head at the price BUT after adding up the individual bottles of vitamins I was purchasing, this was saving me money and I was get so much more! Master formula contains your prebiotics, 100 % of your daily Vitamin C and D3. Vitamin K, Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Thiamin from B1, Niacin ( B3), Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Biotin, Panthothenic Acid (B5), Iron, Magnesium, Zinc (100%) , Manganese, Copper, Selenium, Molybdenum, Kelp....I could go ON and ON but it would be easier for you to check out the ingredients and daily values, here. 

Master Formula with Life 9 is gold! I forgot to mention that Master Formula contains prebiotics. Those are a perfect match for Life 9. That routine can get delivered to your doorstep at the same time every month for free now! Use rewards points to cash in for some oils :) 

Inner Defense is pretty much your immunity roller in a capsule! If you aren't one to roll oils on your feet and down your spine, this is for you! You can take this as a daily immune boosting supplement OR take as needed when you are feeling under the weather. If you are not well, you can take up to five in a day but please make sure you are taking your probiotic at night to replenish all that good bacteria. We always go into the season with a bottle or two of Inner Defense on hand.

So, what do you think? Is that basic enough for ya? I also recommend Ningxia Red for an extra shot of antioxidants. We all could use an extra dose of that these days. 

Below, you will find a simple routine you can incorporate into your routine for the kiddos! Some of my favorite recipes are included. 
Ningxia Red and MightyPro Pre+Probiotic are key in my kid's routine. I like to make sure they are getting all the vitamins and minerals they could be missing in their diet and maintain a healthy gut with MightyPro at night. 

While we use caution with babies and essential oils, when the appropriate dilution ratios and safety is taken into consideration, they can gradually be worked into a routine for our little ones. 

Keeping the routines basic and simple, make it easier on yourself to be consistent in supporting your family's immunity. I hope you found the above information helpful! 

Do supplements make your head spin?

Do supplements make your head spin?

Supplements, Supplement, Supplements….

We post about all these phenomenal supplements and they all sound fabulous, but do you need all of them? How do I take them? Can I take too much? These are some common questions asked when wanting to start a supplement routine. However, with all the options, it can be so overwhelming!

Everything I am about to write is based on personal experience and my own research. I AM NOT A DOCTOR!

I am always going to tell you that you want a plant-based or whole food-based supplement. This allows your body to absorb the nutrients the way it was supposed to. I like to use our supplement Illumineyes as an example. Rather than an isolate or synthetic form of Vitamin A, this supplement contains purple carrot. These carrots contain beta carotene which convert to Vitamin A as we consume the supplement. This Vitamin A helps with the eyes ability to adjust to various light and help the eye to process it. (just one of the ingredients in that supplement).  I saw the difference with a food-based supplement vs. prescription iron meds. I had much better luck with the whole food-based supplement and less side effects.

Moving on…

You do not want to take a supplement just because it looks good! You want to do your research and take what your body needs. For instance, if I am not deficient in B vitamins, I am not going to take Super B. One, because I have B a multi vitamin (Master Formula) that contains these vitamins, and two, since I am not deficient, I do not need to load up on them. As you start to develop a supplement plan, you need to ask yourself some questions.

  1. What are you trying to target?
  2. Are you aware of any deficiencies?
  3. What does your family history tell you?
  4. Do you have any targeted areas of support that need addressing now? 

I heard Dr. Lindsey Elmore speak and she enforced a Core 4. Consider a CORE 4 based on your needs. Keep in mind, you may not take some of our supplements every day. For instance, I use Alkalime as needed, when I have an unsettled stomach, heartburn, or indigestion. Someone who suffers from chronic GI issues may take this as a daily supplement.

For example, here is what my plan looks like:

Foundational Support: Master Formula. If you want to remove multiple bottles of supplements from your countertop, go with this guy. I could write an entire blog post on how fabulous this supplement is but today, we will stick with foundational support.

Gut: Life9 Probiotic

Targeted Support: Olive Essentials (family history or cardiovascular and neurological issues.)

Those three are my constants! My fourth tends to change based on my current needs. If I feel like I need hormonal support, I will choose a supplement to support those issues. If I am doing the Whole 30 or looking to support a diet change, I reach for Juvatone. Right now, I am switching my fourth item to AgilEase. I have been running consistently and this is just what my body needs.

You may only have 2 or 3 Core supplements that you stick to. You know your body and you need to listen to it. Please look at the ingredients on your supplements. Often times, ingredients can overlap.

If someone was looking to support the immune system, their core routine may look like:

Ningxia, Life 9, and Inner Defense, Vitamin D or C

If someone was looking for hormonal support their core routine may look like:

PD 80/20, Ningxia, Master Formula, and Life 9

If someone is struggling with inflammation, their core routine may look like:

Sulfurzyme, AgilEase, and CBD oil

(All of the above are just examples!)

When to take your supplements? 

Your dosage and timing should be on the bottle. Life9, should always be taken at night, an hour after eating. If you are taking an enzyme, you will take that an hour before your meal. Depending on why you are taking your enzyme, this may be a once a day thing, before a couple of meals a day, or an as needed when you indulge thing. Everything else can be worked into your day based on the directions on the bottle.

I hope this write up helped to guide you and was not too overwhelming. Please let me know if you have any questions!!

I also HIGHLY recommend The Supplement Desk Reference by Jen O’Sullivan.

The Other F-word

The Other F-word
As we talk about hormonal support this week, it is important that we touch on the products we use in our home. You can be the healthiest eater and someone who exercises everyday, but if you aren't watching the products you bring into your home, you are still putting yourself at unnecessary risk for so much. The next topic can REALLY get me going 😊 Shall we dive in?

Paraben free, Dye- Free, SLS-free, Sulfate-Free, Phthalate-free….we are seeing all of our household and personal care products try to clean up their act! Why? People are slowly waking up. They want reasons for their health issues and they are starting to become aware of the long-term impact the products we use in our homes have on our health. Unfortunately, people wait for that reason or health concern to arise before they start to do their research and pay attention.
You know what you will not see removed from most of these products claiming to be clean? FRAGRANCE.
It is in everything! From the candles we burn, the air fresheners we spray, to our dish soap and make-up. (Seriously though, why do you need fragrance in your dish soap?) There are a little over 3,000 chemicals than can be blanketed in that term fragrance and guess what… some of them are harmful! Endocrine disruptors, chemicals linked to tumor growth, chemicals that can have an impact on the respiratory system, chemicals that have been linked to cancer, and more. We often see a “green” label or “clean living” being advertised and ignore the FRAGRANCE label that is listed right there in the ingredients. The worst part about this label is none of the chemicals under this umbrella being used in your product are required to be disclosed to you. It is considered proprietary information. You could have an allergic reaction to a product, and they do not have to tell you what is under that label.

Think of the air in your home. Especially, with the holidays approaching and people wanting anything and everything to smell like pumpkin spice. It doesn’t matter what kind of wax you are using, fragrance is fragrance and you are polluting the air in your home. If the word fragrance is written on the label of your candle/spray/wallflower, it is not clean ( even some aromas claiming to be essential oils are labeled as “fragrance”). Your home is the one place that you can control what your family is exposed to. Already, your body is having to process these chemicals that are in the air you are breathing all day long before you leave the house.

Then think of your skin care products, soap, lotion, make-up, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, and your laundry products!! Laundry products kill me. When I can smell your laundry from down the street while I am running, I get concerned for your health. On top of that, you wear and smell that fragrance all day long. You sleep with that fragrance! The smell of flowers does not equal clean.

I challenge you to look at your products. Even the ones you do not think would contain fragrance. Read that label!  This is why we use oils! High quality oils from a trusted source (the regulation on the essential oil industry is an entirely different post 😊) This is why we use Young Living! You will never see “fragrance” listed under the ingredients. They tell you what ingredients are making you product smell so good. I do not have to label read and worry about transparency with them. The other thing I love, is how long the products last because they are not filled with all the junk.  From the outside it may look a little complicated, but it is quite simple to do this on a budget with the right help and resources!

Here is one of my favorite recipes to replace those nasty aerosol sprays:

5 ounce continue mist spray bottle
1 capful Thieves Household Cleaner (
Add 15-20 drops essential oils of your choice
I like Northern Lights Black Spruce and Orange right now
Top with witch hazel or vodka
You now have yourself a continuous mist “clean” air freshener/spray
Add a cute Avery label if you wish 😊
 
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