The first place to get started with essential oils is to look at your home & health and identify where you have toxins in your life to see what you can replace. There are many places we find toxins, from health & beauty products to cleaning supplies to processed foods and supplements. Most of us read labels on the foods we eat, but when have you read the labels of cleaning/household supplies and your health & beauty products? www.ewg.org is a great website to see how your favorite products rank for toxicity. I would eliminate as many chemicals as possible. This includes illegal, prescription and over the counter drugs. Many of these toxins that once started as an occasional exposure have become harmful habits in our lives and a big part of who we are as individuals. Mark Twain once said “I know full well that if I gave up smoking it would add ten years to my life. But those would be ten years without a cigarette.” Are there harmful things in your life that you are not quite ready to let go of? Consider the consequences of your choices, obviously it’s best to eliminate harmful substances you are exposed to.
Get rid of air fresheners, traditional perfumes and any products with “fragrance”. Substances in all of these products have no health benefit and a lot of research is showing how harmful these chemicals are to adults and growing babies, more and more research is finding these chemicals are hormone disruptors, endocrine disruptors, are detrimental to reproductive systems and are stored in fatty tissue. Essential oils offer fragrance that can actually help you be healthier -
Eliminate artificial sweeteners According to the U.S News World Report in March 2003, the average Americans were consuming 142 pounds of sugar each year, a number that has continued to rise since the 1950′s. Use more natural sweeteners like Agave nectar to your diet and eliminate artificial sweeteners like NutraSweet and Splenda. Adding flavorful herbs and food safe essential oils to your cooking and beverages can help satisfy your taste buds while lessening your intake of harmful artificial ingredients.
Replace harmful household cleaners with healthy ones Essential oils are great natural alternatives to harsh cleaning supplies. Young Living also offers some great personal care products and nutritional supplements to replace harmful ones.
Eat whole organic foods when you can. Essential oils can help you have less toxins in your life if you eliminate the chemicals, but they will not solve problems on their own without the help of some serious lifestyle changes. Processed foods should be a small if any portion of your food intake. Candy, junk food and any products with corn syrup NutraSweet or monosodium glutamate (MSG) should not be consumed at all. Raw fruits and vegetables and plant sources of protein will offer a multitude of nutrients that your body can best absorb and assimilate.
Detox your body Using essential oils will help your body gently eliminate toxins. Just drinking Young Living lemon or peppermint essential oils in your water each day is an easy way to start cleansing your body of toxins that have built up in your system. Be careful to avoid any beauty products with petroleum products in them like mineral oil as therapeutic grade essential oils from Young Living draw out toxins when they are applied to the skin. If any skin irritation occurs it could be from toxins being pulled out of the skin. Some oils like citrus oils will cause photosensitivity and may result in sunburn if applied within 12 hours of sun exposure.
The main thing to remember is to make small changes over time that you can maintain. You want your healthier lifestyle to be choices for a lifetime.
[...] people are aware of what they put into and on their body: eating nutritious foods, making low-toxin choices in home, health & beauty [...]
[...] Here are a couple of mosquito blends we’ve used in our family. You can mix up your own combination of essential oils to have on hand. Add the essential oils to a glass spray bottle, the same method as making your own air freshener. You can also add the essential oil blend to a vegetable oil and apply to the skin before exposure to mosquitos. Making your own mosquito repellent makes sense if you want to live a life with less toxins. These combinations are quick and easy to mix and you’ll know what ingredients you are putting on your body. [...]