The most important steps include frequent hand washings ( Thieves foaming hand sanitizer), washing bed lines and towels (I add a drop of Thieves or Purification essential oil to my laundry soap for extra disinfecting), cleaning my bathrooms with Thieves wipes (you can make your own wipes with Thieves household cleaner and tough paper towels, store them in an old baby wipes container for convenience) and diffusing highly anti-bacterial blends like Thieves, Purification, Christmas Spirit and Frankincense to kill airborne bacteria.    Young Living essential oils are also the most important items in our medicine cabinet.  In fact, we really don’t have anything else in our medicine chest – no ibuprofen, acetaminophen,  or over the counter cough syrups with artificial flavors & colors.  This is what  we use for colds & flu symptoms:

1st onset:  For adults, make up a  capsule of Thieves:  2 drops of Thieves essential oil plus 3-6 drops of lemon in gel cap.  For kids  under 6, a spoonful of agave nectar with 1 drop of lemon essential oil added and 1-2 drops of R.C applied to the bottoms of feet.  Use Thieves hand sanitizer to keep germs from spreading.  Keep mouth clean where germs multiply with Thieves mouthwash.

Cough medicine -  1 tsp agave nectar with 1 drop of lemon essential oil.  For adults add 1 drop Thieves for extra boost. Suck on Thieves lozenges.

Fever – Adults, 3-5 drops peppermint essential oil on each foot.   Repeat as needed until fever is gone.  Children under 7 – Lavender & Frankincense on bottoms of feet or along spine – repeat as needed until the fever is gone.

Sore Throat – 1 tsp agave nectar with 1 drop of lemon essential oil (Lemon essential oil contains many more nutrients and antioxidants than just lemon juice as the essential oil is distilled from the rind – use only food grade lemon essential oil for ingesting) .  For adults and children over 6 add 1 drop of  Thieves oil to the spoonful of lemon/agave nectar.  Thieves lozenges are also helpful.   Gargle with Thieves mouthwash.

Sinus & Chest congestion – R.C. applied to the bottoms of feet, rubbed on the chest or inhaled.  Add a  few drops to bath water and breath deeply.  Frankincense supports the respiratory tract and viruses.  Apply to the chest and throat area on lymph glands.  Place a drop of frankincense on the tongue to fight viruses.  Raven is a Young Living blend made of Ravensara, wintergreen, eucalyptus radiata, lemon and peppermint.   It is especially effective when layered with the R.C blend.  Breathe Again Roll-on is a convenient blend to apply directly to the chest or Vita-Flex points for breathing relief due to cold and asthma.

Cold/Canker Sores – suck on a Thieves lozenge or apply a drop of Thieves essential oil directly to the spot to alleviate pain and speed healing.  Peppermint oil also may help when applied directly.

Headache /body aches – Raindrop Technique, apply peppermint or Panaway on the forehead and temples or  lemon essential oil on the big toe.  Soak in a mineral bath like Ancient Minerals with 3-4 drops of lavender essential oils added.

Vomiting/diarrhea - peppermint essential oil applied to bottoms of feet, on the belly and 1 drop in water to sip.  Children under 6 should not use peppermint oil, instead use Frankincense or ginger essential oil on the feet and belly.  After 1 hour of no vomiting, gradually introduce liquids. Dilute 1 oz. Ningxia Red with 4-5 ounces of water is a gentle way to start adding nutrients.

Inner Defense is a supplement that contains 4 different types of Oregano.  This is highly antibacterial, research shows this blend is as powerful as some antibiotics.  When using Inner Defense, 10-12 hours later take a probiotic likeLife 5.   For example, Inner Defense in the morning, Life 5 at bedtime to replenish healthy intestinal flora.

In addition to some of these suggestion make sure to add some homemade chicken soup, drinking plenty of  high quality fluids, rest and some common sense to ensure a quick recovery.  Always seek the advice of your doctor for serious illness.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are meant for educational purposes only, they are not a substitute for medical care.

Most chemicals are absorbed through your skin and circulate into your bloodstream, almost as if you ate it.  Drug companies know this, and now you can find more drugs “delivered” through the skin via patches with nicotine, pain medications and hormone treatments.   What you put on your skin matters!  When you make choices in body care, it’s important to keep in mind the long term results.  Your body will absorb chemicals  not identified by the body as a natural substance.  They circulate them through your body systems like the endocrine system and store those chemicals in your major organs and fatty tissue.  If you are trying to lose weight, you need to get the toxins out of the cellulite before you can really lose weight for the long term.    Antiperspirants contain aluminum, so every time you apply that underarm protection, your lymphatic system is drawing in the aluminum.  Doctors already know this, before a mammography you’ll be instructed to avoid using anti-antiperspirants or deodorants a couple of days before an exam since the metal particles will show up as “landmarks” on scans.  Short term, you probably won’t see any difference, but fast forward 20 or 30 years of daily application and you might see a profound affect.  The bottom line is many of these long term effects are still unknown, so an ounce of prevention where you know it might matter can help.

Multiple applications equal more exposure Let’s look at hand sanitizer for example.  My focus in health is very much on my children’s exposure to chemicals.  Kid’s bodies are more vulnerable to toxin overload simply because of their size and developing bodies.  Hand sanitizer is one product I have chosen to convert to a healthier option.  Most hand sanitizers have alcohol as their main ingredient.  Hand sanitizer dispensers are everywhere: bathrooms, stores, libraries, churches.  Everywhere you turn, your child can fill her hands with foaming hand sanitizer.  It looks like fun until you think about the dose of alcohol absorbed into her skin every use.  Alcohol baths had once been used in hospitals to lower fevers.  This practice has since been discontinued because the medical community realized patients were absorbing the alcohol through their skin and getting very ill.   There are plenty of safer options in hand sanitation including a few that rely on naturally anti-bacterial essential oils like Young Living’s Thieves Hand Sanitizer that utilizes cinnamon, rosemary, clove and lemon essential oils to clean hands.

Look at your daily routine   Body lotions,  shampoos and shower gels are also other potential points of chemical absorption.  Most products contain artificial fragrance (a.k.a “parfum”), just a combination of secret chemicals, many linked with endocrine disruption.  Your endocrine system regulates your hormones, thyroid, metabolism, pituitary gland and more.  Avoid any products with the ingredient “fragrance” as the manufacturer can use a combination of unknown chemicals under this term.   Parabens have most recently been found to disrupt hormones,  and the FDA has banned the use of them in children’s bath and body products.  Paraben ingredients are allowed in other products, though.   As adults, we still rely on properly functioning hormones don’t we?  How many of you know someone in their 50′s, 40′s, even 30′s on thyroid medication?

Name That Product   I was surprised when I read on the product samples in my husbands “goodie bag” that one product contained Parabens!  This sample was a gift to athletes, training for months on end to get their bodies into top shape for an event.  I’m pretty conservative when it comes to what I use in my family, I realize this is new information to some of you, but would you use this product knowing that it contains ingredients banned for use with children?  Here are the ingredients:

menthol, carbomer, FD&C blue #1, FD&C yellow #5, glycerine, herbal extract (flex paraguariensis), isopropyl alcohol USP, methylparaben, natural camphor USP, propylene glycol, silicon dioxide, triethanolamine, purified water.

I’m going to have a little fun with this, and see if anyone can guess this product. Whoever can comment back first with the correct answer will get a 3-pack of  Young Living Thieve’s Hand Sanitizer, an $18 value!

I’d love to get your input on this, would you use products with these ingredients?  Treat your body products like food for your skin, read your labels and know what you are putting into and on your body!

Congratulations to Cindy G. for guessing this product, BIOFREEZE, used by massage therapists, chiropractors and bodyworkers to release muscle tension, aches and pains from aging and active lifestyles.  If you want truly natural muscle and pain relief,  Therapeutic Grade essential oils are the best choice.  You’ve got many options including:

• Peppermint  (anti-inflammatory & cooling)
• Idaho Balsam Fir (anti-inflammatory  and muscle relaxant)
• Basil (anti-spasmodic and muscle relaxant)
• PanAway is a Young Living blend that eases joint & muscle aches and pains
• Raindrop Technique oils (helpful for back pain, using many anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic oils like peppermint, basil, marjoram and cypress)

Give yourself the best and reduce the chemicals you are exposed to.  Chemical laden products work for the short term, with effects on your future health unknown.  For most issues, there are essential oil options that work to bring your body into balance and support your health.  Check an Essential Oil Desk Reference for more issue specific uses of essential oils.

Therapeutic Grade essential oils have been researched for decades on their antimicrobial effects against many bacteria including E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. Oregano,   Clove, cinnamon and Thyme have shown the most powerful effects against these bacteria, with research proving their effectiveness against at least 23 different bacteria including Streptococcous and Staphylococcus.  Even Pharmaceutical manufacturers are seeing the potential of essential oils and are combining them with traditional antibiotics to improve the effectiveness of their products.  Natural essential oils are not patentable, but a pharmaceutical antibiotic combined with a natural essential oil is. One company is experimenting with an edible, apple-based produce cover that  includes cinnamon, allspice and clove essential oils.

Here are ways you can incorporate essential oil use into your food preparation routines:

1. Always wash hands thoroughly with friction and warm water, making sure to completely rinse hands.  For more effectiveness, soaps with essential oils of clove, cinnamon and rosemary are naturally antibacterial.   Avoid hand soap with hormone disrupting Triclosan.
2. Wash produce thoroughly with castille soap and 2-3 drops of essential oils of clove or thyme, or add the essential oils to your produce wash.
3. Wash produce with Thieves Household cleaner or Thieves handsoap.  Work up a lather onto the outside of the produce, allow to sit a few minutes then rinse thoroughly.
4. Only put clean produce on your cutting boards and counters.  Keep unwashed produce in grocery bags until you can wash it thoroughly and avoid contaminating counters.

Thieves essential oil is a Young Living blend of essential oils of clove, cinnamon, rosemary and lemon.  This powerful combination of essential oils has been researched to kill many bacteria including airborne mold spores (Aspergillus) within 12 minutes of diffusing.  Bacteria can mutate easily against man-made antibiotics and chemical antibacterial products, they are less hardy against essential oils that vary slightly from season to season.  When you choose products for your hand sanitizing and food purity, select food-grade essential oils that are safe for skin contact and potent enough to kill harmful bacteria.

The Longevity Blend can be used in a number of ways.  Applying a couple of drops of the  essential oil blend to the feet can increase the absorption into the system through the reflexology points.   Since all of these individual oils are food-grade, the Longevity Blend can be taken as a dietary supplement.  Taking the blend internally can help combat systemic inflammation which contributes to premature aging and disease.  Simply put 2 drops of the blend into a gel cap and swallow.   If you mix up your own gel cap, often made of a digestible cellulose plant material, take the capsule immediately or it will begin to dissolve.   Young Living also has a gel cap formulated with the Longevity Blend that is more portable than filling your own gel caps.

Longevity Essential Oil Blend 15ml    Whsl  $29.75      Retail   $39.14

Longevity Sofgels   30 ct                         Whsl  $ 27.75   Retail  $36.51

You can order Young Living oils at wholesale (select Independent Distributor and order a $40 Start Living Kit for lifetime wholesale pricing, and no monthly minimums)  or retail (select customer).  If your cookies is not enabled, enter #1003003 in the sponsor & enroller columns to support the Pure Home and Body website.  Thanks!

In the 90′s , scientists realized the dangers of consuming hydrogenated oils even though they continue to be used in many processed foods.  The general public has been quick to embrace a healthy alternative in Omega -3 fish oils yet many remain uninformed of the importance of quality.  In addition to being susceptible to heavy metal contamination, fish oils are highly volatile.  As soon as they are exposed to oxygen they begin to break down becoming rancid.  By the time a consumer ingests a fish oil, it is most likely rancid having a negative impact on the body as a free radical.  In Asian countries, fish are consumed so fresh that at many markets the  fish are labeled with the time of day they were caught.  In the U.S. standards for fish oil supplements require little if any disclosure of purity, hence the resulting lawsuit.  It is expected that many more manufacturer’s fish oil supplements may fail tests of purity specifically because of contaminants like PCB’s.

Young Living’s Omega Blue is the purest fish oil on the market for a number of reasons.  First, Young Living thoroughly tests the purity of all their products and holds them above industry standards.  Secondly,  Young Living’s Omega Blue fish oil is derived from small fish:  sardines, mackerel and anchovies.  These  smaller fish have little or no heavy metals and what fish are used for YL’s Omega Blue are tested to ensure no contamination.   Larger fish tend to accumulate heavy metals in their bodies as they grow bigger – often the bigger fish like tuna have large amounts of contaminants.   Thirdly, the fish oils in Omega Blue are combined with therapeutic grade essential oils of Myrrh, Thyme and Clove.  All of these oils are anti-bacterial and act as natural preservatives to prevent the Omega-3 oil from going rancid.  Thyme oil in particular has been researched for it’s ability to maintain the integrity of a fish oil.  In addition, these essential oils increase the effectiveness of the omega-3 absorption, they offer additional anti-oxidants  and nutrient potency.  Omega Blue also contains Lemongrass essential oil which is highly anti-bacterial and gives a pleasant flavor to the oil preventing a fish oil aftertaste.  Lastly, Omega Blue contains German Chamomile, an anti-inflammatory oil which rounds out  the anti-oxidant effectiveness of this blend. 

Omega -3 fish oils have shown promise in lessening the incidence of heart attack.   50% of people who die from heart attacks were given a clean bill of health by their doctors and had shown no symptoms of heart disease before the attack.  In one study,  the blood of physicians who fell in this category was studied and found low levels of Omega -3 in their blood increased their risk of sudden death from heart attack by 81%.   You can significantly reduce your risk of sudden heart attack by taking a quality Omega-3  fish oil supplement like Young Living’s Omega Blue.   I am confident with the purity of Young Living’s Omega Blue simply because of the attention they put into using only the purest ingredients.  Adding their therapeutic grade essential oils makes a good thing even better.

This information is for educational purposes only,  I am not a medical doctor and am not diagnosing, treating or curing any disease.

Omega Blue fish oil 90ct capsules       $29.75  wholesale           $39.14 retail

You can purchase your own Young Living Omega Blue oil at wholesale (as an Independant Distributor with no monthly minimums, just purchase  a $40 Start Living Membership Kit)or retail (select customer).  If your cookies is not enabled, enter #1003003 as your sponsor & enroller.  Thanks for supporting the Pure Home and Body website.

Because it is a powerful anti-microbial, it can be effective for treating arthritis, hepatitis, intestinal parasites, infections and for pain management.  We have used clove and Thieves oil for tooth pain, specifically from orthodontic and dental work.  To use for tooth pain, apply a drop to a cotton swab and add a drop of olive oil or V-6 oil.  Apply the oil soaked swab onto location or just above a tooth on the gum line.  This method may also bring relief to cold or canker sores inside the mouth.  The clove oil helps to decrease

Therapeutic grade Clove essential oil has been researched extensively and found to kill more than 60 types of bacteria, 15 strains of fungi and several viruses!  In several studies, clove was researched for effectiveness against candida infection and found results after 8 days of treatment almost equivalent to results compared to Nystatin. (Journal of Drug Targeting, December 2005; 13(10) 555-561

Clove Essential Oil 15ml     Whsl  $14.75     Retail  $19.41

You can order Young Living oils at wholesale (select Independent Distributor and order a $40 Start Living Kit for lifetime wholesale pricing, and no monthly minimums)  or retail (select customer).  If your cookies is not enabled, enter #1003003 in the sponsor & enroller columns to support the Pure Home and Body website.  Thanks!

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and this information is for educational purposes only.  It  is not the intent of Pure Home and Body LLC to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

Essential Oils can be applied topically:   Essential oils applied directly from the bottle are called ‘neat’.  Oils applied with a carrier oil, such as Young Living’s V-6 oil will extend the oil a bit more and is helpful for using the essential oils in massage.  Essential oils can be inhaled, simply from the bottle or the palm of the hand, diffused from a Young Living Diffuser, applied topically to the skin or taken internally as a food additive – any oils safe for ingestion will have the white food supplement label on the bottle.  Consult your User’s Guide and Essential Oils Desk Reference for specific information on each oil’s usage.

Common areas to apply oils are directly where they are needed: a drop of peppermint essential oil applied to the temples can help for a headache, PanAway applied directly to a sore joint for pain relief, or lavender essential oil can be applied directly to a burn (make sure to use only Young Living therapeutic grade lavender for a burn, any inferior oil applied to a burn could make the injury worse).  Reflexology is the practice of applying essential oils to the soles of the feet which are the source of nerve endings corresponding to many points of the body.  The large toe for example, corresponds to the head and applying lemon oil to the big toe may alleviate a migraine headache.

Essential Oils can be Inhaled.    Simply breathing essential oils may be useful for managing stress.  The aroma of  an appealing scent can help alleviate anxiety.  Synthetic oils should never be used for this as the chemicals may actually make anxiety worse.  Inhaling an oil is sometimes used for situations like  respiratory conjestion, using a Young Living blend like  R.C or a  eucalyptus  to  soothe the respiratory tract.

Diffusing essential oils is perfect for deodorizing the air.  You could diffuse a blend like Purification to neutralize odors.  Thieves blend or Frankincense would be helpful in disinfecting the air when someone is battling a cold or flu.  We’ve prevented the spread of many illnesses in our home by diffusing essential oils when someone comes down with a bug.   It is also helpful to use the anti-bacterial blends like Thieves to clean frequently used surfaces like door knobs, light switches and faucets.

Food Grade Essential Oils can be ingested.  Many of Young Living’s single essential oils are certified by the FDA as food grade, so they are safe for internal use.  Just follow the recommended dose on each bottle.   Some oils like Thieves, clove or lemon can be placed in a spoonful of rice milk or agave nectar and simply swallowed.   Oils can also be filled into a supplemental gel cap available at most health food stores.  Internal use is effective for targeting digestive issues like nausea & diarrhea (Peppermint oil), and systemic inflammation.  Internal usage is also excellent as a dietary supplement as with Longevity essential oil. 

Essential oils are powerful substances and should be combined with common sense.  If you have a condition requiring medical treatment, see your doctor.  The information on this website is for educational purposes only and Pure Home and Body LLC does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.