Hi! My name is Missy
and I am Head Domestic Engineer in this research lab we call a home. We are severely understaffed with only me and
my husband, Brian, being employed here.
Our research material consists mainly of, but is not limited to, two
boys ages 4 and 7.
Is it sad that the most
recent picture I have with all four of us is from Christmas?
In the past several years, we in the department of Domestic
Engineering have seen a movement among homemakers toward a healthier “back to basics”
paradigm. Trends like gluten-free or
whole food diets, homemade cleaners, and homeopathic medicines have gained
popularity; some with warrant, and some without. For example, transitioning to a gluten-free
diet based solely on its association with the healthy lifestyle movement can
have you eating sugar-rich, protein deficient, expensive, trendy junk food in
no time. Likewise, expectations that somehow
switching from your expensive, over-marketed name brand detergents to a simple
homemade concoction will ease your ring-around-the-collar woes are often
unrealistic and unfounded.
However, the fact that many (myself included) can bear testimony
to the helpfulness of some of these new-old product switches should lead us to
believe that something must be
working. The difference, friends, is all
in your expectations. We should talk helpfulness and not absolute effectiveness. If you are looking for a cheap alternative to
Tide that will whiten, brighten, and fragrance your clothes as well as this mega
brand you are unlikely to find it in the borax-washing soda-Fels Naphtha
formulation (I don't know if this is the site Missy used, but click here for information on it) which has been used exclusively in my home for the past two years. My expectations were twofold: Cheap and Clean. Voila, a formula for success.
So, when it comes to Essential Oils, should you have high expectations
or is this one fad you should simply skip?
Hopefully my experience can help you decide.
I have IBS. I know,
not a fun topic to think about and even less fun to address with complete
strangers. Blech. My symptoms reached a boiling point this
summer in mid-August when I couldn’t go a single day without a flare-up. I had tried elimination diets to attempt to
pinpoint any dietary culprits without success.
My family was planning to vacation to Branson, Missouri in two weeks and
I couldn’t be more than 2 minutes away from the nearest restroom. Kind of takes road tripping and kayaking out
of the question. I was literally in
tears, crying to my friend that I had no idea what to do.
When I was diagnosed 5 years ago, I was told there wasn’t
really anything to do about it. I could
attempt to manage the symptoms as flare-ups arose but all that could be done
with over the counter medications. And
it wasn’t working this time.
So I started researching.
I perused the medical websites, reading articles in any medical journal
I could get my eyes on. You may or may
not know that doctors often prescribe antidepressants to IBS patients in an
attempt to ease their sufferings. Unfortunately,
clinical trials don’t support the effectiveness of these meds as being any
better than placebo. The most promising
article I came upon talked of a double-blind placebo study* in which peppermint
oil was shown to relieve or improve symptoms by at least half in 75% of study
participants (versus 38%** of placebo participants). I was desperate. And I really couldn’t believe that it could
be so simple.
I have a friend who is a doTerra rep and I called her
immediately to order the starter kit containing lavender, peppermint, and lemon
oils. I don’t tout their brand of oils
over any other particular brand, I will let their salespeople do that, but it
was the only place I knew I could go
to for pure, clean oils that were acceptable for internal use.
My choice to use doTerra
oils began with nothing more than my knowledge of them and my lack of knowledge
of other brands.
Be advised, not all essential oils are food-grade. I have a bottle of Sweet Orange Essential Oil
I bought in the eco-friendly section of Hen House which states plainly “Not for
internal use”. The bottle says it is
“pure aromatherapy” type oil. I store it
with my cleaning supplies so there is no confusion. When we were cloth diapering I used Tea Tree Oil
for its antiseptic properties and continue to use it as a cleaning aid when
cleaning bathrooms and floors.
I store my
non-food-grade oils with my cleaning supplies.
For the record, I could have gone with an enteric coated
capsule of peppermint oil from a health food store, but I wanted to try the oil
on many different ailments and did not want to be limited by the capsules.
In addition to IBS, I am also a mild allergy sufferer. I’ve never been tested, so I’m not sure what
exactly I’m allergic to but I can assure you that the list includes furry
animals. Cats and dogs specifically. My friend (the doTerra rep) has been
enamored with her essential oils for a couple of years, and quite honestly I
thought she was a little nutso about it.
The day my shipment of oils arrived at her house, she called
me up and we planned to meet the next morning.
I woke, stuffy nosed and itchy-eyed as usual. Remember above when I told you I’m allergic
to cats? I know because I have two. And you thought my friend was nutso. But I digress.
I arrived at her house and she showed me how to make the
“Allergy Elixir” which consists of two drops each of Lavender, Peppermint, and
Lemon Essential Oils in a shot glass about half full with water.
Down the hatch.
Yes, it tastes as disgusting as it sounds and that’s why we
do it in a shot glass. Try not to taste
it. And have a chaser ready in case your
peppermint oil makes your mouth burn. Within
30 minutes my itchy eyes and stuffy nose were better. And no, sassy-pants, it’s not because I was
at her house and not mine. She has a cat
too. Sheesh. You guys are a tough crowd. I apologized to my friend for thinking she
was nutso. She forgave me. We’re tight like that.
Over the course of that week, I continued to take shots of
peppermint and water throughout the day.
I wish I could tell you exactly how much I took, but all I can tell you
is I downed a shot as many times as I thought of it and each one had 2 drops of
oil. One of the side effects of
peppermint oil is acid reflux which is why most people opt for enteric coated
capsules. The coating allows the pill to
get into a lower part of your intestine before dissolving so that it won’t
cause the reflux. And minty burps, it
also causes minty burps.
Every time I had tummy cramps, I loaded a tablespoon of
olive oil with several drops of peppermint oil and rubbed it on my
stomach. Eventually when I got used to
the intense tingling sensation of the mint, I nixed the olive oil
altogether. Now, even my 7 year old uses
the peppermint straight-up on his tender tummy.
It was like a miracle in a bottle.
My symptoms went completely into remission and I have had maybe two
episodes since September. That’s 5
months. In all fairness, you should also
know that I did eliminate coffee from my diet at the same time I began the
peppermint trial. But I have since added
a single 6 oz. cup of coffee back into my daily routine without incident.
After clearing up my mild allergy symptoms and forcing my
IBS into remission I was pretty impressed and began using the oils for any and
every ailment on every member of our house.
Hubby has a headache?
Peppermint on the temples.
Kiddos too keyed up to sleep? Lavender on the back of the neck.
You can tip the bottle
and pour a drop on the pillow, or you can tip the bottle with your finger over
the hold and swipe some directly on the skin at the back of the neck.
Stuffy nose? Lemon
shots or lemon oil on the back of the neck.
Achy feet? Peppermint
on the soles.
Paper cuts? Lavender.
Sore muscles?
Peppermint massage.
Starting to feel a tickle in the throat? Lemon again.
Car sickness?
Peppermint.
There are lists upon lists of suggestions for the uses of
these oils. Just Google it, or look on
Pinterest.
Since October I have wanted to add Oregano to our arsenal as
it’s a known antiviral, but honestly the Triumphant Trio have been doing so
well that I haven’t needed to. We have
had exactly one occurrence of the sickies in my house this winter, and it was
my youngest with a tummy bug. No
sniffles, no colds, no flu. We still use Ibuprofen and other meds when necessary, but we almost always give our oils a shot first. Wow, my puns are killer today.
In conclusion, I would say that as long as your expectations
are reasonable and you realize that sometimes products were developed and
marketed because traditional methods were insufficient, you have a pretty good
chance of being satisfied with the performance of essential oils in your house
and with your family. Just don’t expect
it to be like those Scrubbing Bubbles commercials where the cleanser does a
Broadway number on your toilet tank while also obliterating every germ in your
house and removing 20 year old soap scum residue.
*Cappello G., Spezzaferro M., Grossi L., Manzoli L., Marzio
L. (2007) Peppermint oil in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: a
prospective double blind placebo controlled randomized trial. Dig Liver
Dis 39:530–536. [PubMed]
**The 38% of placebo users who saw improvement
in symptoms were those whose flare-ups had gone into remission of their own
accord.Wow! I don't know about you but I just learned a TON. Thank you so very much for sharing your experience with us Missy! I seriously am going to have to look into adding the use of essential oils into our lives.
1 comment:
awesome Missy! I had no clue. I also think I should look into this. Hmmm.
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