Consuming Essential Oils: The Secret Spring Ingredient for 2018 and One Immune Boosting Recipe

Not many people are aware that essential oils can be used medicinally both externally (via diffusers, massages, and baths) as well as internally (via food and drink). When we think of cooking with herbs and spices we usually reach for the fresh or dry versions of those ingredients to add flavor and depth to our culinary dishes. Now imagine enjoying those herbs and spices in a concentrated medicinal form that not only provides an intense spectrum of flavor but is packed with different compounds (some of which cross the blood-brain barrier because of their small molecular size) and medicinal properties in which their usage in your cooking will take your food to new healing heights.

A History of Medicinal Use

Ingesting essential oils is not something new and actually dates back to 3000-2500 B.C. and is believed to have been first used in food preparation and preservation by the ancient Egyptians, although there are references that it was used in China and India around the same time, if not earlier.

Related: Understanding Essential Oils: A Complete Guide For Beginners

In terms of healing properties, Dr. Eric Zielinski states that essential oils “combat pathogens (harmful microorganisms), are a source of antioxidants (needed to prevent and cure disease), and have been shown to contain advanced healing properties in addition to cancer cell cytotoxicity amongst other things.” Also, Dr. Jockers points out that, “since essential oils boost and uplift the mood, they can actively alleviate binge eating and unhealthy cravings.”

It is interesting to note, that currently doctors in Europe particularly England, France, and Germany offer their patients a choice between either pharmaceutical drugs or natural essential oils when prescribing remedies for a health condition. That is why essential oils are readily available throughout apothecaries across Europe.

Related: How I replaced Medications with Essential Oils

Already Edible

In the U.S. our food industry uses essential oils in many products ranging from sweets, drinks, and chocolate just to name a few, so as to add intense flavor and strong aroma into the ingredient mixes. Because of their internal usage the FDA has compiled a “GRAS List” for essential oils (generally recommended as safe), whereby the following oils are listed and are considered safe for ingestion: Lemon, Orange, Nutmeg, Black Pepper, Peppermint, Ginger, Mandarin, Sage, Tangerine, Lemongrass, Grapefruit, Fennel, Spearmint, Cinnamon Bark, Oregano, Lime, Dill, Rosemary, Clove, Basil, Geranium, Rose, Rosewood, Cumin, Cardamom, Lemon Myrtle, Tarragon, and Mountain Savory.

Approach With Caution

However, please be mindful that not all essential oils are meant to be consumed internally and you must always double check the oil name, bottle description and label recommendation before using any. Also, not all oils are created equally. Many companies use fillers, pesticides, and methods that do not make the oils safe for consumption. Make sure any oils you intend on using internally are 100% pure, organic, and unadulterated. If you are uncertain about specific brands and oil recommendations, consult with a holistic health practitioner just to be safe.

Related: Fight Cavities and Gingivitis Naturally With Homemade DIY Oral Health

Around this time of year, many people wish to keep their immune systems high; their respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular systems optimally functioning; and germs, viruses, and bacteria at bay. Below is my favorite original recipe, immune boosting peppermint essential oil tea I like to drink once a week during this time of year. It is great both for your mind and body. It is relaxing, uplifting, immune boosting, weight losing, and stress relieving all in one.

Peppermint Lemon Tea from the Alma Holistic Health Kitchen

Ingredients:

1-1.5 cups of distilled water, boiled
2-3 teaspoons of raw unfiltered wildflower honey
2 drops of food grade, 100% pure Peppermint essential oil
¼ frozen lemon grated
½ fresh squeezed lemon juice

Bring distilled water to a boil. In a ceramic mug, place honey, essential oil, grated frozen lemon, and lemon juice. Add the hot water to the ingredients in mug and stir. Cover with a small plate for 3-5 minutes. Before sipping, inhale the aroma and reap its benefits first via your nose. Then slowly start to drink the tea and cover your body with a warm blanket and relax on a couch or bed. Feel the warmth and light tingle envelope your throat, sinuses, chest, lungs, and body. Take a nap after if you are able to.

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New Report Details Harms of Fracking including Asthma, Birth Defects, Cancer

A new report, titled Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking is the most authoritative study that’s ever been done on fracking and how it is contaminating the air and water – and imperiling the health of millions of us.

Our examination of the peer-reviewed medical and public health literature uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health.”

This report looked at news investigations, government assessments, and more than a thousand peer-reviewed research articles. The study shows that fracking is poisoning our air, contaminating the groundwater, and putting our health of at risk.

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Just How Bad is fracking? Why?

Dr. Sandra Steingraber is a biologist and one of the co-authors. She’s been a public health advocate on issues like breast cancer and toxic incinerators. She says that “Fracking is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

Those of us in the public health sector started to realize years ago that there were potential risks, then the industry rolled out faster than we could do our science. Now we see those risks have turned into human harms and people are getting sick. And we in this field have a moral imperative to raise the alarm.” –Dr. Steingraber, Rolling Stone

Fracking is a complicated extraction process with public health hazards at virtually every part of the process. If you want to read it, click here to read the report, and then click the download button to view the PDF.

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Residents living near an active fracking site breathe in carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde. THis leads to an increased risk of asthma and leads to developmental disorders and problems with pregnancies.

Pregnant women have a major risk, not only themselves but they’re carrying a fetus whose cells are multiplying continuously. If those cells get hit by some toxic chemical from fracking, it may not manifest itself for years.” – Dr. Lynn Ringenberg, president-elect of Physicians for Social Responsibility

Fracking sites have caught fire some have even exploded, as happened last month in Belmont County, Ohio. Communities have shown that fracking contaminates underground aquifers with hazardous chemicals. Fracked gas travels through pipelines, and leaks and explosions are now well-documented. Piped gas has to continuously be re-pressurized at compressor stations, and those stations have been documented to emit toxic gases and fine particle matter like methane, benzene, formaldehyde and other known human carcinogens.

Dr. Kathleen Nolan is a co-author of the report. She’s a pediatrician and bioethicist. Dr. Nolan has examined people who have been sickened by fracking. She describes a case of one western Pennsylvania family:

They would see a yellow fog, kind of like a chemical mist coming from the compressor station. Their two youngest children, nine and 11, started having tics where their muscles would go into spasms, those spasms would persist even when they were asleep.”

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Of course, Scott Pruit, our head of the EPA who’s always wanting to be on the wrong side of history, is a big fan of Fracking.

For more on the dangers of fracking:

Trump Officially Eliminates Obama’s Organic Animal Welfare Rules

The Trump administration officially withdrew an Obama-era rule for higher standards regarding the treatment of animals whose meat will be sold under the organic label.

The standards were first created in 2016 under the United States Department of Agriculture. The rules had not been put in place yet. The USDA officially overturned the rule Monday, after delaying its implementation three times.

The rule would have required poultry to be housed in spaces large enough to move freely and fully stretch their wings. Livestock would be required to have some access to outdoor space year round.

The existing robust organic livestock and poultry regulations are effective. The organic industry’s continued growth domestically and globally shows that consumers trust the current approach that balances consumer expectations and the needs of organic producers and handlers.” – Greg Ibach, USDA Marketing and Regulatory Program Undersecretary

At this time animals must be raised without antibiotics or growth hormones, and the animal feed needs to be organic well. Clarity around animal welfare and living conditions is lacking. Many organic hens and cows live in similar conditions as their factory-farmed counterparts, with no room to move and little to no significant outside access. The USDA estimates that half of all organic eggs are produced from hens living in total confinement.

Consumers trust that the Organic seal stands for a meaningful difference in production practices. It makes no sense that the Trump Administration would pursue actions that could damage a marketplace that is giving American farmers a profitable alternative, creating jobs, and improving the economies of our rural areas.” – Organic Trade Association

The proposed rule drew 47,000 comments, with only 28 supporting the withdrawal, according to data compiled by the Organic Trade Association.

This is representative of the influence lobbyists and election money has at the Trump administration’s USDA.” – Mark Kastel, co-director of Cornucopia Institute

Six out of 10 Americans feel that animals used to produce organic food should be raised on farms with higher animal welfare standards. More than half of Americans believe such animals should be allowed time outside and room to move freely.

Source:

Trump Administration Eliminates Animal Welfare Rule – Newsweek

U.S. EPA reverses policy on ‘major sources’ of pollution

After 23 years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is withdrawing the portion of the Clean Air Act designed to reduce air emissions of mercury, lead, benzene, and arsenic. This move from President Trump’s EPA is a departure from the “once-in always-in” policy established in 1995 and is the latest in a long line of attempts to revoke federal EPA regulations. The petroleum and other fossil fuel industries, utility companies, and chemical manufacturers stand to benefit from the ability to reclassify major sources of air pollution as “area” pollution. More than 4.6 million people worldwide die from airborne pollution yearly and dismantling one of the policies designed to curb it is unsustainable, unhealthy, and shows the U.S. as a country unwilling to put aside petty squabbles and focus on urgent global issues.

Lower Standards

The EPA and Republicans in Congress like the leaders on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), asserts that this relaxing of the Clean Air Act will be a good thing. According to Bill Wehrum, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, “It will reduce regulatory burden for industries and the states, while continuing to ensure stringent and effective controls on hazardous air pollutants…”

This policy affects stationary sources of air pollutants, which are divided into two different categories, major sources and area sources. Major sources release either 10 million tons of any listed toxic air pollutant or 25 tons per year of a mixture of air pollutants. Any other sources of air pollutants is an area source. The biggest issue of contention is the 1995 “once-in always-in” policy that permanently classifies a pollutant generator as a major source (and subject to the increased scrutiny and regulation that come with that) if it is still emitting a certain level of toxins at an assigned date. Now, those major sources that are below the threshold of pollution are no longer subject to the maximum achievable control technology.

So It Goes

This is not the first effort by the Environmental Protection Agency to recently relax regulations. The Trump administration has targeted over 67 environmental laws, more than half of which have been overturned or are in the process of being rolled back. Most of the reasons for these changes have been economic or bureaucratic. Ironically, the environment doesn’t seem to be high on the list of priorities.

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Great Pacific Garbage Patch Now Twice the Size of Texas

According to a new study, there are more than 79,000 tonnes of ocean plastic and other trash (mostly plastic) all within a 1.6 million square kilometer area of the North Pacific Ocean (600,000 square miles). That’s 16 times larger than previous estimates. That’s twice the size of Texas.

Must Read: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

“The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” is a collection of garbage located halfway between Hawaii and California. Winds and ocean currents form gyres, think of water spiraling down the drain in a vortex. These gyres draw in litter from around the world. Garbage gets trapped in the gyres and eventually large pieces break down into smaller pieces, which are ingested by marine life. The patch is growing at an alarming rate. The patch is not a solid mass of plastic. It’s not like the news pictures indicate. Some of the trash is easily visible to the naked eye, but the microplastics make up the bulk of the patch. Satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant mountain of garbage. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch looks like a cloudy soup intermixed with larger items, like jugs, fishing gear, and shoes, etc.

Related: Ocean Plastic To Triple Within A Decade

Much of the garbage is rather large. “We were surprised by the amount of large plastic objects we encountered,” said Julia Reisser, from the Ocean Cleanup Foundation. “We used to think most of the debris consists of small fragments, but this new analysis shines a new light on the scope of the debris.”

A sample that was collected during a 2015 expedition showed the majority of the garbage is microplastics less than 0.5 cm in diameter. The Ocean Cleanup Foundation launched the expedition to look at the eastern part of the patch. They used 30 vessels and a C-130 Hercules airplane to acquire and catalog more than one million pieces of plastic.

Related: Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics, According To Damning New Study

The new study suggests the total amount of microplastics in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch totals more 1.8 trillion pieces, a number that far exceeds earlier estimates.

The study was based on a three-year mapping effort conducted by an international team of scientists affiliated with the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, six universities, and an aerial sensor company. The Ocean Cleanup Foundation is a non-profit organization that spearheaded this research, which is the most complete and thorough study ever done on the garbage patch. It was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Related: Many Hand-me-down Plastic Toys Are Toxic for Kids

https://www.facebook.com/TheOceanCleanup/videos/1910496008983438/

It’s estimated that 80% of the trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is from North America and Asia. The trash from North America’s coast takes around six years to reach the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, while Japan’s garbage takes about a year.

People have been focusing on microplastics, because it’s likely to be the one to have the most adverse effects on marine life, because of ingestion. But we need to understand the full-size picture of plastics, starting from the tiniest piece to larger debris.” – Laurent Lebreton, lead author of the paper.

When you go out into the middle of the ocean, you find that there’s a lot more fishing gear than was expected.”

A lot of focus has been pushed toward land-based sources of plastic and waste and single-use plastic, and that’s fair, but it’s also good to remind us that that’s not the only source, that fishing and aquaculture and marine-based sources also contribute to the problem.”

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Birth Control Pills for Men are Here. What Does that Mean for Reproductive Health?

Effective male birth control might finally be on its way, as scientists from the University of Washington Medical Center and the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, CA prepare to present their experimental oral contraceptive at the Endocrine Society’s 100th meeting in Chicago. The pill, called dimethandrolone undecanoate or DMAU, contains an androgen like testosterone, a progestin and a long-chain fatty acid (undecanoate) that keeps the birth control from clearing the body too quickly. This last component appears to be key to this new contraceptive offering, according to the study’s senior investigator, Stephanie Page, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of Washington.

DMAU is a major step forward in the development of a once-daily ‘male pill’…Many men say they would prefer a daily pill as a reversible contraceptive, rather than long-acting injections or topical gels, which are also in development.”

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Mild Repercussions?

The sample size for this study was small, with a total of 83 men completing the study. At the highest dose of the contraceptive, participants had significantly lower levels of testosterone and two of the hormones required for sperm production. Previous male birth control efforts showed liver inflammation, but this new effort passed all kidney and liver safety tests.

Or Serious Side Effects?

The pill didn’t result in any liver damage, but all groups taking part in the trial reported weight gain and decreases in HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels. Researchers classified these issues as mild, but these side effects may indicate that men with lower testosterone experience a lower level of health.

In a recent study of over 5,000 Italian men, scientists found that men with lower sperm count were 20 percent more likely to have higher blood pressure, bad cholesterol, and weigh more. The lower sperms levels went hand in hand with decreased testosterone, leaving many men at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke and decrease muscle and bone health. Dr. Alberto Ferlin, the leader of this study and a professor of endocrinology at the University of Bresci, said, “Infertile men are likely to have important co-existing health problems or risk factors that can impair quality of life and shorten their lives.”

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Spreading the Discomfort Around

The side effects of this pill don’t appear to be serious, but a universally reported weight gain and increased bad cholesterol is the precursor to more serious health issues later in life. But it remains to be seen if men will be interested in managing their reproductive functions with a daily pill, especially one where it must be taken with food to be effective.

I’m not saying that women need to continue taking on the majority of the faux hormone contraceptive responsibilities…in fact, why hasn’t this happened sooner!! But there are still serious health issues stemming from that that we have yet to properly address in modern medicine. Are we adding on to that dog pile? Then again, by the year 2050, giving birth will likely be an extremely dicey proposition due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Sources

The Last Male Northern White Rhino Has Died

Sudan was our last male northern white rhino. He was 45. Sudan was suffering from multiple infections in his advanced age. He was euthanized Monday by a veterinary team in Kenya, a tam that had fought for years to save him.

We at Ol Pejeta are all saddened by Sudan’s death. He was an amazing rhino, a great ambassador for his species, and will be remembered for the work he did to raise awareness globally of the plight facing not only rhinos, but also the many thousands of other species facing extinction as a result of unsustainable human activity.

One day, his demise will hopefully be seen as a seminal moment for conservationists worldwide.” – Richard Vigne, Ol Pejeta Conservancy CEO

Rhinos around the world are on the brink of extinction, and this is mostly due to poaching. Rhino horn has been highly prized in Chinese traditional medicine and as a decorative component of daggers carried by many Yemeni men. Around 30,000 rhinos from five species remain worldwide. Two species in Indonesia, the Sumatran and Javan rhinos, have around or less than 100 individuals.

Must Read: Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics, According To Damning New Study

Sudan spent the last years of his life under 24-hour protection from armed guards. His horn had been chopped off to deter poachers, though it had begun to grow back. His guards regularly foiled poaching attacks. But the effort to save the northern white rhino seems to have come too late for a real turnaround.

But the Subspecies May Still Survive

Researchers saved the sperm from Sudan, and from four other male northern white rhinos before they died. They think they might be able to produce a calf via in vitro fertilization. The researchers would fertilize one of the female eggs with the frozen sperm. The team could then use a female of a closely related species, the southern white rhino, as a surrogate.

Must Read: Trump Tells EPA to Dismantle Clean Water Rules

If that doesn’t work, scientists could potentially transform northern white rhino skin cells into stem cells. They would then coax those stem cells into eggs. They would then fertilize the eggs.

Since the last two remaining northern white rhinos are closely related there would need to be a way to diversify the subspecies. The stem cell option could help with that, as scientists could use any samples from any of the deceased rhino.

Many conservationists think we’d be better off spending that money elsewhere. The cost is at $800,000 to $10 million per attempt. We’re in the middle of a mass extinction, as and this scares the hell out of anyone who understands how systems work. Do you think the northern white rhino is deserving of such incredible expense to bring it back from extinction or is our money spent better elsewhere?