DIY of the Month: Keeping it Clean with Thieves Oil

Legend has it that Thieves Oil got its name from its use by those who plundered the dead and dying during the Plague. Whether the legend be true or not, this combination of Clove Bud, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus and Rosemary essential oils creates a potent and effective anti-bacterial, anti-viral and antiseptic concoction.

There are many variations, but below is the proportion that I like to use :

80 drops of Clove Bud Essential Oil

70 drops of Lemon Essential Oil

40 drops of Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil

30 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil

20 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil

Mix all the oils in a 2-ounce dark glass dropper bottle and store in a safe place

There are many uses for Thieves Oil around the home.

•  Adding one drop per ounce of water in a spray bottle makes a great surface disinfectant. For floors, use 12-15 drops in your bucket of cleaning water.
•  Putting 4 drops in a load of laundry will kill bacteria and odors - great for washing cloth diapers.
•  Diffusing a few drops will purify the air, eliminating odors and killing airborne germs – especially helpful during cold and flu season.

I most recently used it in a higher concentration to clean black mold in our home.

-Nancy Mayne, Director of Wellness

Protect Your Skin: Natural Bug Sprays

Summer’s insects can be pests and can transmit viruses and illnesses. Fleas can cause bites that itch and can turn into infections. Ticks carry Lyme Disease. Mosquitoes can spread serious illness like malaria that can cause over 700,000 deaths per year. It’s important to know insects and the impact they have.

Mosquito hours are sunrise, sunset and early evening. Do not leave water filled containers out for breeding and eliminate decaying leaves and tall grassy areas by keeping your lawn clear and mowed. Mosquitoes rest during the day in cool, dark places and like water areas at dusk. A fan will help keep away mosquitoes because they do not fly well. Use yellow bug lights, citronella candles, and tiki torches as mild insect repellents. To avoid mosquitoes, stay inside during mosquito peak hours or if outside, cover up with loose clothing, long sleeves, pants, shoes, socks and avoid tight clothes which mosquitoes can penetrate. Use window and door screens and put mosquito netting over infant carriages or strollers. Nutritionally, you can drink a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar, eat garlic and take vitamin B1 to deter mosquito.

Ticks prefer forests, long grassy areas, and shade.  Be sure to check your animals for ticks, as they can carry them into the house. If going outside, wear light-colored clothing to see the ticks. Wear long sleeve shirts, long pants and tuck your pants into your socks, wear boots and pull your hair back into a hat or scarf. Once inside, check clothing and body for ticks and take a soapy shower. Wash and dry all clothes, the dryer will help kill the ticks.  

Insect repellents are available in chemical and natural plant based varieties to keep bugs, mosquitoes, and ticks away. Chemical formulas often use N-Diethyl-m-toluamide, or DEET which is designed to repel insects. Products with 95 percent or more deet have been linked with serious side effects, including seizures, slurred speech, eye irritation, allergic reaction, and coma. If you need long-term bug protection, sparingly apply a product with 15 percent deet and it will protect you from mosquito and tick bites for at least 8 hours. Apply repellents outdoors, and only to clothing or exposed skin. Wash repellents off before going to bed, and wash clothes before wearing them again. Children, seniors, and people with weakened immune systems should use deet only with caution and it’s not recommended for use on infants younger than 2 months.

Plant based repellents include vegetable or almond oil which both contain sulfur, distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, and essential oils help to deter mosquito. When buying, look for the words herbal, all-natural, DEET-free, non-chemical, non-toxic, and hypoallergenic.

Recipe for tick and flea repellent

4 ounces water

3 ounces witch hazel

1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin

 40-50 drops citrus, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon eucalyptus and rose geranium essential oils (choose 3 essential oils)

To repel mosquito add 1 or more:

Lemon eucalyptus, citronella, cinnamon, castor, rosemary, lemongrass, cedar, clove, and geranium essential oils

Directions: Mix ingredients in spray bottle and spray onto clothing, skin, and hair before going outdoors and reapply every four hours. The more oils you use, the stronger the formula.

Recipe for repellent soap

4 ounces liquid castile soap, lavender or peppermint (Dr. Bronner’s)

40-50 drops of essential oils (lemon balm, citronella, pennyroyal, and rose geranium)

Directions:  Mix ingredients together, apply to skin as soap, and wash before and after being outside.

Recipe for pet tick repellent

1 cup water

2 cups distilled white vinegar

2 tbs vegetable or almond oil (both contain sulfur which is a tick repellent)

To repel fleas add 1 or more:

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp citrus oil

1 tsp peppermint oil

Directions for tick and flea repellent: Mix ingredients in a spray bottle and spray on pet's dry coat avoiding eyes and other sensitive areas.  Spray once per day if pet is only outside a few times a day, spray several times a day if they spend the entire day outside. Apply 1-5 drops rose geranium essential oil on the pet’s collar each week to help repel ticks.

Natural Remedies for Hemorrhoids

Approximately 50 percent of the U.S. population has hemorrhoids by age 50. Hemorrhoids are actually just enlarged (varicose) veins that occur in the anus or rectum. The veins in these areas are located in the lower part of the body, and gravity causes the blood to pool in them instead of flowing back to the heart, which causes the veins to stretch and weaken. This accumulation of blood causes hemorrhoids to occur when veins become distended and inflamed. Symptoms from inflamed veins can cause itching, rectal bleeding, and pain but are treatable at home and usually disappear on their own in a few days. If hemorrhoids become infected or begin bleeding heavily, urgent care is recommended.

Causes of hemorrhoids are prolonged sitting, heavy lifting, straining, constipation, chronic diarrhea, stress, pregnancy, obesity, and hormonal changes. Red pepper, mustard, coffee, and alcohol can also contribute to symptoms. Mild cases of hemorrhoids can be helped with exercise, dietary changes, plenty of fluids, and fiber. To avoid or relieve constipation, increase dietary fiber to five servings per day by eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, psyllium seed husks, ground flaxseed and drink plenty of water. One to two tablespoons of flax seed daily with food provides soluble and insoluble fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and lignans which help promote bowel regularity and stool softening. Try to avoid laxatives, as diarrhea can worsen hemorrhoids. Yoga, meditation, exercise, and aerobics can help with stress and bowel function.

 

Witch hazel helps to clean the area while topical remedies such as zinc oxide, calendula, aloe vera, chamomile, horse chestnut, St. John’s wort, and homeopathy ointments help to relieve burning, itching, pain and discomfort.  These ointments and creams can help protect irritated tissue, reduce swelling and help heal sores.  A 20 minute sitz bath using about 6 inches of water with one cup of Epsom salts and witch hazel can help with irritation. 

Herbs and supplements can strengthen the veins and relieve irritation as they heal, but can require several months of use to attain maximum effect. Triphala is a compound of three herbs that is used in Ayurvedic medicine as a gentle bowel regulator. Gotu kola helps improve blood circulation and help with vein support. Butcher’s broom helps to tone and shrink hemorrhoids. Hawthorn berries help to dilate blood vessels and improve blood flow. Horse chestnut promotes normal tone in the walls of veins and is helpful for varicose veins.  Aloe vera liquid after meals can help with bowel regularity, blood circulation and healing. Supplements like vitamin C, vitamin E and flavonoids (often combined with vitamin C) are important for shrinking and healing inflamed tissues, and strengthening the immune system.

A natural treatment of peppermint and tea tree essential oils can help relieve pain, help with muscle relation, heal, and reduce the hemorrhoids size. Mix four to six drops of tea tree oil with one tablespoon of olive oil. Fill a bathtub with warm water and add four to six drops of peppermint oil to the water. Using a clean, damp, warm rag, gently clean the affected area. Soak in the bath tub lying back and elevating your pelvis, keeping your weight off the sores to allow the oils to reach the hemorrhoids for at least 10 minutes. Pat dry and apply the oil mixture evenly over the affected area with cotton and reapply every few hours. Take an essential oil bath at least once a day until you see improvement. 

What to Look for in Sun Care

Sunscreen protects the skin from burns, premature aging and cancer. The perfect sunscreen should block the majority of ultra violet rays (UVR), both UVA and UVB rays. UVB are high energy rays that cause sunburned skin and UVA are rays that don’t cause sunburn. But both types of rays can cause an increased cancer risk, wrinkling, and aging. Sunscreen should have active and inactive ingredients that remain effective in the sun, filter both types of ultraviolet rays, and are safe for both adults and children.

All sunscreens do not fully protect the skin from all types of UVR damage. Sunscreen was invented to stop sunburn against UVB. The effectiveness of sunscreen skin protection from sunburn is measured by the SPF number – the higher the number, the stronger the UVB protection. But SPF values tell you nothing about UVA protection. While sunscreens protect against UVB rays, only some protect against UVA and are now labeled “broad spectrum.”

There are two forms of active ingredients in sunscreen - mineral and chemical filters which can absorb, reflect or scatter ultraviolet (UV) rays. Each uses a different mechanism for protecting skin and maintaining stability in sunlight. There are natural and traditional sunscreen oils, sticks, gels, creams, and lotions.

Traditional sunscreens are made with non-mineral or chemical active ingredients, contain more than one active ingredient and can be absorbed into the skin. Sunscreen chemicals should be engineered with care since they are repeatedly applied to large portions of the body, stick to the skin, and are present in large concentrations. Recent studies have examined potential health hazards of sunscreen chemicals including skin irritation, allergy, hormone disruption, and skin damage.

Natural sunscreen often has ingredients that are not absorbed into the skin and are stable in the presence of sunlight making them safer alternatives. The two most common ingredients used in natural sunscreens are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. Both zinc oxide and titanium oxide provide broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection. Both are gentle enough for everyday use, non allergenic, don’t cause acne, and safe for children. Natural sunscreen has other plant based beneficial ingredients that moisturize and nourish the skin. An organic or bio-degradable natural sunscreen is better for the environment (coral reefs) than the traditional sunscreen.

There are a variety of natural oils that offer protection from the sun, the SPF protection can vary when it is on your skin. Determining the exact SPF factor of an oil is difficult because natural oils oxidize (lose some of their medicinal properties) over time and when exposed to light. Most plant oils protect only against UVB rays (with the exception of Red Raspberry).

Non-GMO Soybean Oil – SPF 10

Coconut Oil – SPF 2-8

Avocado Oil – SPF 4 – 10                       

Red Raspberry Seed Oil – SPF 28-50

Olive Oil – SPF 2-8                                   

Carrot Seed Oil – SPF 38-40

Shea Butter – SPF 3 – 6                                    

Wheat Germ Oil – SPF 20

Almond Oil – SPF 5                              

Jojoba Oil – SPF 4

Sesame Seed Oil – SPF 4                      

Hemp Seed Oil – SPF 6

Macadamia Oil – SPF 6

SPF up to 15: Working on your tan without a lot of UV protection.

SPF 15 to 30: SPF 15 is minimum protection, SPF 30 blocks out 98% of UVB light.

SPF 50:  Highest rating blocking UVB.

Broad-spectrum formulas: Broad-spectrum products SPF 15+ that protect against UVA and UVB.

After Sun: Aloe is hydrating and can have anti-inflammatory effects. Cucumbers can have analgesic properties. OPC’s are rich in antioxidants and can help with sun damaged skin.

The American Cancer Society recommends applying sunscreen early, regularly and generously. Apply 30 minutes before going outside and at least every two hours thereafter. Make sure to reapply it after being in the water, sweating, or towel drying, since all of these activities can remove sunscreen.

Scientists believe that sunscreens can only provide partial protection against harmful effects of the sun. Limiting sun exposure and wearing protective clothing are more important for protecting your skin. The sun’s burning rays are very intense between 10 AM and 4 PM UVA radiation doesn’t decline much when the sun is lower or overcast conditions exist. UVA also penetrates glass, so the best way to prevent photo-aging is to use a moisturizer with an SPF every day, rain or shine and avoid sunburn.

-Mona Claypoole, Director of Marketing and Wellness Support