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May’s The OilR eZine

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May’s eZine edition is a great resource….. it’s a guide for simple, powerful upgrades to your everyday life.
 
✔️natural detox tips
✔️hormone-supporting habits
✔️cleaner home swaps
✔️ingredients to ditch if you want to protect your energy, mood, and long-term health.
 
Written for women who want to live well, and be in charge of their own health. 🌸💪
xoxo~ liz
 

Cholesterol: Friend, Not Foe – The Truth About Inflammation and Health

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Seriously… If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s that whatever is villainized is likely something that is good for you. Cholesterol is one of those things. (Cholesterol is not the problem….. INFLAMMATION is the problem). We suffer when cholesterol is too low….. every cell in our body needs cholesterol…. our brain needs cholesterol (people who have low cholesterol are the ones that ultimately tend to end up in dementia units) …. our sex hormones need cholesterol. You’ve heard me talk about this sooooo many times.
This is a new one for me tho: Cholesterol may be helpful in boosting cancer fighting abilities? I’m not surprised by this (especially in light of how every cell needs cholesterol to function well).
This doesn’t mean you should run out and eat junk food. Remember sugar and processed foods are inflammatory, as are seed oils (which the restaurant industry unfortunately loves to use).
Eat like God intended us to eat….. whole foods!
xoxo~ liz
Article by epoch times

Adaptogens: Nature’s Stress-Busting Superheroes for Your Endocrine and Immune Systems

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I’ve been learning some fascinating things recently about adaptogens…… have you heard that term before? 🤔🤓

Adaptogens are a class of herbs/plants that have been used for centuries to support healthy function of the endocrine and immune systems. Of course, way back in the day, people hadn’t yet discovered the endocrine and immune systems…… they just knew that the plant worked! The same can be said for us now…. unless you’re really curious, we don’t necessarily have to know how our oils and supplements work in order to enjoy their benefits!…. the proof is in the outcomes. 😍

Aiding those two systems (endocrine and immune) also positively impacts energy, immunity, cellular repair, mood, sleep, stamina, and focus (There’s more, but I don’t want to write a novel! 🤪).

Some examples of adaptogens include ashwaghanda, medicinal mushrooms, maca, licorice, holy basil, ginseng, and rhodiola (there are more!)

One of the many cool things about adaptogens is that, like our Young Living essential oils, they are overall safe and well tolerated (tho as with most herbs and medications, consult your favorite medical professional if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a “narrow therapeutic margin” medical condition, or are generally unsure ✅#duediligence).

I love when traditional herbal medicine is studied scientifically….. not surprisingly when I did a quick search on pubmed.gov I found over 1800 published studies on ashwaghanda alone. 🤓…. lots of science to back up what we already have learned generationally through experience!

I am aware of at least 6 Young Living supplements which contain one or more of the adaptogens I listed above. Can you name them? 🙂

Does Everyone Need Hormone Support?

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Hormone Quiz: True or False (answers are at the bottom 🙂 ).
1. Hormones are no longer important after menopause.
2. There is a close relationship between hormones and gut health.
3. Synthetic hormones are safe and closely match our hormones.
4. Adequate sex hormones help protect and can even improve cognition and brain function.
5. Men and women have the same hormones, just different amounts.
6. We have hormone receptors in our kidneys.
7. Our lungs are healthier if we have adequate hormones serving them.
8. Women tend to live longer if they incorporate hormone support during their period and menopause.
9. Getting hormones checked with labwork after menopause is unnecessary.
10. Labs are important, but the most important indicator is how you feel.
11. Hormones play a role in our muscle mass before and after menopause.
12. Hormones don’t play a role in our sleep quality.
13. If hormones are unbalanced or deficient, it can affect the quality of my voice.
14. If I have junk (toxins) in my body that prevents hormones from “docking” on a receptor site, I just need more hormones on board to overcome that obstacle.
15. Phyto (plant-based) estrogens do not increase cancer risk.
 
Are you ready for some answers now? I’ll put numbers by each answer in the rest of this post.
Hormones are incredibly important throughout our body until the day we die! While that doesn’t mean having babies til we’re in our 90s like Sarah in the Bible, they have a profound effect elsewhere in the body. (1) Let’s talk about that, shall we? I’m hitting highlights here, but I think you’ll get the picture….. As our hormone production goes down, various parts of the body suffer. Our gut (and gallbladder) health declines because there are hormone receptors lining our digestive tract, where most of the immune system resides. Why are women more prone to acquiring autoimmune diseases than men? Could it be because our hormone (or lack thereof) production wanes drastically in the event of surgical or natural menopause, stress, or many other factors, and the gut is affected negatively? (2)
We have receptors for hormones throughout the brain. They help maintain cognition. An estimated 80% or more of the people in neurodegenerative facilities likely wouldn’t be there if they had given their brains an “assist” when hormones were waning. (4) This is especially important for progesterone support. It’s been found that those who do not support hormones as they age tend to age at their normal physiological rate (which picks up speed at every decade). Hormone support slows that process down. Yes, men need estrogen and progesterone too….. Just as women need testosterone, in different ratios of course (5).
After the age of 40, hormones begin waning, and another organ that potentially can take a hit is the kidneys. A decrease in hormones often results in a decrease in kidney filtration rate and function. (6)
The lungs in both men and women are especially responsive to progesterone (7) in several ways. Progesterone helps the lungs repair from injury and also helps protect FROM injury. They’ve done some studies during COVID and found that (according to the studies), progesterone appeared to help with lung recovery.
Multiple studies have shown that women live longer, more productive lives if they have hormone support. ( The largest study ever run by the NIH and Nat Library of Medicine looked at 1.5 million women who had estrogen-supportive therapy versus those who did nothing. The outcome? ….. Those with “help” lived 20% longer. (😎
Many doctors quit running hormone labs once you’ve gone through menopause. Is this ok? Noooooooooo. (9) Your hormones continue to require you to be the conductor of your life’s dance and a little labwork can help with that dance. The best indicator tho??? …… that‘s you. How do you feel? If you feel good, great!!! If you don’t feel great, productive, and energetic most days, it’s past time for an evaluation of what’s working and what’s not. (10)
This is your life, and you play the starring role. You’re also the Director of your life’s show. Exercise is important, as is keeping and building muscle mass. The loss of muscle mass happens as we age. It’s hugely common to hear women talking about losing their strength while gaining a few inches around their belly. You can thank lack of estrogen (11) support for that (as well as excess cortisol usually….. Go check out the post on cortisol!).
Sleep is equally important. We cannot heal and recover from anything without sleep, nor can we function optimally without it. Progesterone “deficiency” is one of the key players in the loss of sleep quality. (12) Yes….. why certainly you could take prescription meds for sleep, but there will be consequences (a 33% increased risk of dementia is one of them.)
Perhaps even you hear a change in people’s voices as they age. The quality (range, tone, strength) all begins to deteriorate. This is not surprising. We have hormone receptors on our esophagus and vocal cords (13)…. I think you’re getting the picture, right? Those little hormone receptors are EVERYWHERE.
To compound the problem, fake hormones (also known as endocrine disruptors) are everywhere. (3) Those little suckers plop themselves right into where the hormones are supposed to attach themselves to do their work. Once those receptor sites are filled up, there’s no more room, and what hormones our body IS producing can’t do their work properly. This is why it’s so important to keep toxins out of your body (which also includes synthetic hormones like birth control) and to detox pretty regularly (NingXia Red and SulfurZyme are both great daily gentle adjuvants for that course of action).
Now…… we are all created differently and need different amounts and even different help in some areas more than others. Here’s a picture of my 4 favorite things that have helped me in my journey through menopause and beyond. Others will have other favorites. I love that I can use plants to support my hormones safely (15).
Go through the entire Happy Hormones Class. It’s entirely worth your while. Live your life abundantly….. And you’re gonna need hormones to do just that! 💖
Xoxo~ liz
(PS: how’d you do on the quiz?)
#happyhormones

Energy and Sleep in 3 Simple Steps

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I’ll preface this post by talking about a little experiment I did last month when Nutmeg was a freebie. You might recall that I had shared that I had read that taking a few drops of nutmeg at night (or using it in a roller bottle over adrenals) before bed can help with sleep. I committed to doing this for a month.
 
UPDATE: I’m not stopping! 🤓😉🫶….. who would have thought that nourishing your adrenals before bedtime could be helpful for sleep?!
 
When your adrenals are already struggling, you might think… why stress ’em out by adding one more thing on your “to-do” list? Not this time friends…… give it a try. This month, in addition to my new bedtime BFF Nutmeg, I’m adding En-R-Gee into my day. (I already get the early morning sunshine as I do my a.m. farm chores at sunrise 🌞)
 
Want to join me? 👇
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🥴Do you ever feel crazy because technically you’re “healthy” and “fine,” but you always feel drained and depleted?
🤒 Do you struggle to recover after a sickness, a stressful event, or even a few late nights?
😫 Do you start your day and run out of gas before you even begin, only to get energetic late at night and repeat the cycle all over again?
🤤 Have you tried everything to help your hormones, blood sugar levels, cravings, and weight but all the things people tell you aren’t working?
 
There may be two tiny little glands in your body that need some love. Your adrenals.
The adrenal glands are small organs that sit on top of the kidneys. They maintain and boost our energy, kind of like a car shifting into first, second, and third gear as we go about our day.
They also help our bodies survive during times of stress. Since many of us live in a state of constant stress, they wear down quickly.
The adrenals are part of the endocrine system. Also known as the suprarenal glands, they’re involved in producing over 50 hormones that drive almost every bodily function, many of which are essential for life.
 
Adrenal glands play a huge role in stress response. Here’s how it works:
• Your brain registers a threat, whether emotional, mental, or physical.
• The adrenal medulla releases cortisol and adrenaline hormones to help you react to the threat (the fight-or-flight response), rushing blood to your brain, heart, and muscles.
• The adrenal cortex then releases corticosteroids to dampen processes like digestion, immune system response, and other functions not necessary for immediate survival.
• Your adrenal glands are also responsible for balancing hormones.
Our adrenal glands aren’t meant to always be firing. They are there to jump in when needed and not be running the whole show. But excessive caffeine, lack of sleep, emotional stress, demanding schedules, hormonal imbalance, diet, alcohol abuse, and always pushing ourselves to the max can damage the adrenals to cause them to fatigue. This pushes us into a ‘survival mode’ both physically and emotionally.
Fortunately, supporting your adrenals can be a pretty simple process. But functioning when they have given up? Almost impossible. So let’s give them the TLC they deserve!
 
How can we help our adrenals?
We’re going to grab two oils.
• Nutmeg
• En-R-Gee
Inexpensive. Simple. Life changing.
Each day you will do the following three things:
• Diffuse En-R-Gee every day in your home.
• Apply Nutmeg over your lower back (adrenal area).
• Get 15-20 minutes of sunlight exposure within three hours of waking up
The last thing you need when you’re fatigued are complicated steps or having to remember a bunch of things. That’s why you do it with us.
Why Nutmeg and En-R-Gee?
Both of these oils have unique properties perfect for supporting stress recovery, moving your body out of its fight or flight stress responses, and calming the emotions responsible for our survival instincts running the show and stealing our energy.
xoxo~ liz

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