Between the explosion of information on the microbiome and scouting out research on essential oils, my brain is never bored! Learn more on how essential oils can impact our gut, the far-reaching effects of our microbiome, and why the microbiome is always in my brain!
The Smell of Obsession and The Big Love of Little Ones
As you know, I love researching essential oils and have a self-proclaimed “obsession” with these volatile plant metabolites. This is for many reasons. The most significant one for me is how they are “simultaneously holistic.” It is amazing to me that essential oils have the capacity to support the brain, balance emotions, and modulate our physiology… all with a few small sniffs!
I also have a complete fascination with research on the microbiome. These critters (microbiota) that line our insides have been shown to substantially impact our health, and, when disturbed, disease processes. Although we are still in “research infancy” at all the implications of the effects, we know enough to realize that we don’t want to “mess with our microbiome.”
The Gut-Oil Connection
Just a few weeks ago, I blended these two favorite topics of mine in one blog. I wrote about how essential oils could be beneficial to our gut microbiome! It seems whatever the latest topic in medicine is, essential oils positively impact it. This is because essential oils don’t treat a symptom. They assist with modifying and balancing our biochemistry so that our bodies are “inhospitable” to disease.
In the gut, essential oils support our wellness through feeding the good buggies, inhibiting bad ones from overpopulating, and by providing digestive support. This potential to modulate our microbiota makes essential oils even more compelling, because of the impact on our physiology by the microbiome itself!
For example, the population of microbes that are present in and on our bodies have far-reaching effects because:
(a) they communicate with our cells, modulating their response
(b) the genes of these critters (the microbiome ) “speaks to” our own genome
(c) they impact our behavior and the functioning of many organ systems (i.e., gut-brain axis, gut-skin axis, gut-heart axis, etc.)
In fact, the “in” thing in the health community is to swallow some of these bugs. This is for good healthy reasons, not just to change the bugs present in our poo!
It is exciting for me to daily witness how these critters are transforming scientists’ and clinicians’ perspectives. In fact, I believe they hold the potential for unifying all of the different specialties in medicine through a common mechanism!
This weekend, I dove into the microbiome more and listened to all the experts on the Microbiome Medicine Summit 2 (no affiliation)! I was captivated. I learned more details about another possible connection to the microbiome, the brain, and essential oils! Click here to read what I discovered.
(For more buggy information, here is a list of some of the blogs I have written on the microbiome. Here’s a quick summary if you are in a hurry.)
Disclaimer: This information is applicable ONLY for therapeutic quality essential oils. This information DOES NOT apply to essential oils that have not been tested for purity and standardized constituents. There is no quality control in the United States, and oils labeled as “100% pure” need only to contain 5% of the actual oil. The rest of the bottle can be filled with fillers and sometimes toxic ingredients that can irritate the skin. The studies are not based solely on a specific brand of an essential oil, unless stated. Please read the full study for more information.
This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. (Affiliation link.)
You can learn more about the essential oil brand I use and/or join me and my team here. We’d be very blessed to have you!!
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