Healthy Harvest: Pumpkin

The mighty pumpkin...is actually a fruit! From the same family as cucumbers and melons, this healthy and useful gourd is good for so much more than fall-time decorations!

Pumpkin Flesh

Pumpkin flesh is nutrient-rich and low in calories. One cup of pumpkin puree contains only 83 calories (compare to sweet potato which has three times as many calories). It's also high in fiber (7 g per serving) has more potassium than bananas, is a good source of magnesium and iron, and provides 763% RDA of vitamin A!
(Source)(Source)

Seeds

• Pumpkin seeds are a good source of iron and can thus help with anemia. (Source)
• They're also a good plant source of tryptophan, which can aid with insomnia. (Source)
• Extracts from the seed have also been found to be a powerful antioxidant. (Source)
• A combination of flax and pumpkin seeds have been found to promote heart health and liver function. (Source)

Pumpkin seed oil

Men's Health

• Pumpkin seed oil has been found to reverse male pattern balding at a dose of 400 mg per day. (Source) 
• It's also been found to inhibit prostate enlargement (Source) (Source)

Women's health

• Pumpkin seed oil has also been found to help reduce symptoms associated with menopause, reducing hot flashes, etc. (Source)
• Has also been found to help lower blood pressure and improve lipid profiles in animal studies, helping to improve health in low-estrogen states. (Source)

photo credit: valkyrieh116 via photopin cc

For educational purposes only; not intended to treat, cure, or prevent disease. 

Helpful Herbs: Lavender

Since our new Lavender Vanilla Body Butters and Pit Puttys have been such a hit, I thought I'd write about some of the benefits of today's Helpful Herb: Lavender.

Reduced Stress

Thus study found that bathing with lavender reduced stress and enhanced sleep in mothers and their infants. This study found that lavender and rosemary essential oils helped nursing students relax during testing.

Migraines

This study found that inhalation of lavender essential oil reduced the symptoms of migraine headaches. Nintey-two out of 129 headache cases improved with lavender, whereas only thirty-two out of sixty-eight of the placebo group improved.

Insomnia

The scent of lavender has been found to help with insomnia and depression. (Source, Source) "According to the study results, it can be concluded that the lavender fragrance had a beneficial effect on insomnia and depression in women college students. Repeated studies are needed to confirm effective proportions of lavender oil and carrier oil for insomnia and depression."

Antibacterial/antifungal

Lavender essential oil has been found in lab tests to be effective against candida albicans (Source) and to be antibacterial against certain strains of staph. (Source)

Reduced Menstrual Cramps & PMS

One study found that inhaling lavender (diluted in a 2:1 ratio in sesame oil) helped reduce menstrual cramps. (Source) Another study found lavender oil aromatherapy to help ease some symptoms (mood, energy) in PMS. (Source)

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. For educational purposes only; not intended to treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Essential Oils and Children

More and more people are using essential oils in their home and with their families. Today I wanted to give some guidelines about using essential oils on and around children.

Never apply undiluted essential oils to any part of the body. 

Not the chest. Not the soles of the feet. Never. No matter how "pure" the essential oil is, any undiluted essential oil poses the risk for skin irritation and sensitization. You may not notice any ill side effects at first and think that what you're doing is safe, however, exposure to essential oils "neat" can trigger an accumulative immune response that will show up in the future. Expose yourself or your child to an essential oil enough and then one day you'll all of the sudden have an allergic or toxic reaction to the essential oil. (This is called sensitization.) 

Do not add undiluted essential oils to bathwater

Essential oils aren't soluble in water, so when you add essential oils to bath water, you're potentially applying them at full strength to your child's skin, which can lead to reactions and sensitization.

Don't add to drinks

Don't add essential oils to juice, water, or other drinks. Essential oils won't disperse in a drink because they're not soluble in water, so when you add them to juice, you're basically ingesting them at full strength. 

Keep out of reach of children. 

Some common essential oils are potentially toxic to small children if ingested at full strength. Always keep your essential oils out of reach of children and use oils with child-proof caps if available. Common essential oils, (yes, even when they're "pure") can be toxic to a child if swallowed neat, including thyme, peppermint, birch, rosemary, tea tree, cinnamon, clove, basil, pine, oregano, eucalpytus, and some lavenders.

Don't ingest

Some essential oil companies (or their sales reps) propose that ingesting essential oils can cure ailments. Don't give essential oils to children to take internally, even diluted. Some essential oils can have accumulative toxicities--just because you've been ingesting them for months or even years safely doesn't mean that it's okay--you may have hidden toxicities that will appear later.

Properly dilute

If using essential oils externally for massage, always dilute in a carrier oil like coconut oil, olive oil, almond oil, etc. Here is a general guideline for dilution:

Premature infant: do not use
Up to 3 months: .1%
3-4 months: .25%
2-6 years: 1%
6-15 years: 1.5%

(Adapted from "Essential Oil Safety" 2nd ed, Robert Tisserand.)