My grandmother had dementia. In the decade before she passed away she didn’t know what day it was, where she was in the world, and, after I cut my hair, who I was. She’d circle her way through the same handful of conversational loops, and I’d play a game where I tried...
Nurses are no strangers to stress, anxiety, and burnout. Even at the best of times these afflictions can wreak havoc on quality of life and work performance (Jennings, 2008). And the Covid Era is, well, hardly the best of times. Anxiety, defined as “an excessive and...
HPA axis dysregulation is fundamentally caused by stress, which can take many forms: Psychosocial stress (relationships, finances, housing insecurity, discrimination, etc.) Inflammation (diet, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, infection, insulin resistance) High...
“Adrenal fatigue” proponents are right about one thing: the stress of life can definitely be too much for the body to handle. It’s just not the adrenals that are the problem. Changes in cortisol production aren’t caused by a deficiency in the adrenal glands, but by...
Adrenal fatigue is seriously relatable. You’re overworked and wiped out, craving sweets and salty fats, stressed, depressed, sex drive on the fritz. Sound familiar? “Adrenal fatigue” is the notion that the adrenal glands get “overworked” from chronic stress and fail...
Life blood, it’s no joke. Blood delivers nutrients to all the tissues and organs of the body, eliminates carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes, transmits hormonal signals throughout tissues, and mediates peripheral immune activity. The vascular tree is made up of many...
Medium Chain Triglycerides: A Magic Bullet? Coconut products have skyrocketed to superfood fame practically overnight. Or, to be more specific: coconut oil consumption in the USA jumped by 34% between 2004 and 2014. These changes in consumer behavior were accompanied...
Coconut oil boasts a checkered past. Demonized along with tallow and lard since the 1950’s for high saturated fat content, it’s recently overcome the stigma, and, oddly enough, rocketed to superfood fame. With its unique chemical characteristics, coconut oil has made...
In June 2020 an article entitled “Geranium and Lemon Essential Oils and Their Active Compounds Downregulate Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), a SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor-Binding Domain, in Epithelial Cells” was published in the journal Plants (Basel). I know,...
D is for Drama: Demystifying Vitamin D in COVID19 Vitamin D is the current subject of dramatic debates and a clutter of studies. So what’s the deal, Is vitamin D preventative and protective in COVID19? You’d better buckle up... it’s a bit of a mess. TL;DR Current...
COVID19: Over It, But Not Over It COVID19. You’ve heard about it... you’re sick of hearing about it. I know I know, we were SO ready for all those sunny summer picnics and cocktails with friends and live music and hugs and in-person aromatherapy workshops and cracking...
No Guts, No Glory: The Impact of Essential Oils on the Gut Microbiome The gut microbiome -- everybody’s talking about it, everybody’s gulping down yogurt, everybody’s popping probiotics like their lives depend on it. And in a way… they do. Trillions of microorganisms...