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For the past few weeks, I’ve been focusing on the emotion of gratitude and have discussed how essential oils can effectively modulate our moods and physiology in distinct ways. This week, on my Healing, Health, and Wellness blog, I highlight how essential oils for are keeping with the theme of “the gift for health for the holidays.” I also discuss how essential oils were used for centuries in spiritual, religious, and ancient healing traditions. Modern research has now begun using the scientific terms of biochemistry and physiology to explain their healing potential in a language that conventional physicians can appreciate. You can read more specifically about the benefits of Sacred Frankincense, Northern Lights Black Spruce, Nutmeg, and Lemon oils that were highlighted here or listen below.

Listen to my Healing, Health, and Wellness blog in 5 minutes below:

As December continues to unfold with its gifts, joys, and challenges, if you’ve been following my articles, you are aware of how essential oils can be used as a holistic tool to bring about balance for all occasions. They can accentuate what you are already doing to support your mind-body, or can be used as a stand-alone.

Before this busy month progresses on, I almost forgot to post last month’s Top Holistic and Integrative Medicine Reads. You’ll notice a lot of microbiome headlines are included, as usual, as this is my second favorite topic.

Two studies that were among my favorites are summarized below.

1. One rodent study that was released in November demonstrated that gut bugs and gender play a role in the nicotine addiction of mice. Specifically, the study published in Chemical Research in Toxicology found that there were differential alterations in bacterial carbohydrate metabolism, oxidative stress and DNA repair genes, and the fecal metabolome (gut bug metabolic breakdown substances in this mice poop sample) of neurotransmitters. The authors believed this may provide an explanation, via the gut-brain, on how gender impacts nicotine addiction.

I guess Big Tobacco can get a hold of critters too.

Speaking of Big Tobacco, November brought about some unwanted karma to its companies. The United States Department of Justice issued court-mandated “corrective statements” to them. According to CNN:

A wave of new tobacco ads debuted across prime-time television and published in newspapers this weekend, but they aren’t promoting what you might expect.

They are “corrective statements” that a federal court judge ordered tobacco companies in the United States to release to inform the public about the dangers of smoking…

2. Another neat study was reported on in Science Daily. Researchers used the Flemish Gut Flora Project Database and were able to identify new types of bacteria based on their new quantitative (numerical) methodology. The abstract of the study in Nature reports “up to tenfold differences in the microbial loads of healthy individuals.” This was related to variations in enterotypes, bacterial communities based on the ecosystem of the gut microbiome. The researchers stated they were able to identify “microbial load” as the key driver of differences in microbiota in a cohort of Crohn’s disease patients, with a low count of the Bacteroides enterotype.

This was an interesting experiment, but it made me contemplate more than usual.

We are still in infancy in learning about which microbes are correlated to which disease. I wonder if we are heading down a rabbit hole trying to link diseases on numbers of certain microbe populations or the differences on species among individuals. Which bugs and how many may not matter as much as  the overall functioning of them within your body, and each unique body and its ecosystem’s diversity and ability to adapt to changes.

You can click here to skim through the rest of the headlines and topics, read the articles, and/or just give a glance. Happy reading!

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.)

Thanks for the images Pixabay!