"I'm on a special paleo diet - which means no gluten, no dairy, no wheat, no potatoes, no nightshades, and no alcohol"

My heart sank.

"But I only stick to it sometimes"

At this moment, I realised, after all these years of study and coaching, that nutrition is still spiralling rapidly downhill.

Perhaps there are too many 'food rules'? Perhaps there are too many people with an agenda - to sell a book, a supplement, or a program? Perhaps the only way forward for human beings is to be on a strict diet?

Or, perhaps, as human beings, we have lost sight of the basics of eating well?

I'm the absolute first person to admit that eating well, for the general person, is so bloody hard.

We are bombarded with advertising. We are sold stories of new diets that rapidly shred fat from our body. We are blessed with convenience - drive-throughs, grab-and-go snacks, fast-food.

We have also lost touch with why we eat, and the absolute fundamentals of human nutrition.

Today, I don't want to dive into these points. Today, I want to outline the absolute fundamentals that we should be striving towards to become a healthier person. A healthier person can then become a leaner person, a stronger person, and happier person... the list becomes endless.

So here we go:

If I took 50 random strangers into Woolworths, and asked them all to fill their baskets with healthy food, I bet every single one of them could do it.

I don't think there is any argument that an apple is a healthier choice than a packaged, processed food item.

But, once we fill our shopping baskets with healthy food, whats next? How do we actually eat it? What balance should we have at every meal? How do we know if we're eating too much, or too little?

Fundamentally, the food we eat is comprised of 3 macronutrients - protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

All foods contain these 3 macronutrients to some degree. Some are primarily one macronutrient (e.g. Steak is primarily protein, with little carbohydrate. A grain is primarily carbohydrate, with little fat) and some are quite balanced (e.g. A legume is a mixture of protein and carbohydrate).

These 3 macronutrients serve different purposes within the body. They are all important, hence why for the general person, all 3 should be consumed as part of eating well.

So, the first point to eating well, is ensuring you are getting all 3 of the macronutrients in a meal. Let's look into this a little deeper:

Protein, found in animal products such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy and plant products such as legumes and lentils, helps to keep you full. Of course, feeling full in between meals means we eat less food overall. A win right there for eating well!

Protein is a great thing to base your meals around. And, if you include it at every meal, you'll eat less throughout the day. But just how much should we eat at every meal? Well, as a general rule, look at the size of your palm. If the protein source you are consuming is around that size, it's perfect (for women. For men, it's 2 palms).

Carbohydrates, found in grains, veggies, fruits, and dairy, are our energy building blocks. Have you ever noticed that you crave sugary foods in the afternoon? That's because your energy levels are dropping - and sugar is a quick energy fix. Luckily, now that we're introducing a palm sized portion of protein to your meals - which will keep you full in between meals - your energy levels won't be dropping in the afternoon!

Carbohydrates, in the form of grains (breads, rice, pasta, noodles etc) are an important source of fuel. But just how much should we eat at every meal? Again, look at your hand. If you make a cup with your hand, imagine you're using that cupped hand to pour the cooked grains onto your plate. There's your grain amount (for women. For men, its 2 cups).

Carbohydrates, in the form of fruits and veggies, are a little different. The wonderful thing about these foods is all the nutrients they contain. They are vitamin, mineral and phytochemical rich - which - for eating well, is incredibly important.

But just how much should we eat at every meal? Yep, look at your hand. Make a fist with it. Your veggie portion will be around the size of your fist on the plate (for women. For men, its 2 fists).

Lastly, we have fats. Fats are another important part of the process of eating well, however we don't need as many fats as we do protein and carbohydrates to be healthy. While some fats are healthier than others, we still only need a small amount of healthy fats per day, in comparison to the other macronutrients.

But just how much should we eat at every meal? Generally, the fats we prepare and cook our food in is enough. Think the olive oil you dress your salad with, or the coconut oil you fry your meat in. Again, look at your hand. Take your thumb, and measure your fat source against it. This is obviously difficult to do for oils, which are liquids (the thumb is about 1 tablespoon), however for foods such as nuts, it works perfectly (for women. For men, it's 2 thumbs).

So, if we put all of that information together, your 3 meals per day will look something like this:

This is all good and well, Drew, but what about my Friday night pizza night? Or my double chocolate muffin I LOVE to have every Sunday. Or beers with the guys when we catch up?

You know, funnily enough, this is all part of eating well. 

Eating well isn't about strict rules. It isn't about deprivation. And it certainly shouldn't overtake your entire life. 

Eating well implies that most of the time, you're getting your protein at every meal, your serving of grains, your veggies.

Some meals won't look like this at all. Some meals will be ALL carbohydrate (pasta, anyone?) and some meals will finish with dessert. 

This is ok. 

Remember, eating well means you follow the guidelines most of the time.  And when you don't, you don't beat yourself up. You just move on. 

Eating well means the majority of your shopping basket either needs to go in the fruit bowl at home, or in the fridge, not the cupboard. 

Eating well means variety, not the opposite as most people think. It means trying different veggies, different cuts of meat, different herbs and spices, different cuisines. 

Eating well means that most of the time, you've got a combination of protein, carbohydrates (grains) and veggies on your plate. 

​And, lastly, eating well means getting back to the basics. You're not on a diet, you're eating to feel lively. You're not following strict rules, only eating the best way to set yourself up for success. And you're not obsessing or failing for eating dessert, you're learning, accepting and moving on. 

Let's eat well.

I have something I need to get off my chest....

Today I ordered a pie from my favourite bakery. I sat on the beach with my bestie in the beautiful sunshine and I ate the whole thing. There. I feel so much better for saying that. We laughed and talked and swapped weekend stories and it was exactly the type of morning that I needed.


This morning I didn’t make veggie juice and I didn’t let myself freak out about it. So yes, there you have it. After my morning water and lemon water, I ate a pie for brekkie.
Still want to follow my Nutrition page? I hope so :)


You see, I am trialling this new thing.
It is called meeting myself where I am.

Today I was upset. I was tired, and I was craving a swim in the ocean, some sunshine and a chat with my soul sista. That is what I needed today and so that is what I gave myself.
I used to have this horrible habit of beating myself up every time I ate something that didn’t qualify as a perfect nutritious whole food. I would get super cranky with myself and spend the rest of the day making myself feel guilty. 
I would convince myself that I was a terrible nutritionist, a sham and that if people really knew that I didn’t spend every minute of every day drinking veggie juice they would not take me seriously. I would always joke about this to friends and family, but soon realised that in my own head I really did believe this to be true.


Before I started working with clients, I was hard on people and even harder on myself; you could even say that I was judgemental. I would look at people making poor food choices with disgust. I walked around thinking people were ignorant when it came to health and I could never understand how people could let themselves go, or live on a diet of foods that made them unwell.
I failed to recognise that perfection is not only ridiculous, but unattainable. That there is no one on the planet that can be perfect all the time-have a perfect eating regime, always react in a loving way to themselves and others or manage and handle everything perfectly within their lives. 
Sometimes we slip; we eat that cupcake after lunch at work, we yell at those we love because we fail to communicate properly, some days we don’t feel thankful for everything we have- we do simply focus on the negative and sometimes we wake up so late that we have no option but to skip breakfast. This happens and this is life. My old way of thinking made days like this that much more challenging.


When we make a less than desirable choice; food or otherwise, it’s more important than ever to tread gently and lovingly with ourselves. Accept and be aware of the ‘lapse’ – “That cupcake probably wasn’t the greatest way to deal with my work stress, but I am aware of this choice and I will get back on the path I wish to be on now”. End of. No guilt. No negativity and no mean thoughts surrounding this.
 Awareness surrounding the food choice, why it was made, accepting It was made, letting it go and starting over is the best way, I believe, to handle these situations. 
When we place ourselves on a “diet” or we get stuck in a stringent, pattern of eating out of fear of not being perfect, or eating something that isn’t purely green, we place pressure on ourselves. A lot of it. Soon the pressure mounts and we blow our tops. We fall off the wagon completely, and go down a path of re-occurring poor food choices. We soon say ‘well screw it!’, I ate that cupcake, I am going to follow it with some mcdiddy for dinner, and a chocolate sundae for dessert.


One poor food choice doesn’t mean we fail. It doesn’t mean that we suck or that we are going to gain 10 kilos or become addicted to unhealthy food. It means that maybe we were at a party and wanted some birthday cake, or it was a perfect summers day at the beach and we wanted a chicken and asparagus pie or even that it was the end of the night and nothing looked better than chilling with a good friend and sharing a box of chips. The poor food choice is simply the poor food choice. How we view the situation makes all the difference.


The poor food choice is ‘The Lapse’.

​A lapse is defined as a brief or temporary failure of judgement, and this is all that it is. It remains a lapse when we stay committed to loving ourselves and nourishing our body. When we can look at the poor food choice, acknowledge this and move forward gracefully, onwards and upwards.

The “Re-Lapse” is when we loose touch. It is when we eat the cupcake, follow it with the mcdiddy, and finish up with the sundae. It is loosing connection with ourselves and mindlessly eating, not checking in with why, or what led to the choice. 
We then have created the perfect environment for the Re-lapse into the old. We see not so loving food choices and patterns surface and under these circumstances a lapse can turn into a bad eating week, month and before we know it, a not so healthy lifestyle altogether.

This is why diets fail, and yo-yo eating is so common. We have to accept the little lapses, check back in with ourselves, and follow the lapse up with a more loving approach.


So what did my day look like after my breakfast pie?

I picked some kale from my garden, made a green smoothie and had a beautiful afternoon tea of cut up veggies, green tea and lots of water. I reminded myself that my body works beautifully, and I spend most of my days making very loving healthy choices. My system will digest the pie in no time and soon it will be a distant memory for my body. No more guilt, stress or negative thoughts surrounding my lapse, balance is key.


I now meet myself where I am and I meet my clients where they are. I want people to come to me and be honest; to feel like they can say- “yesterday wasn’t my finest day, I ate half a block of chocolate and went out for Chinese food”, because if you can get real with yourself, be honest with where you are at and accept the choices and the responsibility for them, then you take back the power, regain the control and put your best foot forward after your little lapse.


So check in with yourself during this fresh new week.
Think about the areas where the “Lapses” have turned into “Re-lapses”.
How you could have caught yourself? regained back control and returned lovingly to your regime.

-Elle Brown

In response to the response from a video I posted on Facebook, featuring Nick performing a set from one of our advanced leg day program, I decided to post the entire program for reference. 

Please note, this is an advanced program designed for one of our high-performing clients. It is individually tailored to him and his specific requirements.

Please seek out professional assessment before you start an exercise program. 

His program looks like this:

A1. Heels-elevated back squat, 3010 tempo, 6x6, rest 10s
A2. Pendulum squat, with resistance band, 30X0 tempo, 6x6-8, rest 3 minutes
B. Front loaded rear-foot-elevated lunge, 30X0 tempo, 4x8e, rest 90s
C1. Glute ham raise, feet neutral, 3010 tempo, 3x12, rest 60s
C2. Kneeling pallof press, 2010 tempo, 3x12e, rest 60s

Drew

Imagine this;

You’re on a family holiday and stop at a small café for dinner.
You’re meeting clients downtown for lunch.
You’re grabbing a quick bite with some friends before you head back home.

The situation may change.
But the question stays the same: What are you going to eat?

Yes, you can eat well when you're out and about!

A few simple techniques can keep you on track and making good food decisions when you’re away from home.
 
3 tips for choosing items from a menu, confidently and carefully:

1) If you can, pick a healthy restaurant.
With some creativity, you can do well almost anywhere.
But make your life easy and try to avoid the worst case scenario: Fast food chains and petrol stations are only for emergencies.
Instead, try to find restaurants that use fresh, local, and/or organic ingredients.
If you don't have much to choose from, try finding a place with a salad bar or a variety of menu items. 
​

2) Look for the “Magic 3”.
Once you’re sitting down with your menu, look for the “magic 3” choices:

• Vegetables and fruits
• Lean protein
• High-fiber, slow-digesting carbs such as beans or whole grains

Skip anything that has the words “fried”, “cheesy”, "crispy", "glazed", or “secret blend”.

And try simply adding more veggies to round out your meal. One golden phrase to use:
"Can I get some extra vegetables with that? I’m willing to pay a little more if need be."
This is almost never a problem, though it may cost you an extra couple of bucks. 

3) Know what you’re ordering.
(In other words, ask.)
You can’t always trust the menu. So ask the server exactly what you’re ordering.
Here are a few choice questions to ask:

• How are the vegetables cooked? Any chance I could get them steamed?
• Could you serve the dressings/sauces/condiments on the side?
• Could you tell me if the chicken is crumbed or grilled?

Though they may seem nit-picky, these simple questions can save you from eating hundreds of unwanted calories, and stuff like added sugar or sodium.
If you ask politely, with a smile and no food-fascist overtones, you’ll usually get a polite response in return.

How to stick to your guns

Well-meaning friends, family members, co-workers, or clients might try to bump you off track.

• Most of the time, they’re not even aware they’re doing it:
  "Just try some of these cheesy chocolate marshmallow nut squares with extra sprinkles! You’ll love them."
  "Here, take the rest of this stuffed-crust pizza. I don't want it to go to waste."
• Other times, they’re right up in your face about it:
  "Why are you avoiding Food X? That’s stupid."
  "Are you on some kind of dumb-ass diet?"
• Whatever the case, don’t let them get to you. And the best way to do this is to "kill them with kindness."
  "No thanks, I’m cool with my meal. But thanks for the offer."
  "Those nachos look great, but I’ll pass this time around. Thanks anyway."
• If these approaches don’t work, and your companion keeps pressing the issue, you can try a more direct approach:
  "Can I ask you something? Why is it so important to you that I eat these foods?"
  "Hey buddy, you need to let this go."
  That will either get you off the hook or, in the case of a loved one, open up a meaningful discussion.

Whatever method you choose, remember that the only person’s actions you can control are your own.
You can’t control what a dining companion thinks, does, or says. You can only control what you think, do, or say.
So, even if your dining buddies are getting on your case, keep it together. Stick to your guns and your tried-and-true habits.
Remember: YOU are in charge of what's important to YOU.

DISCLAIMER: I frequently get hit with;

"But I don't want to be restricted when I eat out"
"Enjoyment of naughty foods is a part of balance"
"But I just want a cheat day"
"I eat well all week, can't I just flunk it when I go out?"

If these thoughts, or similar, ran through your head as you read this article, absolutely. 

Remember, YOU are in charge of what's important to YOU.

These are our tips for those who are willing, ready and able to modify their habits when eating out. 

Enjoy, 

​Drew

A few years ago, I coached a guy through an 8-week transformation competition. This guy ended up losing 26kgs in 8 weeks, and, ultimately, won the competition and a good sum of money.

In the midst of our celebrations, I realized something that changed the course of my career, and in turn, my life.

I hadn’t helped this person change.

In fact, I’ve potentially put him in a worse positition then when he started.

Now that the competition is over, now that the pursuit of winning a substantial amount of money, now that the end has come, how could I possibly expect this person to continue the deprived eating plan and brutal exercise program he was doing?

All I taught him was that to get results, you’ve got to commit 110%, train your pants off every day (often twice per day), put yourself in a large calorie deficit (eat substantially less food than your used to), have no cheat meals, and mentally push yourself through the pain for 8 weeks.

But life isn’t like this.

Stuff happens.

We get busy with work. The kids get sick. We get injured. Life isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t (and shouldn’t) revolve around our exercise regimes.

I hadn’t taught him any skills for the long term. No-one, and I mean no-one, could possibly continue the same exercise and eating regime given in a transformation competition for any longer than a couple of months.

So what happens then?

What happens in 4 months when the meal plan has become so boring and deprived that you can’t possibly stick to it anymore? What happens when you go on holidays? What happens when that massive work project is due, and chicken and broccoli is the last thing on your mind? What happens when that niggling knee injury plays up, and it all just seems too hard?

Let’s reverse engineer the mindset of fitness facilities and personal trainers encouraging transformation competitions and meal plans.

They are selling the thought of quick results.

They are selling the “magic bullet”.

And they are selling it because they know people will buy it.

They know that promoting 26kgs of weight loss in 8 weeks is so much sexier than losing the same amount of weight over 2 years.

Everyone wants quick results.

However, what they don’t promote is the 7 out of 8 people who start one of these programs, and end up gaining back all the weight they lost, plus more.

7 out of 8.

Although that statistic is staggeringly high, we are all still willing to ride the hampster wheel of “short term solutions”. Hoping that this one will work, but knowing deep down it won’t.

Knowing deep down that what you actually need, is a coach to teach you how to change your eating and lifestyle habits.

This isn’t my personal vendetta against these programs.

It’s just fact.

They do not work over the long term.

You simply don’t learn how to eat. How to incorporate daily physical activity. How to understand portion sizes when you’re at a cafe. How to learn how to listen to your bodies inherent hunger and fullness cues.

All you learn is to white-knuckle your way through a program for 4 or 8 weeks, follow the generic meal plan, and train really hard every day.

Now, if you can see yourself never having chocolate again, or never enjoying wine, or training really hard everyday, and continuing to do this in 10, 20 and 30 years time, more power to you. These programs are exactly for you.

If you’re not one of the above, and you want to enjoy treats, alcohol, dinners with friends and family without having to restrict or count calories, or just simply not going to the gym every day, these programs aren’t teaching you these foundational skills.

And this is where a habit-based approach, which focuses on the long term, works.

A habit-based approach teaches you not just what to eat, but how to eat. Why you’re eating. And how that impacts your overall results.

Imagine dramatically reducing your portion sizes by simply learning how to eat correctly.

Imagine feeling fuller for longer by learning how to create the perfect meal.

Imagine not feeling bloated, fatigued, and bored but still eating the foods you choose to eat.

And imagine experiencing long term results, and never having to diet, or enter a transformation competition, or follow another meal plan again.

All of this information is completely free in video form on our Facebook page. Start sifting through the information, apply it to yourself, and become your own coach.

Or, if you would like the help of one of our coaches, contact us here:

Almost everyone who has walked in to the studio has at some stage commented on how nice it smells. It’s no secret that I love diffusing oils.

I know, I know. The claims about essential oils — that they can help with sleep, mood, hormone levels, and more — can sound like scammy, woo-woo nonsense. The worst “health” advice the internet has to offer.

So, I took it in my own hands to sift through the current scientific evidence on essential oils, to determine whether they actually do anything, except simply smelling nice!

Interestingly, there’s intriguing scientific data suggesting that some of the potential benefits of essential oils might just be a reality.

For example:

• I’ve seen several case studies showing 25-35 percent increases in testosterone among hypogonadal (low-testosterone) men who ingested essential oil from blue spruce.
• Frankincense essential oil comes from resin of the boswellia tree. Boswellia is highly touted in the supplement world for joint pain and arthritis.

Sure, you argue, small scale trials and simple case studies don’t “prove” or “disprove” anything. But these are more than speculation and anecdotes.

In my opinion, they’re enough to start a conversation, maybe even spark laboratory scientists to start looking more deeply into what essential oils do in larger groups and more controlled settings.

As always, it usually takes science a little while to catch up. But for now, let’s take a deeper look into essential oils.



What are essential oils?

Essential oils are the volatile liquids found in a variety of plants, trees, shrubs, and citrus fruit rinds. They’re what give herbs, flowers, and fruits their distinctive scents. They’re also some of the oldest known “natural health products”.

For several thousand years, people all over the world have been extracting these oils using methods such as steam distillation, cold pressing, resin tapping, or absolute extraction.

Essential oils aren’t there by accident, or just because a flower decided to smell nice. The chemical components help the plants function and fight pathogens, disease and stress.


For instance, these components can:

• act as chemical messengers and hormones;
• protect the plant from bacteria, fungi, and viruses; and
• protect the plant from environmental stressors such as heat.

These active compounds are such small molecules that humans can easily absorb them through the skin, nasal passages, lungs, and digestive system.

Since plant physiology is similar enough to our own, we can get therapeutic benefit from some of the oils’ constituents.
Of course, every essential oil affects the human body in different ways, based on the dozens (or hundreds) of compounds in each oil.

For example, peppermint has more than 40 known constituents. (And probably a bunch of unknown ones). It’s been shown to:

• soothe the digestive system,
• relax tight muscles,
• be mentally and physically stimulating, and
• help lower blood lactate levels during exercise.

How do essential oils work?

The three most common methods for using essential oils are:

• topical application,
• inhalation, and
• ingestion.

Most pure essential oils can be used all three ways — but be careful: Not all essential oils are pure.

Inhalation
Essential oils are most known for their odor (hence the term aromatherapy).

Inhaling essential oils stimulates any of more than 1,000 receptors in the nasal cavity, which transfer signals through the olfactory bulb to the limbic system, the center for our emotions. From there, they can affect the autonomic nervous, endocrine, and immune systems.

When essential oils reach the lungs, they pass from the alveoli into the capillary blood vessels. Once in the bloodstream, they are small enough to pass through the blood-brain barrier.

Inhaling certain essential oils may:

• help improve mood, emotions, and libido;
• support sleep quantity and quality;
• increase focus or alertness; and/or
• reduce feelings of stress or occasional anxiety.

Topical application
You can apply essential oil on its own or diluted with a “carrier oil” (such as avocado, coconut, olive, or sesame).


Diluting essential oils:

• minimizes the sensation on the skin and slows absorption (especially important if you’re using the oil on a child),
• allows you to spread the oil across a larger surface, and
• helps the oil’s effect last longer.

After penetrating the skin, essential oils can act locally (for instance, on your knee if you’ve rubbed the oil on your knee).
Or they can act systemically, throughout the body. If you’re looking for a systemic effect, one of the best places to apply the oil is the soles of the feet, since the pores there are large and essential oils are thus absorbed quickly.

Topical use of certain essential oils may:

• help target specific areas such as the sinuses, lymph system or the stomach
• have many of the benefits associated with inhalation; and/or
• relieve muscle soreness or joint stiffness from workouts, or other minor aches and pains.

Ingestion
The ingestion of essential oils might be one of the most debated topics in alternative health today.

I would not, under any circumstance, recommend ingesting cheap, perfume-grade essential oil. Although most pure essential oils can be ingested, there isn’t always a good reason to do it.

Research indicates that ingesting certain essential oils may:

• help us digest and absorb food;
• help relieve occasional digestive distress;
• help relieve symptoms of digestive issues like gingivitis, colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and dysbiosis;
• support the immune system; and/or
• support normal inflammatory levels.

Where’s the science?

One of the arguments against essential oils is that there isn’t enough research on them: Without multiple double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, what do we really know?

Simply put, this isn’t true. There has been a significant increase in published research on essential oils in recent years.

Scientists are beginning to test various oils and their constituents.

Unfortunately, we’ll probably never see as many double-blind, placebo-controlled trials on essential oils as there are on pharmaceuticals or patented supplements, as essential oil research is very expensive.


Making matters worse, no one wants to pay for the research. Supplements and pharmaceuticals are often patented. Companies that own the patents do whatever studies they need to prove that their products work. But plants that essential oils come from are living things in the public domain and therefore can’t be patented. Where there’s no patent, there’s often no profit.

Specific oils and their benefits

Here’s a summary of some of the more interesting published research available to date on essential oils.

Peppermint

May improve athletic performance
In studies, one drop of peppermint on the tongue, or in mineral water was associated with:

• improved grip strength, vertical jump, and standing long jump, visual and auditory reaction time, and heart rate variability both five minutes and 60 minutes after use
• improved lung capacity and blood lactate after 10 days of daily ingestion. Carbohydrate metabolism increased, suggesting an increase in energy production in muscle tissue. Heart rate during exercise also improved.

Inhalation of peppermint:

• decreased quarter-mile run time
• increased push-up performance and grip strength

May improve GI health

• Peppermint has been shown to relieve discomfort and occasional abdominal pain by relaxing the smooth muscle of the digestive tract.

Lavender

Lavender is the most often used essential oil in the world. It’s also the most adulterated, as the demand far exceeds the supply. The oil is distilled from the flowers.


May improve sleep
Inhaling lavender before or during the early stages of sleep:

• enhanced deep sleep, and/or
• improved sleep quality.

May improve relaxation and calm
Inhaling lavender:

• can lower autonomic nervous system arousal (i.e. the stress response), including lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and skin temperature;
• has been shown to lower cortisol levels; and/or
• can stimulate alpha wave brain activity (which tends to happen when our brain is “idling” — daydreaming or meditating)

When lavender and rosemary (which have somewhat similar scent profiles) were compared, lavender was relaxing while rosemary was stimulating.


May decrease pain
Among women who’d had Caesarean sections, those in the lavender group showed a significantly lower level of perceived pain at four, eight and 12 hours post-op.

Citrus

Citrus oils are cold-pressed from the rind of the fruit.


May calm us and boost our mood
Oil of bergamot (which is part of the citrus family) can calm the nervous system; support sleep, increase relaxation and alleviate occasional feelings of anxiety.
Orange essential oil may do the same.

May stimulate us
Lemon and grapefruit, on the other hand, may boost our mood, wake us up, and get the brain moving. (Which is perhaps why many cleaners are lemon-scented.)


Other interesting findings

In studies:

• Pepper, tarragon, fennel and grapefruit fire us up: Each of these essential oils each stimulated sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity 1.7 to 2.5-fold. Pepper oil increased adrenaline concentrations.
• Rose and patchouli oils chill us out: These inhibited SNS activity. Rose decreased adrenaline levels.
• Jasmine improved sleep quality. Jasmine is often used as a perfume, as many find its aroma seductive.
• Inhalation of neroli (bitter orange) by postmenopausal women lowered blood pressure, increased sexual desire, lowered stress levels and stimulated the endocrine system.
• The essential oil of Laurus noblis (bay laurel), which is typically thought of as a spice for cooking, when inhaled, enhanced alertness and reactions to unpredictable stimuli.
• Animal research shows that ingesting essential oils can aid in relieving symptoms from digestive issues such as colitis and intestinal dysbiosis.
• About 2-3 drops per day of lemongrass reduced cholesterol levels in adults with high cholesterol levels.
• Essential oils high in beta-caryophyllene (found in cloves, rosemary, hemp, and hops) have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Beta-caryophyllene (BCP) is most highly-concentrated in copaiba, from a group of South American trees in the Copaifera genus. Interestingly, this constituent is also found in cannabis.

Now, if you’ve made it this far, the chances are, you’re thinking;

“Great! Essential oils have merit, I’m going to start using them and all my woes will disappear”


Not quite.


It’s incredibly important to remember:

You need to start with healthy-lifestyle basics.
While essential oils can have a powerful effect on our health, they can’t do it alone. We still must support our bodies with proper nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle choices.

Once those are solid, essential oils might help you get that extra little bit of improvement. Oils may even make fitness and health come easier, since they can boost your mood and help you recover better.

Be wary of grandiose health claims.
Nothing cures everything. Even if something has very real effects, those effects will probably be small to moderate.

It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: Medical problems should be dealt with under the advisement of a competent healthcare practitioner. Though essential oils may help with certain symptoms or issues, they are not a replacement for medical therapy if that is what is advised from your healthcare practitioner.

Use high-quality oil.
It’s estimated that only 2 percent of essential oils are of therapeutic quality. The rest are made simply to smell nice.
When we talk about health benefits, we’re referring to high-quality, therapeutic essential oils, not the cheap stuff.



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