Happy Tues…wait a minute…today is Wednesday! Yesterday was so crazy hectic for me I didn’t even realize it was Tuesday and didn’t get my #TuesdayTip post up…so…Better Late Than Never…Here is your tip on Wednesday 🙂
Speaking of yesterday being so busy…I was teaching an essential oils class last night, with my business partner at a local chiropractor’s office, educating the patients on how to create a healthy medicine cabinet using essential oils. It was a fabulous time and everyone learned a lot and asked lots of questions. I really enjoy educating as many people as I can on how to properly use essential oils and simple ways they can incorporate them into their daily lives. I’m not an aromatherapist, a doctor, or a medical practitioner, so I always advise everyone before I speak, that if they have a serious medical condition they should seek out the advice of a doctor and that essential oils are not meant to “cure” anything but to aid the body in the healing process.
So, after the class I had a lady come up to me and ask me about which essential oils can help her with her diabetes. The very first thing I mentioned to her was that her diet and nutrition should be the very first thing that should be addressed to help with her diabetes. Nutrition should actually be the first thing everyone thinks about when addressing any symptoms one might want to heal.
I just recently shared this infographic about how Americans are lacking in so many vitamins and minerals (which nutrition deficiencies are the cause of many diseases including diabetes).
So, back to using essential oils for diabetes….first of all, essential oils can not cure diabetes, but they can help the body mitigate the symptoms of diabetes and lead the person to a healthier way of life.
One way to use essential oils when you have diabetes is by using calming oils when you are stressed out. Studies have shown the blood glucose levels increase in diabetics when they are stressed. Using oils like, Lavender, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang, Cedarwood, Frankincense and any calming blends can help reduce stress and anxiety. Just inhaling the oils, using them in a diffuser or rubbing them onto the bottoms of the feet are ways to use these oils. Citrus oils can also be very helpful when dealing with side effects of diabetes as they are very uplifting and can help with depression, anxiety and stress as well.
If you are a diabetic that is concerned with weight loss, studies have shown that inhaling grapefruit essential oil and lemon essential oil increased the breakdown of fat and suppressed body weight in rats. There was also another study of post-menopausal women who received a weekly one-hour whole body massage with 3% grapefruit essential oil, cypress oil and three other oils for 6 weeks showed significant abdominal subcutaneous fat and waist circumference. They also massed their own abdomens twice a day, five days a week for six weeks as well. A word of caution: when using citrus oils, avoid sun exposure for 6 hours of using them as they are phototoxic and intensify the effects of UV exposure.
There is very little research on using essential oils with diabetics and even fewer studies that provide evidence that state specific oils that may help to stabilize blood glucose levels.
The internal use of essential oils is extremely risky and dangerous unless you are under the care of an holistic aromatherapist, so I do not discuss or promote ingesting any essential oils. It’s very easy for the general public to misread or misuse essential oils and important precautions that might go along with using essential oils, which is why I do not promote internal use of essential oils, ever.
I truly believe that a healthy diet full of low-GI & low-sugar foods can help and even reverse diabetes in many. Stabilizing blood glucose levels is key to diabetes treatment, prevention, and reversal.
Stay Healthy my Friends!
XO,
Carrie A Groff
– Healthy, Fit & Barefoot!
“Happiness is Barefoot on the Beach!”
CG Fitness: Personal Training, Nutrition & Yoga 