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Essential Oils for Gut, Thyroid and AdrenalsInterview with Dr. Josh Axe

[The information below is NOT intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional and IS not intended as medical advice.]

Dr. Zielinski: Hello, everyone. This is Dr. Eric Zielinski. I’m a chiropractor and public health researcher who specializes in natural therapies. And my passion and life’s work is to help people live the abundant life, which is why I’m extremely honored to co-host this Essential Oils Summit with my friends Dr. Josh Axe and Jill Winger. In my opinion, there’s nothing on the planet that is more versatile for everyday use and that promotes healing in the body like essential oils. And that’s why I’m very excited about this session of the Essential Oil Revolution, because I’m interviewing Dr. Josh Axe. Dr. Axe, welcome!

Dr. Axe: Hey, Dr. Eric. Thanks for having me here!

Dr. Zielinski: Hey, man, it’s just been a blessing and honor to really rub shoulders with you and carry this burden together. We put together something that no one has ever put together with this summit, the first non-brand specific Essential Oils Summit. Just thanks, man! It’s just been a great ride.

Dr. Axe: Yeah. I agree. I know for you and I and Jill, our mission does help more people get healthy and to stop using synthetic drugs and medications and make over what they’re using as medicine today with essential oils that have been proven and used for thousands and thousands of years without side effects. And so, I’m excited to share some of my clinical experience today, some of the great research and then just practical, easy uses that people can use, what essential oils are best for their overall health.

Dr. Zielinski: And I’m sure we’re going to talk about it throughout the next half an hour or so, Dr. Axe. Dr. Axe has put together just an unbelievable database. We’re going to talk a lot later about his essential oil database. But we’re talking recipes, natural remedies, health articles. We’re talking cutting-edge information that’s just life-giving. And you’ve got a ton of it, Josh. You’re pumping out content like no other at this point.

Dr. Axe: Yeah, for me I really want to help the masses of people. As I was saying earlier, really change what they’re using as medicine and really move to plant-based medicine,

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medicine that was here from the beginning of time.

Dr. Zielinski: And, folks, today we have a very exciting topic. In my opinion, it’s one of the most important topics in health today. It’s gut health. Really at the core of everything we’re going to talk about, is gut health. There’s just an epidemic right now of leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome. And Josh is an expert at that. And so, we’re going to talk about gut, thyroid and adrenals. But, Dr. Josh, you recently have carved a niche on the internet, helping educate people about plant-based medicine. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started on that path.

Dr. Axe: Sure. Well, I know growing up my family was living in what I would call the medical model. It was the typical family that I see today, where both my parents were very fit and active, actually. But we all took medications. I know that when I was a kid, I was always taking medications and antibiotics for bronchitis. And my sister and dad had chronic allergies. And my brother had a really weakened immune system, was always coming down with infections. And so, he was taking drugs. And a similar thing with my mom. She was taking a lot of medications over the years just for basic things. And we never knew about essential oils. But at 40-years-old — this was crazy for our family — but my mom was diagnosed with cancer. And my mom was my gym teacher at school. She was a swim instructor. She was the epitome of fitness, but still 40-years-old and cancer.

And because we lived in that medical mindset, she decided to go through medical treatments. And she went and had a mastectomy. She went through rounds and rounds and rounds of chemotherapy. And I can still remember to this day seeing my mom’s hair fall out. I remember looking at her at one point and thinking she had aged 20 years in two weeks and just saying to myself, “I never want to see anyone have to go through this again.” And praise God she was brought through it. Even with all the chemicals that were put into her body, she was brought through it and afterward, was diagnosed as being cancer-free and healthy.

But, truthfully, after going through chemo, she was really sicker than ever. She came down with chronic fatigue and adrenal fatigue. I remember my mom was a teacher. She would come home at 3 o’clock and would basically go and take a 2 to 3-hour nap every day literally for 10 years afterward. So, she struggled with severe adrenal fatigue. She had developed cysts and a goiter on her thyroid, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which is Hashimoto’s disease that she had, and then really struggled with digestive issues. She came down with leaky gut, started having food sensitivities and also

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developed chronic constipation. If you can imagine this, she was having at some points an average of one bowel movement a week. And this went on for years and years and years.

And then finally 10 years later… Actually, at this point I was actually in chiropractic college in Florida. I was also working as a nutritionist in a clinic in Orlando. And she called me and she said, “I’ve got bad news. I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer again. And I also have all of these other problems.” She said, “What do I do?” And I said, “Mom, I’ll be home.” I flew home. We prayed together and really just felt like the Lord was leading us to take care of her all naturally. And praise God. At the time, I had actually been working with some of the top doctors in the world at the time. And I called them for advice. I started reading everything I could on cancer and on leaky gut and thyroid issues and adrenal issues. And so, we put her on a natural health plan. And her plan consisted of… We would juice vegetables. We had her doing bone broth soup every day. We had her doing things like flaxseeds. We also even had her doing some oil of oregano. We had her doing probiotics. We had her doing all of these things naturally and really getting all of the toxic chemicals out of her house and using natural, essential oil-based products.

And so, we did this for four months, went back to the oncologist. He redid a CT scan and called us two days later. And he said, “What have you been doing?” And we told him. He just goes, “Hmm. Well, I have never seen this.” But he said, “The tumors have shrunk in half.” He said, “Keep doing what you’re doing.” (NOTE: Her results cannot be expected, since everyone is different.)We continued on. And a year later, she was in complete remission. And it’s been a long time since then, probably nine to 10 years. And she’s in the best shape of her life. In fact, my mom and dad retired several years ago from Ohio down to Florida. And she’s waterskiing almost every day. She’s ran three 5Ks with me in the past few years and gotten second and third in her age group in those. And just praise God, man. She’s just the epitome of health now. And also, now she uses the essential oils more than ever. In fact, when I was there recently, she was rubbing chamomile oil on my dad’s neck and then some peppermint oil because he was sore from being out waterskiing and lifting some weights.

But it really comes down to, I’m not claiming any sort of cure for using any sort of diet or anything else. But just to say this, I really believe that there is power in plant-based medicine. And there is power in following a diet, eating the way God designed us to eat.

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And so, for me, really it’s the experience with my mom, her being sick before and then her really overcoming that illness that really led me into the field of digestive health and plant-based medicine. And that’s also why I do what I do, so people can be aware of the truth, what the truth is with the side effects of all these things out there. And essential oils are a great natural replacement.

Dr. Zielinski: Now, for those people who don’t know you or your family, you guys aren’t hippie tree huggers. You know what I mean?

Dr. Axe: No, not at all.

Dr. Zielinski: And it’s funny because you think about essential oils, you think conventional incense. You’re thinking bongo drums and dreadlocks. We’ve transcended. And that’s one of the things, Josh, I love about you. You and your wife, you’re beautiful. You guys are like Barbie and Ken, for crying out loud. And you’re showing the world that this is the future… Basically going back to the future in a sense. This is what we’ve done since the beginning of time. So, I’ve got to say, man, I give you props. Thanks so much for leading the revolution and hence the Essential Oil Revolution Summit. We’ve got to talk about gut health. Eighty percent — some health sources claim — of our immune system exists in the gut. Try in a few minutes to put that into perspective for people. How important is gut health?

Dr. Axe: Sure. I would say it like this. If you look at some of the latest research today, there are actual people that are in a way getting gut transplants. And I don’t mean in your intestines. I actually mean the microbes in your gut or microbial transplants. And so, we know that your gut itself and the bacteria and microbes in your gut, actually some scientists today call it your microbiome. But it really is a very unique organ. It’s responsible for so many things. But as you’re saying, 80 percent of your immune system, about 90 percent of your serotonin level… When you hear serotonin, that good mood hormone, you would think, “Oh, that’s produced from the brain.” But, no, it’s actually your gut. And there is a distinct connection between your gut and your intestinal lining and the brain.

And one of the things that can happen if people aren’t taking care of their digestive health, and especially one of the most common causes of leaky gut is antibiotic use of conventional antibiotics. Also, if anyone’s ever taken birth control pills or steroids or even somebody that was born of C-section, and they didn’t get those good bacteria passed

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on to them in early life, those things can all wipe out the good bacteria in our guts, those probiotics and those other forms of microbes. And basically, what that does is when you don’t have those microbes, you can’t digest things properly. And it causes chronic inflammation. And if you cause inflammation of the lining, then things can start to leak through. That’s why they call it leaky gut.

And most people have heard of things like gluten intolerance. And why is gluten such a problem today? Well, gluten is a protein in many grains that can actually cause gut inflammation, leak through the gut and then cause inflammation of the entire body. And if that is not corrected, Dr. Eric, we know that that has been linked to autoimmune disease. That’s been linked to chronic fatigue, adrenal fatigue and then thyroid conditions like Hashimoto’s disease, thyroiditis and other thyroid problems. And so, really, your gut is so important for your health. And we know one of the early fathers of essential oils is Hippocrates. He’s famous for saying, “Let food be thy medicine.” But he’s also famous for saying, “All disease begins in the gut.” And so, we know that really it starts with healing your gut.

And so, one of the first ways you can use essential oils is rather than using the biggest causes of leaky gut, which are prescription antibiotics and some over-the-counter painkillers, which cause intestinal bleeding, rather than using those things, you can use essential oils, plant-based medicine that’s been used for over 5,000 years. And some people may realize this. But our medical system today is actually the number three killer in the United States today, the adverse side effects of drugs. And those adverse side effects, the first place they typically damage is the gut and especially cause absorption issues. They actually block the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals. And the good news is that’s not a side effect of essential oils. Rather than negative side effects, essential oils have positive side effects for your health, which is really what we’re looking for. And so, again, your gut health… Really your entire body’s health begins in your gut. So, if you’re struggling with autoimmune disease, any digestive issue, even depression today or joint pain like rheumatoid arthritis, all of those conditions have been linked to leaky gut in one way or another.

Dr. Zielinski: Dr. Axe, you make a good point. We seem to gloss over the fact that the gut-skin-brain connection has been in the literature for well over 100 years. I hadn’t heard of it until recently. And that’s shocking because here I am about to graduate from chiropractic college. And I’ve had nine years of college education under my belt. And I never heard of this thing about how the stomach, how lack of health, how the leaky

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gut, all the symptoms that you described can actually affect the brain. And that can be triggered to what? Autism? ADD? Put some things into perspective for people. You have a child or one of your clients or one of your patients comes in with a child who has some learning disabilities, obviously leaky gut issues, some sort of thing. How does this come into play, and how have you used essential oils to help with that mix?

Dr. Axe: Well, sure. And, by the way, that was such a common scenario of a parent bringing in a child with a condition like ADHD or another issue like autism. And again, so much of it really begins in the gut. And with these kids, it really starts with their digestive system. So, if they’re eating certain foods that will cause intestinal inflammation, that will continue the process of leaky gut. And with autism, here’s an example of what happens. Early on in my clinical career, I would put children on what’s called a gluten-free, casein-free diet, so no wheat products, no certain types of dairy products. And we would see great results. In fact, their behavior would improve. I remember one mom came in to me. She said, “My son has only spoken to me three words. He only knows three words. And she said, “After one week on this diet you’ve put him on, he’s now speaking almost 100 words.” And she was so shocked that it happened that quickly. It’s just amazing how fast it can happen.

So, here’s how this happens. If you have a child that they’re consuming their favorite cereal, well, if they already have leaky gut, they’re eating that cereal. It’s got sugar in it. And it’s got gluten in it. Those things cause intestinal inflammation. Gluten leaks through the gut. And then it gets in the bloodstream, and it recirculates. And then it actually acts on the brain like a drug would, specifically something like an opioid and then causes brain inflammation. And think about this. When you have inflammation of an area, it can’t develop. It can’t heal. You can’t focus. Similar thing. Imagine if you had a wide-open gash on your hand. If you kept bothering that and picking at it over and over and over again, it could never heal. Well, the same thing happens in these kids’ diets. Their brain actually can’t develop properly. They can’t heal sometimes properly. And that’s why you’ve got to repair the gut and stop what we call that vicious cycle of inflammation of the gut, which causes inflammation of the brain, the skin and then organ inflammation, as well, like inflammation of the thyroid.

And so, if a child would come in with an issue like ADHD, the first thing I would do is I would put them on a diet that really was free of things like I’d put them on a gluten-free diet. And then I would have them follow a diet similar to my leaky gut diet or even a GAPS Diet where they’re consuming homemade bone broth and vegetables and fruits

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and just real food pretty much, eating food that’s real and staying away from a lot of grain products.

And then essential oil wise, I would replace any of their shampoo, any of their personal care products, all of those things I would replace and start using essential oils. And some of my favorite essential oils I’ve used with kids would include frankincense oil, chamomile oil, peppermint oil. Those are some of my favorites. In fact, there’s a blend I’ve used in the past that has ginger oil, fennel oil and peppermint. But most of the time I’ll use it topically. I’ll rub it right on their abdomen with chamomile oil. I’ll rub that on their neck. And it helps calm the body. And there’s some great research on these, as well. In fact, if you look at peppermint oil, there are studies on patients with irritable bowel syndrome, IBS. And they found just tremendous, tremendous benefits. Also, there are studies on chamomile. There are compounds in there as well that can actually help adrenal issues, which is amazing. But I would say that’s really how I’d use it with children.

Number one, we’d really work on that diet. Number two, we start using essential oils that can help support in reducing intestinal inflammation. And ginger is a great one for that, as well. I would say ginger and peppermint together are two of my favorites that I’ve used with children, along with chamomile is another great one. And then, of course, frankincense. Frankincense really works with your immune system. And I know that, Dr. Eric, that’s something you’ve talked about. I know some of our other amazing world-class speakers have talked about frankincense and its ability to fight cancer. But really, one of the reasons it works is it modulates the immune system. And when somebody has leaky gut as we’re talking about with children or adults, that really… Over time, the inflammatory reaction sometimes can over time turn into an autoimmune reaction, these hypersensitivity immune issues. And we know frankincense helps modulate and balance out that overreaction. And so, that’s another reason why frankincense is incredible for that reason.

Dr. Zielinski: Josh, you just dumped just several golden nuggets on our laps. We’ve got to dissect a couple here. First, skin. So, you’re telling me someone has a boy, a young boy, typical ADD kid. He comes in your office just running off the charts, can’t focus, getting poor grades at school. You see some gastrointestinal disturbances maybe, whatever, constipation, diarrhea, whatever. You’re telling me that they have to change their soap and their shampoo? Where is that connection? Help people understand this and even how to replace that.

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Dr. Axe: Right. Well, one of the things we know about synthetics is typically we will see some sort of upfront what we think is a benefit from them. So, when you take a medication today, often times you’ll see this result. You’ll feel different. But then it’s causing another issue in the body. And the same thing is when you’re looking at a lot of these detergents that we’re using, or even hand soaps. A lot of the hand soaps contain an antimicrobial called triclosan. But triclosan has been linked to both liver failure and kidney failure. And it’s been linked to the elimination of bacteria in the gut. And so, a lot of times we think, “Oh, well, we’re just using hand soap.” Well, a lot of those chemicals, some of them can leach into our system. We know your skin is your body’s largest organ. And it does have some absorptive properties with certain types of chemicals. And so, we know, again, just by using certain hand soaps, if your kid has eczema, it’s killing off probiotics in the gut. And we know skin issues are a result of what’s going on on the inside, which is your gut issue as you talked about, Dr. Eric, this gut-skin connection. And this is why one of my favorite things to do with kids is to make them homemade soap bars and homemade lotion bars and homemade hand soap. And as I mentioned earlier, chamomile is one of my favorites. Lavender is great. But typically, I’ll make a lotion bar with geranium oil. I found geranium is one of the best for the skin along with some shea butter and coconut oil and even sometimes tea tree oil, as well. And that’s really what we’ll put on things like eczema on the skin, psoriasis and those types of skin issues.

Dr. Zielinski: And you have those recipes on your website, don’t you?

Dr. Axe: Yeah, I do. I have, I believe, about over 30 homemade recipes from how to make your own rosemary homemade thickening shampoo to your own homemade mineralizing toothpaste with peppermint oil, and even an anti-aging serum and an eczema cream.

Dr. Zielinski: And, folks, I don’t want to gloss over what Dr. Josh just said. Triclosan has been a registered pesticide since the 1960s. It is Bad News Bears. And anything you could do, like Dr. Josh has, aloe, coconut oil, couple drops of essential oil, you’ve got your hand sanitizer. And you make such a good point, Doc, because our skin is a sponge. It actually can absorb. I’ve seen a study that talked upwards of 75 percent of the chemicals that are in any lotion or any hand sanitizer, it will absorb it in the bloodstream. So, that’s considerable. And that’s shocking. And so also the other nugget I want to talk about that you mentioned earlier was thyroid. Explain a little bit about the connection between gut health and thyroid health and essential oils and go on with that a little bit.

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Dr. Axe: Sure. Well, one of the things I’ll segue or start in talking about this is I’ve actually been studying a lot of Eastern medicine recently. And really what the Chinese have done, it’s amazing. When you look at Chinese medicine, they have really — I don’t want to say they are the founders of medicine — but they really, in terms of their documentation and really documenting studies and results with patients, they were really some of the first, if not the first, to do that. And so, the Chinese have an amazing history of medicine. But one of the things that they believe is that we have organs that are more susceptible.

So, you think about this, Dr. Eric. You can have one person or two people who are different. But they both eat the exact same diet. One ends up with heart disease. And the other ends up with cancer. Another one ends up with liver failure. And another ends up with thyroid issues. Why is that? Well, they believe it has to do with your emotions. And so, if somebody comes into conflict and one person ends up… Their chief way if they come into conflict is with anger and frustration, that affects the liver and gallbladder. Whereas somebody else who struggles with worry and anxiousness, it affects the stomach, spleen and pancreas. And so, it’s pretty amazing if you look at that. And so, that’s just going a little deeper to why does somebody have a thyroid issue when they have leaky gut? Well, there are many factors. Some of it may be emotional. And typically, the people that try and do too much and get overwhelmed or tend to get stressed out easily, they are the most common people that will tend to develop more thyroid-based issues.

But, that being said, we know that really fixing leaky gut can help the thyroid. But there are two essential oils I want to talk about with thyroid health. And that’s frankincense oil and thyme oil. And frankincense, we know as we talked about earlier, really modulating the immune system is one that you can just do two or three drops on your hand. Rub it right on the outside of where your thyroid is. See results there with frankincense. Another good one actually for that actually is helichrysum, as well. Both of those are great for that area. Also, I’ll take a couple drops of frankincense, rub it on the roof of my mouth. That’s the other area I’ll use it. And frankincense works because, again, it really helps in immune function, in reducing that over-immune response, which will help the thyroid. The other thing is thyme or thyme, as some people call it.

Now, Dr. Eric, we’ve heard of phytoestrogens. And, by the way, there are different types of phytoestrogens. So, I know we recently did an article on natto, which is that fermented soybean. And soy has a bad rap in certain areas. It has a good rap in others. But we know that phytoestrogens for many people are a problem. And most people

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don’t need more estrogen. They need more progesterone. Well, the amazing thing about thyme oil is it has phytoprogesterones or phytoprogestins. And so, thyme oil is actually very, very good for balancing out hormones in both men and women. By the way, again, I want to be clear. This isn’t just for women. Most men have low progesterone levels, as well. Again, a lot of men struggle with low testosterone and low progesterone. And most women struggle with too high of estrogen, too low of progesterone. But, again, thyme oil is one of the best for actually balancing out those hormones. And it has phytoprogesterones in it. And so, thyme oil, you can take a couple drops. Same thing, rub it right on your thyroid and also make an at-home body lotion with it. I recommend doing a frankincense-thyme body lotion. You mix it with a little bit of coconut oil, something like a shea butter and rub that just all over your body. And so, again, thyme oil is very good for the thyroid in that regard. And I want to mention one other. If you have a hyperactive… Well, actually, I’ll get into that one with the adrenals. That helps thyroid, as well. But I would say frankincense and thyme oil are probably two of my favorites. And I do want to mention as we’re talking about both men and women, a lot of men today with low testosterone, the best oil for that is sandalwood oil. I saw just some recent information on sandalwood actually helping out with low testosterone. And so, again, for men if you’re looking for that, sandalwood is a good one to use there, as well.

Dr. Zielinski: Fantastic. A good close friend of ours, she’s postmenopausal. She was hypothyroid. She had hypothyroidism. She was on a drug prescription. It was causing so many side effects, everything from brain fog to sleeplessness, so many different things. She actually just started applying very slightly diluted or straight neat frankincense over the thyroid just like you said. And it’s been several months now. She’s not taking any drugs. She got off of them herself. And that’s something we can’t recommend. But under the guidance of a natural healthcare provider or someone who practices functional medicine, you could get off those pharmaceuticals by using something like frankincense. So, have hope, everyone. And we’ve been told, Dr. Josh, we’ve been told, once you start that particular drug, you’re going to be on it for the rest of your life. But we are seeing people get out of that cycle.

Dr. Axe: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Every day.

Dr. Zielinski: And so, you mentioned adrenals. And let’s talk a little bit about that because again, all of this is interconnected — gut health, thyroid, adrenals. Talk a little bit about that.

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Dr. Axe: Sure. We’ve talked about the number of people with gut issues. And then thyroid isn’t close behind that. But I’ll tell you, there are probably more people with adrenal issues as there are people with gut issues. And I saw a recent number where people were interviewed and asked, “Do you struggle with fatigue or exhaustion or being more tired than you think you should be?” And a very high number — I would say it was 80 to 90 percent of people — said, “Yes, we struggle with some sort of fatigue issue on a regular basis.” And, of course, being tired is normal for some when it gets late in the evening or if you’re going through a little more stressful period in life. But being chronically tired all the time is not normal. And many people today struggle with adrenal fatigue. And the warning signs you have adrenal fatigue could be even if you get a good night’s sleep, you still feel tired. Or, again, just exhaustion on a regular basis, hormone imbalance and those sort of things can be warning signs you have adrenal fatigue.

But the best way to start boosting your energy naturally and overcoming adrenal issues, one is through using chamomile oil in doing what I call a detox or a healing bath at night. And this is something I recommend all of my patients do. I have them do chamomile oil with vetiver oil with Epsom salts. And actually soak in a tub for 20 minutes, a really nice hot or warm bath with those oils. And chamomile actually, in some medical studies, has been shown to actually help reduce G.I. inflammation. And so, if you’ve ever done chamomile tea, it’s actually beneficial because it actually helps the mucous lining in your gut in reducing inflammation in your small and large intestine. And so, again, it’s good for your gut. But, it’s also good for adrenals because it helps calm a tense nerves system. Also, vetiver oil, there’s a study on it with children with ADHD. And they found it to have a 100 percent effective rate. And they’ve also shown it to be effective at treating Parkinson’s and other sorts of neurological tics. But this is also important because vetiver helps calm the nerves system. And a lot of people that have adrenal fatigue have what we would call a heightened or hyperactive sympathetic nervous system. They live in the sort of fight or flight response. And it is critical to break that cycle of this over sympathetic stimulation. And again, a great way to do that is mixing 10 drops of vetiver oil, 10 drops of chamomile oil, 1 cup of Epsom salts because they have magnesium that also calms the body. And you soak for 20 minutes. And it’s just a great healing therapy. In fact, you’ll get out of the bath that night. You’ll sleep well. And I recommend doing that every night or at least three times a week as you’re overcoming adrenal fatigue.

And a couple others that are beneficial, lavender and cinnamon. There actually are some great studies on lavender actually balancing out blood sugar levels, being effective in those with diabetes. And same thing with cinnamon oil and the herb cinnamon. And

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so, those are great for blood sugar, which is also important in treating adrenal fatigue. But again, the chamomile-vetiver combo, the cinnamon-lavender combo. And with lavender, typically again, I just rub that on topically. With cinnamon, it’s something where sometimes I’ll just put a single drop in a smoothie. Actually, cinnamon powder also does work if you like to use that. But, again, cinnamon oil also works. And I also diffuse it. I’ll actually do a mixture of lavender and cinnamon oil and just diffuse it around my home. And it works great for that.

Dr. Zielinski: I was just going to ask you about that. When you talk about that sympathetic fight or flight, everyone in this constant state of stress, what sort of oils would you recommend throughout the day and at night diffusion-wise?

Dr. Axe: Again, as I was saying, probably a lot of similar oils for fight or flight. But chamomile and lavender at the top of the list. Ylang ylang is another great oil for that as well. My wife and I, we have a lot of blends we like doing. And one of our favorites we’ve done recently is we’ve been doing a fir oil along with wild orange. And that’s been good. So, fir and orange also are good for that. We know citrus oils are good for uplifting the mood. So typically, when we’re diffusing, we’ll diffuse a citrus oil and maybe something like a cedarwood oil, which has been connected to wisdom. We typically do those early in the day. And in the evening, when we’re starting to really wind down and we want to just really relax, then we’ll start doing the chamomile and the lavender and the vetiver.

Dr. Zielinski: So, Doc. I’ve got to ask you a couple things. And we’re going to ask about your favorite oils for a couple different scenarios. But you have a deadline. Let’s say your next book. You’re writing a book. You’re putting something together. What’s your go to? Right now, you’ve got to focus for the next two hours.

Dr. Axe: Sure. Well, I’ll tell you for me, I do a blend of cedarwood oil and peppermint all of the time. And actually, it was interesting, Dr. Eric. I was teaching a seminar here pretty recently. And I had a professor come up to me at the end. And he said, “Hey, I just want to let you know I’ve been using essential oils for years.” And he said, “During all of my students’ tests, I actually make a blend of oils.” He said, “I do a mixture of cedarwood, of peppermint.” And he said, “and I also do a little bit of vetiver in there.” And he said, “I defuse those three oils during test taking for my students.” And he said, “I know it helps.” And a similar thing. If you have a test coming up or you need to focus or you need to stay engaged, working — peppermint. There are medical studies showing it improves your focus and actually can improve your energy throughout the day.

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And, again, cedarwood is referenced by King Solomon and King David throughout the Bible. It’s been attached with wisdom. And it’s also been attached to an increased focus. By the way, the study I mentioned earlier in children with ADHD, the most effective oil was vetiver. The second most effective oil was cedarwood. And they studied a lot of different types of oils. So again, we know that mixture vetiver, cedarwood, peppermint are the best when you’re trying to focus.

Dr. Zielinski: And for all you guys out there, these are great colognes. I pitched all my fancy-dancy ones. And this is what I use. And, Dr. Josh, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve gotten more compliments from men on how good I smell than I would have guessed I ever would have ever since I started using things like cedarwood. And one of my favorites, I like wintergreen. That just really speaks to me a lot. Just that invigorating peppermint and wintergreen and cypress. It’s like, “What are you wearing today, Eric?” My buddies ask me at the gym.

Dr. Axe: I love it. I make my own what I call a pit paste. And the thing is, I remember when I started hearing people were making their own DIY recipes years ago, I thought, “Well, that sounds difficult.” But it is the easiest thing in the world. I take a few tablespoons of coconut oil, a little bit of baking soda and some essential oils. That’s it. And as you’re saying, cedarwood is one that I almost always put it there, sometimes sandalwood. And I do like wintergreen. I’ve actually done a little bit of clove, as well. But I like the cedarwood, clove smell. Don’t put too much clove. Just a pinch in there, but a good amount of cedarwood. And you’re right. I know Chelsea, my wife, she makes her own at home here. And she does something that’s a blend with jasmine oil and lavender oil and vanilla oil. And she gets compliments all the time. Same thing.

Dr. Zielinski: Yeah. I’m laughing to myself because I just taught an essential oils class for a friend of mine. And he goes, “Eric, I’ve got to remind the fellas out there when you’re playing with cassia and when you’re playing with cinnamon, make sure you wash your hands before you go to the bathroom!” Those are things you don’t think about.

Dr. Axe: I know that myself and Chelsea have used essential oils for years. And I’ve recommended them to my patients. But I didn’t realize that this was something that so many people want. I’ll tell you, more and more people are looking to make their own personal care products and their own cleaning products and using the oldest form of plant-based medicine in the world. And I think this speaks to so many people because

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this is what’s been used since the beginning of time. But the more I thought about it, I started to realize, “You know what? People have been searching for essential oils.” There are so many people that once they start using them, they’ll say, “I can’t believe I never knew about essential oils.” I hear that constantly.

Dr. Zielinski: It’s shocking because when you go across the pond, whatever pond you’re going to go across, whether it’s Europe or whether it’s Asia, that’s what they use. It’s regular. So, we’ve been in this bubble. And it’s only been within, what, the last five to 10 years that it’s becoming more and more popular. And now, it’s the hottest thing. It literally is the hottest thing right now in natural health care. I want to talk a little bit about quality. And then we’re going to wrap up here. I just, again, we appreciate your time. We love and appreciate what you’ve done. You mention about your mom. And I can’t shake the thought. Do you think your mom would have gotten such good benefits if she would have used an inferior type of oil? And with that thought, let’s talk about quality. How does someone know what’s good, what’s not good? And so what does the average person do?

Dr. Axe: Sure. Well, it’s a great question, Dr. Eric. And I’ll say this. There are many brands out there. But I think it’s important to look for a brand that is what we would call therapeutic-grade or medicinal-grade or something that just hasn’t been highly processed. And so, when I’m looking at oils, there are a number of things I’m looking for. But one is the farming practices. Are they using natural ingredients and not using pesticides and chemicals? And that’s one thing I always look for. Do they get third-party testing? I think that’s an important thing to look at, is if the oils have been tested. And so, I think those things are all important. And then also just smelling them yourself, sometimes you can smell… I know when I first started using oils, I tried a lot of different types of brands.

And so, I think that looking for a higher quality oil is very important. And I think most people listening now, after hearing all of our speakers, I think they’re realizing, too, that the quality does matter. And so, again, I think that a lot of oils today, they’re not even oils. They’re synthetic. If you look at the most popular women’s perfumes today, almost all of them have taken compounds from rose oil and jasmine. And most of the male colognes have taken elements of bergamot and sandalwood. And that’s what they’ve used. Also, there’s obviously food-grade oils. It’s there for more preservation purposes or for flavor. And there’s really no therapeutic benefits there necessarily. But at least it’s not toxic. But, yeah, I always recommend: Go out and look for a brand that has what we

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would call a therapeutic or medicinal or just a high-quality grade essential oil, I think is important. And really dig deep and look at what are the farming practices? Do they do third-party testing? Do they have pictures of where they’re actually sourcing their oils? And the source really is important. And the way they’re creating their oils is important.

Dr. Zielinski: One of our fantastic experts, Dr. Robert Pappas, he shared in an interview, he believes 75 percent of all oils on the market are adulterated at this point. Seventy-five percent. So, when you’re hearing about the stories that the benefits that your patients and your mom and you and your wife and me and my wife and kids have all experienced is because we chose a good grade, and we didn’t settle for anything. And I have to say this, too. Price does matter. Dr. Pappas said, for example, melissa and rose, if you’re going to find melissa and rose for 10 bucks a bottle, guaranteed that’s not right. He goes, “Well, look at the drum.” And he goes, “The problem is most people don’t even do the research to find out how much the oil is per drum.” And where do you find that information, right? So, you’ve got to do a little digging. But he goes, “If you’re finding frankincense, helichrysum, sandalwood…” a lot of the ones that you mentioned, Dr. Josh, he said that if you’re finding that stuff cheap, guaranteed it’s not real.

Dr. Axe: Yeah.

Dr. Zielinski: Well, Josh, we are about out of time. If you could just spend a brief moment, just give people a message of hope. Your MO, your modus operandi, is empowering people with information to use plants, essential oils, natural remedies to heal themselves. So, if you just want to address people… Because we know what the Bible says. “This hope is not deceptive,” the Bible says. So just share a couple of minutes on that. And then, just again, thank you for your time.

Dr. Axe: Great. Well, thanks, Dr. Eric. Well, I’ll say this. In my experience in working with thousands of patients over the years and in my clinic here in Nashville, again, I’ve seen thousands of families heal and get healthy, something that just really brings joy to my heart, and the reason I do what I do is there’s nothing I love more than having... I have families come in who are on loads and loads of medications. Who are on a poor diet. They’re just all sick. And within 30 days with most of them, they’re transformed. And, Dr. Eric, here’s the thing. It’s not just their bodies. Their bodies are transformed. They’re overcoming their health conditions. They’re healing. They’re getting well. But it’s also their mind. And by the way, we’re even teaching our kids this. But when you reach for a synthetic chemical versus a plant that God created, you’re teaching people something.

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And you’re teaching your kids something. And I think there’s so much power in the mind and really trusting in what the Lord put here for medicine and reaching out and using essential oils, which have been proven through science today, but also been proven through the past 5,000 or 6,000 years. We know this is what they used. That’s what they would’ve used as medicine. And it’s the same thing we should be using as medicine today.

So, I just want to encourage everybody. It’s simple. God makes things simple. And I really believe that using essential oils… I would just say, just dive in. Just get some basic oils. Start using those around your house. Start replacing those chemicals in your household. Take those action steps. And you’re going to see incredible, incredible results. By the way, if you just have coconut oil, baking soda and some essential oils, you can make just about everything from toothpaste to shampoo to deodorant. You can do it all!

Dr. Zielinski: Well, folks, you’re not going to find Dr. Axe at the local fast food place. You’re going to find Dr. Axe… He’s a man of his word. He’s a man of integrity. He lives this. And I’ve seen it personally. He’s a friend. He’s been a mentor in the natural health world. So, thanks, Doc, for everything that you’ve done. Dr. Josh really just shared a wealth of information. I want to thank you all for attending The Essential Oil Revolution. And until we meet again, bye-bye.