By Kellene Bishop

While I usually love talking about the merits of these invaluable additions to my medical preparedness, I feel that it’s also important to point out some dangers and cautions as well.

For starters, let’s be clear that you really need to listen to your body when it comes to using essential oils.  Some oils act completely different on a person who is pregnant or who struggles with epilepsy than they do on others who aren’t in the same position.  For example, in pregnant women, ylang ylang could cause blood pressure to drop. It’s not one that I would put on my “no no when pregnant list” but it should definitely be viewed with caution.

There are a few oils that I don’t believe anyone should use singularly, regardless of their state of health. Those oils are bitter almond, boldo leaf, yellow campho, horseradish, jaborandi leaf, mugwort, mustard, pennyroyal, thuja, tansy, rue, sassafras, savin, southernwood, wormseed and wormwood.  Finding these in an essential oil blend may make them less harmful, but for the most part, these botanical are better if used in their herbal form, not in a concentrated one.

When you use an oil, understand that each drop you use is usually the equivalent of an entire pound of botanicals, if they are pure and unadulterated.  Some quality of oils are more like and ounce of botanicals, but regardless, they shouldn’t be taken lightly.  Sure there are some essential oils that seem to do no wrong such as lavender, eucalyptus, lemon, and grapefruit, but all essential oils have a cleansing effect on the body. Drastic cleansing in an epileptic patient can bring on a seizure, so the essential oils must be used with care and caution.

When it comes to knowing how much oil to use, understand that for the most part, if you’re using pure therapeutic grade oils, one drop is all you need. In fact, in most cases the essential oils wont’ increase the effectiveness if you only use one drop vs. 5. If you must use more oil in order to have any noticeable impact, then chances are you’re using a weaker concentration of oil. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, so long as other lesser oils aren’t cut into the essential oil you’re relying on for aid.  However, obviously if more than one drop of oil is necessary, then it certainly should be taken into consideration when you purchase your oils.  The price may be less, but if the effectiveness is watered down at all, then your money may be better spent on a more concentrated oil.

Many essential oils are a bit “spicy” meaning that they will actually burn if they are applied directly on the skin. Such oils should be combined with a mild, pure carrier oil such as coconut oil, grapeseed oil, or almond oil. You can also get the same result if you use a bit of KY Jelly to apply the oil. Appropriate cautions should be noted on the containers of oil you purchase, or at least with accompanying marketing information. Since the molecules of essential oils are extremely small, it poses a challenge to get them to spread evenly over an area of the body before they absorb all at once in one small drop of an area. A carrier oil is ideal to help you get the most surface benefit of an essential oil. If you don’t have a carrier oil, you can also use water (preferably distilled) to help cover a larger area with just one drop of essential oil. Understand, though; that water actually amplifies the effects of the oils and carries it more quickly into the body.

Bottom line, begin with a small amount of oil and increase as your body sees fit.

When it comes to using essential oils on children and infants, they always should be diluted with a carrier oil. Remember that some of the essential oils smell really yummy to a child.  So be sure that you keep them out of reach of children so that they don’t decide to take a chug. (Remember doing that with Vanilla Extract when you were a kid?)  If you ever find that a child has dumped a bunch of essential oil on themselves, quickly apply a vegetable protein oil to the spilled areas such as olive, almond, grapeseed, or safflower. This will slow down the absorption rate of the oil.  Remember, do not use water—even if the oil gets into the eyes. Water will only intensify the effect. Use a petroleum jelly or something similar that is safe to be around the eyes.  Once you have applied the carrier oil, then you can begin wiping away as much of the excess with a soft, dry cloth.

Lastly, there are some essential oils which are considered phototoxic, which means that if they are on your skin and then exposed directly to the sun, it will actually absorb more of the UV radiation faster.  So, pay attention to where you are applying your oils so that they aren’t in the direct sunlight on your person or at least make sure that you’re mindful of the oils which are inherently phototoxic.  These oils are angelica, bergamot, orange bitter, grapefruit, lemon, lime, petitgrain, and rue. Some caution should be used when applying fennel, aniseseed, and cumin if they will be exposed to direct sunlight.  Again, remember that direct sunlight is key to the unpleasant effect. If you apply the oil where the sun doesn’t shine *grin* then you’ll be fine.

Lastly, I want to reiterate that I have found NO cases in which the use of essential oils has caused serious injuries or death. On the other hand the American Medical Association has reported the hundreds of persons who die every year while correctly using prescribed pharmaceuticals. Again, this is where the spiritual preparedness comes in. Listen to your gut and act accordingly. Essential oils are generally safe even in the hands of amateurs, but too much of any good thing could still be harmful. It is for this purpose that I share this information with you today, that you may all be appropriately cautious as well as anxious to jump in to this world of independent medicine.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

The pharmaceutical industry has long practiced singling out one particular component of a plant in order for them to duplicate it chemically and then qualify for a patent. Regardless of how perfectly the chemical component matches the original portion, it still is sorely lacking in one of the most important factors of the original effective compound—the synergistic effect that the other portions of the plant have which makes up the whole.  It’s no different than someone taking the cello out of the symphony and trying to pass it off as a full symphony by itself. A piece of lettuce isn’t a salad and an orphaned child isn’t a family.  While beans and rice each on their own can taste wonderful, the combined effect of the two of them together comprise a perfect protein for our bodies.  This principle is also true when you look at the effect which botanicals have in impacting our health and well-being. The part is more effective when joined with its counterparts.

When you combine one or more pure essential oils together, you can rely on a blend that is more effective than if those oils had been used separately. Even more importantly, I would recommend that you only use an oil blend that was put together professionally because the order in which the oils are added as well as the amount is critical.  It takes a long, long time to become educated and an expert in this aspect of essential oil use.  The frequencies of each oil act separately as well as in a symphonic manner. As such, a single drop of a blended oil with 8 different oils making it up, it will work much better than 8 drops of 8 different oils. That’s synergy for ya! For example, chamomile essential oil has an anti-inflammatory property. But this particular property is powerfully increased when lavender is appropriately used in concert with it. The interaction between these two oils creates a noticeably stronger impact on the targeted ailment.

It’s helpful to understand that essential oils all consist of a frequency.  Well, frequencies each have a “pitch” like a note. In the case of essential oils, each note determines the rate that the essential oil will be evaporated.  This makes sense to most music majors. Just like some notes can penetrate and thus break glass, some essential oil notes permeate organs, other frequencies, It’s also important to note that there is no such thing as an essential oil that works only on the body or only on the emotions of a person. All oils possess a frequency which affects both the body and the heart.  Just like the smell of Pepto-Bismal gives each person an emotional reaction, as well as a physical one, so do essential oils.

Higher notes/frequencies work most effectively on the mental aspects which plague us.  Middle notes/frequencies work effectively on emotions, digestion, respiration, and metabolism before they evaporate. Whereas the deeper notes are more effective in working with other aspects of the body, deeper tissues, and grounding our mental energies to create stronger focus, concentration, etc. because they take longer to evaporate. This is also true because when you really come right down to it, no physical ailment stands alone without any emotional ramification as well. It’s still too complicated to determine which comes first in an ailment—the emotion or the physical detriment—but science has proven that that they simply cannot be mutually exclusive of each other. Along that vein, understand that you may be able to identify an effective essential oil by lining it up with your emotional challenges first and foremost. This isn’t necessary, but in some cases people are at a loss as to what their physical ailment really is, but usually are able to identify the emotional challenges they are experiencing. Chances are very good that if you tackle the appropriate emotional ailment, you’ll also conquer the physical dis-ease.

Most of you are aware that Vitamin E is good for you. But you also know that it’s an oil. As an oil, it can easily go rancid when exposed to oxygen and thus become a toxic poison to your body if consumed. You may also know that each kernel of wheat contains vitamin E. It’s actually the E vitamin the preserves the wheat for so very, very long. But if the wheat kernel is cracked, the E becomes a liability as it gets exposed to air.  It then goes rancid and ruins the wheat.  I share this with you because one of the other benefits of using blended essential oils it that it mitigates any “side effects” the some people believe they have experienced in using a particular essential oils.  For example, some folks have a hard time incorporating straight clary sage into their body’s health needs. However, when clary sage is in a essential oil blend, then the other oils help to mitigate the harsh effect of straight clary sage so that we can instead receive the benefit from it. In other words, blended oils give us so many more possibilities of healing as well as greater ability as opposed to the use of single oils. Blended oils are much more effective for children, pregnant women, the elderly, or folks who have serious sensitivities.  When blending is performed correctly, everyone can take advantage of the benefits without any nasty side effects. If you’ve ever had a less than desirable experience with an essential oil, I suspect that it’s because a single oil was used, or an incorrectly blended concoction.

Essential oils can be utilized in a single form wonderfully to promote healing. However, most users of essential oils find better results when a blend of oils is used, combining several pure oils in order to effectively promote healing at the core as well as the cause and subsequent symptoms. For example, a headache rarely just exists on its own.  It’s usually started because of a pinched nerve somewhere, dehydration, or some other illness within the body. Then, as a result of the headache, blurred vision, fatigue, and irritability accompany the symptoms. Obviously, it would be less effective to try and treat just the headache when it would be better if you could promote a body which inhibits the pinched nerves, the headaches, and the subsequent symptoms as well, right? That’s what blended oils are created to do—too work harmoniously on all of the culprits of dis-ease in the body and mind.  For example, a person who struggles with fibromyalgia has a litany of sub-problems as a result of the disease: depression, sleeplessness, physical pain, brain fog, and feelings of hopelessness.  Appropriate essential oil use would address the cause of the pain in fibromyalgia at the skeletal level as well as aid with the depression, sleep disorder and lack of focus.  In such an instance, I would recommend someone use a blend or blends which contain birch for the analgesic and cortisone effect, and is frequently used for muscle and bone pain. It has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-spasmodic properties. Likewise, I would also recommend that the blend has Helichrysum in it.  Helichrysum is one of the most sought after essential oils and is very expensive, but a person doesn’t need a lot of it in order to have an impact on their body.  It’s renowned for it’s skin and muscle relieving properties, blood cleansing, helps regulate cholesterol (which goes haywire when analgesics are regularly consumed) regenerates damaged tissue (which is a big deal when you have torn tissues and surgical adhesions) and helps heal colitis. See how we’re taking care of multiple areas of dis-ease here?  Additionally, I would want myrrh in my chosen blend which has been used successfully for thousands of years for a calming of the respiratory system, digestion, hypo-thyroid, mouth ulcers, wounds, and a feeling of being chilly. It’s also a proven anti-fungal, gland decongestant, aids sore throats, skin conditions, thrush, and hepatitis. Myrrh also has some properties which help brings emotions of relief—which would be ideal for someone battling chronic pain and fatigue.

Ok. I’m not going to go further. Hopefully you are getting my point. Bottom line, rather than investing in hundreds of single essential oils and trying to combine them yourself, I would rely on professionally blended oils and reap the benefits accordingly. Additionally, make sure that you’re purchasing 100% pure oils—pure, means pure unless you are the FDA. If you are not aware, let me remind you that the FDA allows labels to state that an essential oil is “pure” so long as it contains 10% of pure—in the true sense of the word—oil as a part of the blend. In other words, a company could sell a 10 ml bottle of “100% pure myrrh essential oil, so long as the bottle which is mostly filled with almond oil has at least 10% of pure myrrh. So always be cautious, read your labels, etc.

One last thing I would recommend is for everyone use at least one essential oil daily; it doesn’t matter which one you use for this purpose. Just use one daily! Each time you use a quality essential oil, you are improving your body’s frequency.  By improving your body’s frequency you’re improving your mood and your immune system. I can’t wait to hear of some of your experiences with essential oils. It’s opened a whole new world to me!!

If you’re interested in my opinion of where to purchase quality, affordable oils, continue reading.

For years I have been purchasing and using essential oils from some of the more popular multi-level marketing companies. It’s logical to understand that the cost of the oils must go up in such a scenario because each bottle sold has to do more than pay for the production of the product plus a profit.  Several other individuals have their hand in the kitty which necessitates the increase in price.  I’d much rather purchase my oils as direct to the manufacturer as possible. I figure that the fewer hands that touch it, then fewer hands compromise the integrity of the oil.  I’m happy to say that Five Star Preparedness has recently launched their selection of essential oil blends. I believe that they are the group buy for August as well.  I did some comparisons of their regular retail prices and those of other companies. Understanding that the Five Star oils are pure in the truest sense of the word, I couldn’t believe that the difference in price between theirs and other company’s was as much as 90% lower!! This means that I can have a true arsenal of essential oils and take my health and treatments more into my own hands rather than being subject solely to the medical community. To check into the group buy, go to www.fivestarpreparedness.com/groupbuy and just click on the Group Buy button.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

The purpose of my article today is to help to outline some aspects of mental and physical preparedness that we must take into consideration prior to enduring a serious scenario.  Whether it be an earthquake, a flood, a hurricane, or a financial collapse, there are some consequences which will definitely take place and I feel that it’s important that all persons who desire peace in their preparedness efforts, take the time and the work necessary to prepare for this very important aspect of preparedness—giving help to others.

I believe in helping others and my preparedness efforts give proof to that end. However, understand that there is a well-deserved saying that “no good deed goes unpunished.” Unfortunately, there is truth in that statement as it relates to our fellow men, so that’s what I’m going to address today.

Confidentiality: For starters, know that your willingness to help others should be shared confidentially and only with those you intend to aid. The helping of others MUST be a pre-planned strategy, not a reactive, knee-jerk one, in order to ensure the utmost of safety and survival for you and your loved ones.  In other words, you need to have a set plan among your family members that under a specific set of circumstances you will plan on assisting them in accordance to their needs. In other words, suppose there is an earthquake in California where your brother and his family lives. Communicate clearly to your brother that under such circumstances they are to get to your home in Utah post haste with whatever supplies they can bring, and you will give them aid. Be sure that it is understood that this invitation is to be kept confidential between you and your intended recipients. Otherwise, you will be confronted with a desperate and aggressive army of other persons seeking aid. Regardless of the size of your heart you can NOT take care of everyone who comes to request assistance. Doing so will not only compromise your safety, but your life as well, and most certainly the lives of those you intended on helping all along. Clear communication and confidence is key in such circumstances.

No Flood Gates: There have been examples in every single disaster that has ever taken place in the history of the world in which well-intended caregivers lost  their sustenance, their shelter, and their lives because they opened the proverbial Wal-Mart doors on the morning of Black Friday to those in need.  Several instances were shared in which successful survivors of Hurricane Katrina were robbed, bludgeoned, or killed so that others could benefit from their supplies.  A church, which made every effort to try to help others, was suddenly forced by local authorities to take on all of the evacuees that the local law enforcement deemed necessary, regardless of the compromise of safety that such demands put upon the church and the others they were sheltering. Think of it as the camel getting his nose into your tent. You’ll never get him out after that and all you’ve done to prepare will be seriously compromised. A hospital in the aftermath of India’s historic tsunami was taken over not by patients who needed care, but by violent gangs who demanded access to drugs.  In order to ensure that you are not one of these statistics you must plan on being heavy handed and determined in the care you will extend to others.  This means you need to rehearse in your mind, discuss with your family, the severity of such circumstances and make sure that everyone is educated in maintaining the safety of your group.

Stand Your Ground: Planning on helping others cannot just be about the amount of supplies and the foundation of your religious beliefs. Remember that desperate circumstances create monsters out of some of the best of persons.  As such, no person can be completely prepared without accepting this reality.  Food, water, clothing, etc. are only a small part of your preparedness efforts. There’s a reason why I teach that the third most important part of preparedness is your Physical Preparedness. Some think that I’m simply referring to ones health when I say this. In actuality, I’m also referring to ones physical security as well.  Your supplies are meaningless if you cannot ensure that they will be used in safety and security. As such we must all obtain the  proper knowledge and supplies to ensure our safety and that our decisions on behalf of our safety are respected and obeyed.  This also means that mental fortitude must be established before a disaster comes calling. And, sorry to say it folks, but this also means that you must learn how to effectively protect yourself, and your loved ones, even if you are in a high stress situation.

Community: This brings me to my next point. I’ve said it previously in other posts, but I believe it bears repeating. There is something to be said for strength in numbers. Part of the reason in you preparing to share you goods with a specific person should be in anticipation of the man power it will take to protect those goods as well as lives.  A single, lone person doesn’t  man an empty Fort Knox today. So I suspect that it will take more than a single person with knowledge and skill to protect your shelter—whether it be an automobile traveling for safety, a tent community, or a single home.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: Lastly, it’s critical that you know your rights sufficiently so that you are committed to maintaining those rights. My favorite motto when I was in sales holds true to just about any scenario: “Whoever is more committed, wins.”  Throughout even recent situations of natural disasters, many persons have given up their freedoms with the least little bit of aggravation in a “disaster scenario.”  (shelter in LA, guns in NC, speech in MI, etc.) Let me be perfectly clear in hopes that you openly discuss this with your family and friends for future planning– It’s not ok for you to be taken somewhere else when you have chosen to stay in your home. If folks can sign a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) order, then they sure as heck have the right to “Do Not Rescue” as well.  In fact, I suggest that you make a “DNR” sign for your front door in the event of a natural disaster. You and your family should always plan on staying together—if for no other reason than the safety of your family and the mental well being in knowing how everyone is doing.  Your GOD GIVEN rights, which no court in the land can legally infringe upon, gives you that right to stay together even if a uniformed person tries to convince you otherwise in a disaster scenario. And you know what, if Fido or Brutus are one of your family members, then you darn well better PLAN for them to remain a part of your family with your preparedness efforts.

Always remember, disasters do not alienate you from your unalienable rights. Keep in mind that the Declaration of Independence was written during a time of disaster, war, and turmoil. If it had efficacy during such a time, then a little ole earthquake, hurricane, or other Act of God or U.S. Government certainly does not take those rights of survival away from you simply because times are tough. In accordance to the U.S. Constitution, you also have a right to arms—in a disaster or in peace time. You also have a right to your property—regardless of who does not have their own property. The Constitution doesn’t say that “Mr. Smith shall only retain his foods in the event of everyone else having three meals a day,” right?  There’s nothing even remotely in our laws which intimates such a posture.  So, what I’m saying is that you must decided ahead of time what your committed posture will be in the event of a disaster in order to you to have your rights and decisions heeded.  Will you stay or go. Will you give to others? Will you defend your lives under all threats of loss or impairment?

As you know, I continually teach peaceful preparedness efforts. I also believe that you can have peace in the midst of you needing the fruits of your preparedness efforts. However, if you do not mentally and physically prepare in some of the ways I’ve suggested, then you will have liberated peace from your family and surroundings. We all need to prepare now to keep the peace.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

In my previous article about essential oils I addressed some of the scientific reasons why essential oils work on our body. Today I’m going to continue that bit of information and also address how best to use essential oils.

First of all, I think I should make it clear that essential oils are not oils at all.  They are simply the extraction of a cold expeller process (which IS commonly used for extracting oils.) But essential oils—if they are pure and haven’t been contaminated by cutting in other ingredients such as genuine oils—should not leave a stain on your clothes, clog up your humidifier, waterfall, etc.  I’m not sure who the person was who started using the “oil” terminology, but the term oil is misleading in this case. Mind you, the contents in a pure essential oil are not the same consistency as water. Most weigh more than water, actually.

As I shared a bit in the last article, all of our bodies consist of frequencies. As such they house an electrical charge. As you no doubt are aware, not all electrical charges are equal. Even though plants have an electrical charge, we are not “shocked” when we touch them. However, were we to touch a live power line or to be struck by lightening, we would definitely feel the power of such a charge.

As I shared earlier, the more healthy your body is, the stronger the frequency is. Since there is opposition in all things, we can appreciate that if there are positive charges in the world, there are also negative charges. The frequencies in plants consist of a positive charge. Whereas disease, anger, depression, viruses, etc. consist of a negative, frequency-sucking, charge. I realize that there are some out there who may read this and think I’m getting into the crazy, hippy world of things. I promise you that I’m not.  I stay far away from such premises or artificial truths. Having dealt with such cancerous philosophies in the past, I consider myself to be highly sensitive to such misleading, although perhaps well-intentioned premises. Anyway, rest assured that what I’m sharing with you thus far can be scientifically verified. Every living thing has an electrical current running through it. This is part of the reason why defibrillators are used so successfully in emergency medical treatments for the heart. The electrical current gets things running again when the frequencies have stopped functioning. So keep that in mind and then stay with me here a moment.  Ok. so where do essential oils come in to all of this?

As I shared previously, all plants have a positive charge/frequency in them. Now, understand that one single drop of an essential oil is extracted from an entire pound of positively charged botanical resources.  That’s right. If you are using rosemary oil, every single drop you use is the harvest of an entire pound of rosemary—that’s one of the reasons why pure essential oils don’t come cheaply.  When you are able to condense all of the frequency and positive charge of an entire pound of live plants into one drop of oil, it’s bound to make an impact on your own body’s frequency—for the etter. The key is to use it in or on your body in its most effective manner. So next, I will discuss how best to use essential oils.

There are actually several schools of thought that have been handed down through the ages. Some say that the French initiated the learning of essential oils, when in fact, it originated with native American Indians. As you may recall from your history books, the French were once close allies of the Indians. As such, the French were first exposed to the use of botanical oils to cure all types of ailments—even those that many of us would go to the emergency room for today—through their dealings with the native Indians. However, the French elected to take their newfound knowledge and break it down into a science in hopes that they could better understand it. Parts of Asia also used this method of medicine as well. Eventually, England and Europe embraces the use of essential oils and even included it into their mainstream medicine. The various ways that you hear about using essential oils today are all rooted in the thought process of these few nations. Unfortunately though, when their initial research was done, it didn’t have the benefit of the scientific advances that we have today. It’s been quite a while since a major study has been led on essential oils on the same level that they were researched in the early 1900’s.

Inhalation: The school of though for Germany was that the inhalation of the essential oils was the best way to get them into your body. This premise holds a lot of weight when we recognize that some of our favorite smells usually bring about a strong physical or emotional reaction in us.  I find merit in using essential oils by diffusing them into the air, but not usually for an immediate medical need. Again, as a reminder, ALL essential oils have an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-virus component to them. Thus releasing them in the air is sure to make your breathing better and improve the amount of bacteria and mold that you may have in your home. Weber State University did an extensive study on this fact when they were commissioned to study the Thieves oil blend from Young Living Oils. While the science does prove that the essential oils can gain a less obstructed access to the blood stream in this manner, when the essential oils are diffused in the air they run into a whole lot of obstacles that hinder their maximum efficacy in entering your lungs and nasal passages. Think about it. Even if you were to diffuse the essential oils as close as two feet away, the essence would still need to get by millions of negatively charged particles before accessing your system. While that’s great for diffusing the negatively charged dust and mold particles, it only produces a small amount of benefit that accesses your system. I have discovered in reading the writings of many experts, that the inhalation method is a great supplement to other, more effective methods of using essential oils, but for the reasons I’ve outlines is not the preferred option.  Also keep in mind that when heat is used to infuse an oil, it can compromise the positive effect of that oil by rendering it rancid. So infusing it with air, water, or a spray into the air are much more effective methods of infusion.

Consumption: The French advocate using essential oils in every possible way, but they lean heavily on taking the essential oils orally. While there is still benefit done to the body through this manner, it’s still not the most effective manner, thanks to the liver which works so hard for our bodies. Anything that is eaten is metabolized by the liver, thus the liver cleans out  as much as 90% of  medicines, vitamins etc. While essential oils are more friendly to the body than chemical compounds, a portion of their efficacy is lost during the metabolization process. This problem is much more prevalent if you are using oils that have other ingredients cut into them such as almond oil, olive oil, and other herbs or foods.  While essential oils have a much better “security clearance” in your body than do these other ingredients, the other ingredients compromise the ability of the essential oils being able to pass through the cellular walls easily without obstacles. So, if you can tolerate using a pure, unadulterated essential oil bilingually, meaning holding it under your tongue for 30 seconds or more, it will better enter your bloodstream and get to the cellular level faster and with a higher frequency still in tact.

Topically: This is by far the best way to get the essential oil directly into the blood stream. There are many areas of the body in which the blood vessels are closer to the surface or which lead directly to other vital areas of the body faster, but applying the essential oils topically certainly eliminates some of the other obstacles which I’ve shared. When you apply an essential oil topically, you are increasing the medicinal effect by 10 times as opposed to taking it orally. In other words, any medicine you can use topically will have ten times the impact on your body that taking it orally. This is primarily because you are bypassing the “health sentries” known as the stomach acids and the liver. Instead of waiting for the sentries to give the essential oil “permission” to go into the blood stream—after losing a lot of its efficacy while traveling throughout the body—you get to apply it directly into the blood stream where your most vital living cells are.  This means that you can get more benefit for your buck when you are able to apply them topically. For example, I have one oil blend that I drink during the day—about 5 drops per 20 ounces of water. I started applying it to the bottoms of my feet at night and I discovered that I could feel the benefits in the morning the same as if I had been drinking water all night.

There are many stories in which persons believe they’ve had a negative reaction to topically applied essential oils.  In such a case, I remind persons that moderation and common sense are critical—especially when applying essential oils. Essential oils are POWERFUL folks. You can’t put apply an entire pounds worth of a tingly oil such as cinnamon on your hand without experiencing a healing crisis. For example, the essential oil, Clove, is quite powerful. When applied to the body directly and without any other oils it can cause an uncomfortable burning sensation. While it won’t irritate the skin, per se, it can certainly deter a person from using it properly. When you have oils that are strong, like the clove oil, you may want to consider weakening the initial impact that the oil may have on one particular area of your body. This can easily be done by mixing the oil with a bit of water and then rubbed onto your skin. The water evaporates while the oil makes its way into the blood stream. This subdues the initial reaction of your skin coming in contact with a powerful herb like clove or cinnamon. This can also be done with healthy carrier oils such as coconut or almond oil.

Ok. So we’ve talked about the positive charge of essential oils. As you well know, there is opposition in all things. We have positive charged frequencies and we have negatively charged frequencies all around us. Disease, depression, anger, viruses, bacteria, etc. are all negatively charged.  As such, in the body’s effort to neutralize these invaders, it uses positive frequencies in an attempt to neutralize the negative charge.  What the net balance is at the end of the duel is what indicates your overall health. Think of this like your checking account. When you have money in your account you’re in the positive until withdrawals take from that positive balance. At some point, if you make too many withdrawals you can end up in the negative.  When your body is in the negative, then you have a health problem that manifests itself physically and emotionally. There are obviously numerous ‘anti-frequency agents in our life that we are exposed to on a daily basis. At the very least, these negatively charged exposure translate into stress in our body. Stress is a physical compromise in our body. Some other well-known offenders are caffeine, pain killers, processed sugars, molds, mildew, pollution, loud/threatening noises, as well as processed starches. All of these things actually have a negative frequency, meaning that when we put them in or on our body, they diminish the positive frequency of our bodies.  When this happens, the frequency levels of our body are compromised—kind of like when the Imperial Falcon had its force shield down and was taking all of those damaging hits. This leaves us wide open for a myriad of diseases, unexplained  mood swings, bacteria, and viruses that surround us.  It also compromises our emotional and mental strength as well.  So, in order to keep yourself fully charged and not live your life in an unrealistic bubble, I suggest that you regularly use pure essential oils on a dailybasis, even possiblymany times a day, to put the odds in your favor.

When using essential oils, just picture them being part of the daily “force shield” you and your body needs to get through the day.  Since we have so much negative garbage that flies at us everyday, I cannot say with enough emphasis just how important it is for you to do something proactive every day in order to maintain your positive frequency charge. Yes, I am saying to PLEASE apply at least one essential oil daily. I can think of nothing easier or more effective than applying a drop or two of essential oils to the bottom of your feet. Why the bottom of your feet? Because the nerves which end at your feet is where the buck stops with all of the nerves of every other vital organ in your body. You want to access the bladder, apply oil to the feet. You want to access the heart, apply the oil to your feet. On, and it doesn’t hurt the smell of your feet any either, hee hee.

I suggest that once you start experiencing the wonderful physical and emotional benefits to using essential oils properly, you’ll want to incorporate them abundantly in your life.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

For the past 10 years I’ve been teaching others how to easily use a pressure cooker in their modern-day kitchens. It’s no secret that I absolutely LOVE mine and simply could not live with as much peace of mind without it.  Amidst my classes I frequently encounter persons who have horror stories of how the pressure cooker blew up in their grandmother’s kitchen spraying tomatoes all over the ceiling. I always assure them that such horror stories have a logical reason and need not be the norm. In fact, I believe that pressure cookers are very, very safe to use in the homes. Think of me as the Pressure Cooker Dragonslayer. *grin*  Pressure cookers are harmless—unless of course, you encounter an “ID-10-T” error.  Yes, the” I.D. one zero tee error”, as espoused by the IT tech geeks with a sense of humor, otherwise known as an “idiot” error, does indeed have the power to ruin a good day. But you never know. There just might be a useful lesson in there for your preparedness efforts. I know I got a wake up call.

Let’s just cut to the chase. I was stupid. I was trying to film a short instructional video on my Flip, which I held in my right hand.  I had released all of the pressure in the cooker, and was attempting to lift off the lid with my left hand—my weak hand. As such, I foolishly got distracted with the camera angle and didn’t pay attention to the fact that I was placing my left hand right in the middle of the stream of hot steam that was escaping from the pan.  Immediately my left hand seared with pain and I dropped the lid.  I went to the sink to run water over it, but it became quickly apparent by the intensity of pain that this wasn’t a simple burn.

I’ll go ahead and admit that while I (surprisingly) did not utter a single swear word, I was scared and really, really hurting. I was the only one at home at the time and since the running water was the only thing giving me any semblance of comfort I felt slightly handcuffed to the sink. Oh…I have never been in such pain—ever! I suspect I panicked a bit and didn’t think clearly. Then I made myself breathe, say a quick prayer, and then tried to think of what in the world I could do to solve this serious problem.  Should I call 9-1-1? No. Too expensive. Should I drive myself to the ER? Nope. I simply could not leave the running water that long as the pain was simply too intense—and besides, what would I do if I couldn’t get to a hospital and this happened? (Yes, in my warped mind I DID indeed still think like this) The hospital would have given me a good shot, cleaned the wound, and sent me on my way along with a hefty bill.

So, I escaped the water long enough to make a sound decision on which essential oil to use. I instinctively went with the Lavender oil. But taking my hand out of the water and letting the oil soothe me wasn’t an option. Again—it was simply too painful. So I grabbed a nearby bowl, filled it with water, and then dropped the essential oil in there. I found some comfort this way. I won’t continue with this mess except to say that I have never been so happy to hear my dogs bark to tell me that my husband was home. Although he was shocked a bit to see me so distressed and crying, he simply knew what to do and went about it in a very matter of fact manner. He applied Burn Free, wrapped the hand, and wanted me to keep it elevated. Sorry Honey. I know you just did this pretty wrapping job on my hand, but I SO want to plunge it back into the water for some relief.  So he endured my water ritual for the next 6 hours until I could finally bear the pain long enough for it to crest and he could rewrap it.

So why in the world am I sharing this somewhat embarrassing story with all of you? Because I got hit with a taste of reality that has an affect on my preparedness efforts. I know I have learned a few things, so I hope you can too.

1)      I need a heck of a lot more gauze, medical tape, and bandages.  So I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes out more  for those kinds of items. But I’ll also get back to crocheting my own bandages. They are a lot thicker than the commercial gauze and more durable and thus can get cleaned, sanitized and reused. The stitching is easy and mindless, so it can be done while you’re watching the kids soccer practice or your favorite TV show.

2)      Essential oils are great for care, but perhaps not the best for emergency care in the event of a laceration, broken bone, or immediately after a severe burn such as this.  While using them instead of chemical drugs is a good idea, I certainly wouldn’t advise relying on them solely for true emergency scenarios. I sure wouldn’t postpone the resetting of a bone or stopping the bleeding while you go and try to figure out which essential oil is best. (Although my instincts did NOT lead me astray in this case—thank heavens.) They definitely help in the healing process and the lavender water felt a heck of a lot better than the just plain water. I’m positive that I would have had more blistering and burning had I not taken this treatment to task early on. But the essential oils simply cannot replace the learning of other key medicines and procedures.

3)      I need more Burn Free! If we had a half dozen people affected by a severe burn, I would have run out of that stuff faster than a toilet flushes. It’s also more likely the burn accidents can occur if you’re living amidst your non-traditional methods of cooking such as a butane stove, fire pit, etc.

4)      Aspirin is an analgesic and the only one of the traditional pain relievers that can be claimed as such.  While I actually had on hand some more robust pain relievers, all they did was mask it whereas the aspirin really did relieve the pain and the source thereof.  So I’ll give it a bit more credit in my preparedness repertoire in the future.  My girlfriend who’s a long-time nurse told me to go ahead and take 4, even 6 aspirin if I needed to. While it may make my ears ring, it will do a great job at diffusing the pain—and she was right on both counts. However, be sure that you drink PLENTY of water if you consume any kind of medicine like this. It’s hard on your poor liver, stomach lining, and kidneys, so they need a little extra boost.

I’m sure that I have more to share on this matter (such as the Frankincense essential oil is doing a great job at making my hand appear a little less “raw”) including other methods that I have on hand that I could have used instead. But it sure did open my eyes at how vulnerable we could be without immediate access to medical care. So boning up on my emergency medical skills is definitely in it’s rightful place as the second more important aspect of Preparedness—Mental Preparedness.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

So, what is all of this stuff  and hooey about essential oils? Are they just another quack medicine? Do they really serve any real purpose? How in the world do you decide which fluffy named oil to purchase? Do I choose the one named “My Life” or “Love Life”? How do you use it?  What are the side effects?  Can you overdose on it? Will it stain my clothes? Can I use them on my cat named Fluffy who’s stresses out every time I leave the house? Is it addictive?

If you’ve ever wondered any one of these questions before, then you’ll love the articles I’ll be throwing at you over the next couple of weeks.  Not wanting to bore anyone and in the interest of keeping things fun and exciting—yes, we are allowed to use those words on a preparedness site—I’m not going to do a series all in order on a set number of days on this subject, but have decided that my goal this year has paid off well and I’m comfortable with my resources and personal experiences to help anyone else who’s interested understand this great, invaluable resource.  I have to tell you, the more I learn about essential oils, the more amazed I am at just one more miracle that’s available to us.  It’s also been kind of fun this year as I’ve studied, because so many times I’ll have an “ah ha” moment in which I suddenly understand the history behind certain actions that we still perform today (I personally love those kinds of moments when for just a second things make sense and are reconciled). So, let’s get going and growing.

Every year I set a goal to study in one particular field of expertise that I want to really master and learn. This year it was essential oils. After using them successfully for about 10 years, I still felt like such a newbie and that there was so much that I was missing. I’m so glad to tell you that my hard work and time has paid off so far. When it comes to essential oils I feel as excited as I did when I first learned about scrapbooking. That’s pretty excited if you consider the fact that my husband had to build me two closets to keep all of my scrapbooking supplies.

As you know, I’ve written numerous times about using essential oils here and there, but today I thought that I would establish a foundation of some general information on essential oils so that you can determine whether or not they should be a part of your preparedness efforts. Today I’m just going to address in what ways essential oils are beneficial to us. Then in the next piece—say, “Essential Oils 201”, I’ll address the fundamentals of selection and storage of essential oils, how to determine which one to use, etc.  I may even get into some of the combinations and uses of oils for specific issues. (According to the FDA I can do that as long as such anecdotal information doesn’t come from a company which actually manufactures and/or sells essential oils.  Gotta love freedom of speech, eh?)

As some of you may already know, every living thing has an electronic frequency—that includes us humans. Each of us has a electronic current pulsing through us at varying frequencies. That’s right. Each of us has a vibrational frequency, otherwise known as megahertz (aka MHZ)  (In fact it was a science geek who originated the term “sparkling or electric personality—who knew they had a sense of humor? *grin*). Most people’s normal level of brain frequency during normal waking hours of the day is 70-78 megahertz. The healthier and happier you are, the higher the frequency.

Essential oils are living things as well derived by plants (Note: All plants do not create essential oils). As such essential oils are made up of frequencies ranging in number from 52 MHZ to as high as 320 MHZ. Blossom essential oils, such as rose oil, always have the highest frequencies—which is why the tradition of bringing flowers to someone who was ill has been practiced for literally thousands of years.  So, when your frequencies are low due to disease, fatigue, depression, or stress, you can improve the health of your body simply by improving the megahertz level by introducing the frequency of an essential oil.  Essential oils add to and supplement your own frequency. So even if you introduced a low frequency essential oil into your body, you would still have an improvement. What this means is regardless of what essential oil you introduce to your body, you will be improving your frequency level which will assist you in combating what ails you. So while yes, some essential oils are even more effective for what’s compromising your health than others, no essential oil will be bad for you.  It also should be mentioned that essential oils actually have several times greater frequency levels than herbs and food—so if you are into homeopathic remedies and quality foods for the purpose of better health, I think any repertoire would be incomplete without the benefit of essential oils.

When using essential oils, it’s important to understand that true essential oils do not have side effects when used with common sense.  A person can overdose on carrots and cause some great discomfort and even turn orange.  Likewise, a person can use too much of an otherwise harmless but helpful substance in the form of essential oils. But as a general rule of thumb, it is highly unlikely that you are ever really allergic to an essential oil. While you may have heard stories of folks breaking out in a rash or getting stuffed up because of an essential oil, such an occurrence is not a side effect of the oil. It’s actually a healing or cleansing crisis. Chances are that if the person were to continue using an essential oil they would no longer have such a reaction after a couple of weeks. Think about it this way; pimples, for example, are the result of toxins leaving your body. Sometimes such toxins do not leave gracefully. Sometimes there is such a surge of toxins in our body that they all try to leave the same pore at the same time, thus causing an inflammation (kind of like what happens at Wal-Mart on Black Friday when the doors finally get opened)  That doesn’t mean that what you just ate was a toxin, per se, it simply means that your body is getting rid of toxins in your body. Toxins come from what we eat, what we breathe, what we bathe in, etc. and our body miraculously knows to get rid of such toxins as best as we allow it to do so. So, when someone believes they are allergic to a particular essential oil (which is rare, but still possible) the options are to either continue on with that particular oil but at a lower usage amount, e.g. 1 drop instead of 3; try an alternative essential oil instead; or take a break from using that particular oil and then try it again in about 72 hours.

So, why does one to three drops of this stuff have any affect our on physical bodies? Because it has a unique attribute that very few nutritional or medicinal products do—it actually goes right to the cellular level!

As you know, you’ve got a whole bunch of living cells in your body. Each of the cells has a membrane to protect it. In some instances that membrane gets beat up and damaged due to free radicals, disease, and abuses we may inflict on our body. Essential oils have the unique ability to actually penetrate even damaged cell walls because the molecules are so small.  When you consume a medicine or vitamins, they have to be broken down to small enough molecules so that they can benefit your body. However, there are very few medicinal and nutritional treatments that get broken down and used right to the cellular level. The molecules of essential oils are so small that they get through easily to the cells without having to ask permission from other components of the body (such as the liver, kidney, pancreas, etc.) and they can immediately go to work on the scrubbing and cleaning of the membranes and the cells.

Essential oils bring oxygen to the cells, which trigger great healing effects. They are also all anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-infectious, anti-tumoral, anti-parasitic, and antiseptic to some degree or another—with some being more so than others. Even more amazing is that the litany of clinical studies that have been conducted to this extent have all shown that they are able to perform such valuable “anti-functions” without any side effects that are so notorious with pharmaceuticals. Essential oils also activate capillary circulation, so they are a great asset to have post-surgery, etc. Essential oils, particularly lavender and coriander, are effective in helping cell renewal, which makes them great to prevent scarring and for skin care.

Understand that one drop of an essential oil is powerful stuff! (Yes, “stuff” is a new medical term I’ve picked up with all of my studying.) It takes one pound of botanical material in order to create one single drop of pure essential oil. So, due to the nature of essential oils and how they can penetrate the cell walls within minutes, it means that in a very short period of time the benefits of this powerful single drop of essential oil can be realized.

On the hand though, chemicals, as we get with every single pharmaceutical drug out there, have a hard time making their way to the cellular level.  In fact, one of the greatest challenges of chemical research in the medical industry is being able to create a compound that will cross over the blood/brain barrier, thus having an affect on the nervous system. This barrier is the membrane between the circulating blood and the brain that protects the brain from damaging substances affecting the brain tissue and the cerebrospinal fluid. This has been quite the dilemma for the medical industry and more particularly the pharmaceutical industry. Billions of dollars are lying on the table waiting to be claimed by the first drug that can be manufactured to successfully cross over this barrier (Hmmm. I guess God created our bodies to be a bit smarter than the FDA and drug company warlord’s eh? Guess that should tell us something).  The American Medical Association determined that if they could create a product that could cross over the blood /brain barrier then there would quickly follow cures for Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s, Down Syndrome, Parkinson’s and other nervous system ailments. Interesting to note though is that sesquiterpenes (pronounced sess-quǐ-tur-peens– it’s fun to say and you sound so smart when you say it) ARE able to cross over this barrier. Oh, and guess what?  Yup, several essential oils are a significant source of sesquiterpenes and do have an amazing affect on the nervous system! (See Reference Guide for Essential Oils—Connie and Alan Higley, and June, 1994 University of Berlin study)  This means that essential oils can actually have an impact that no pharmaceutical compounds could ever hope to!  Some good sources of essential oils that are rich is sesquiterpenes are sandalwood, myrrh, and cedarwood. Frankincense also contains sesquiterpenes (yes, I love using this word and saying it out loud while I type) although less than most of the other oils I’ve already mentioned. However, frankincense has a wonderful synergistic effect because of all of its other attributes that makes it a favorite oil to use for sesquiterpene therapy. But we’ll get into the synergistic effect of essential oils in the upcoming articles. I think I’ve given you enough four and five syllable words for one day.

Until next time, you may want to do some researching for yourself. If you’re anything like me, you might just get a bit excited at all of the natural, accessible, affordable, and effective options there are for your health in the world of essential oils. I sure am. I recommend “The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple” by David Stewart, Ph.D., D.N.M. and also check out your local health food store and see if they are offering any essential oils classes.

Now, where did I put my favorite sesquiterpene oil? I’m feeling a little discombobulated.  Oh, and yes, essential oils are addictive, but in a really, really great way.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

You may be too young to know this, but a long time ago, coconut oil (and some palm oils) was in virtually everything you ate.  Your French fries were cooked in it, your mayonnaise was made with it, and it was used in many of your processed foods as well.  So what changed? How did coconut oil fall from grace in the food industry? Well, like most instances such as this, the secret behind this switch has to do with money, power, and greed.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate to be manipulated in any way. In fact, I’m so stubborn in that regard, that you may find me to be the only one still sitting at the end of a play while everyone else is giving out standing ovations. I simply refuse to do it just because everyone else does. If a performer deserves a standing ovation, or a laugh, or applause I will enthusiastically do so. Otherwise, I will hold my position. Well, when I started researching all that I could find about coconut oil, I discovered that once again, I would be sitting while everyone else was lavishing praise on the wrong kinds of oil.  So, for those of you who also detest being manipulated by money instead of facts, this article is for you.

In order for the soybean industry to advance as the first choice for oil, it had to squeeze out the primary leader—coconut oil. It did so by publicizing half-truths to the medical industry and then on to the general consumers.  In the mid 1980’s, with billions of dollars at stake, the American Soybean Association launched an aggressive, widespread smear campaign that painted coconut oil as the evil, artery clogging oil that everyone needed to run away from. As a result of this campaign, Americans can now thank the ASA for a great deal of the health problems which they experience including the very diseases which the ASA tried to paint coconut oil as causing. They can also thank the ASA for introducing harmful hydrogenated oils into our regular diet as well. Nonetheless, as you know, I don’t believe in the victim mentality so I thought I’d share with you some vital facts about the merits of coconut oil today. This way you can start deliberate and informed efforts towards better health as well as using an oil which won’t compromise its healthy foundation even after spending a couple of years on your pantry shelf.

Many years ago, a nutritional specialist, Bruce Fife, was addressing a group of doctors. He opened his speech with this statement, “Coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils one can use.” He was immediately corrected by one of the doctors in attendance who said, “Coconut oil is unhealthy; it causes heart disease.” Mr. Fife wisely responded by saying “that must be why all of the Pacific Islanders died off hundred of years ago.”

It’s true. Pacific Islanders have long used every part of the coconut for their nutritional mainstays.  Coconut oil is no exception. And yet dozens of studies have shown these groups of people to possess NO heart disease, diabetes, and many other ailments common in our “more progressive” soybean and vegetable oil society. In fact, the countries with the palm oil intakes in the world are Costa Rica and Malaysia. Their heart disease rates and cholesterol levels are much lower than in the western nations. Why? Well, it all boils down to the fact that all saturated fats are not created equal.

Yes, it’s true that coconut oil is a saturated fat. And thanks to a very successful indoctrination campaign, we usually associate the words saturated fat as being unhealthy. But what most people don’t realize is that there are three types of saturated fats; differentiated by the chain length of the fatty acids. There’s short, medium, and long chain fatty acids inherent in any saturated fat food.  It’s actually the long chain fatty acids that are very bad for our bodies. Long chain fatty acids are not easily digested in our bodies, as such they leave behind residues that help clog up arteries. Whereas medium chain fatty acids are easily digested in the body and leave no harmful residue.  Coconut oil has the most percent of saturated fats of most any oil, however, it’s the only oil that has NO affect on the cholesterol levels and arteries in our body—this is because it consists of medium-chain fatty acids which are easily digested and used in the body.  In fact, instead of causing heart disease like hydrogenated oils do (which come primarily from soybean oil) coconut oil actually prevents the development of heart disease!  Medium-chain fatty acids also have the added benefit of producing energy in our bodies instead of fat like other oils do.

Understand that not all coconut oils are the same either. Heat, light, and oxygen are bad for most oils. By the time you even purchase olive oil at your grocery store it’s already been subjected to heat and light and as such has already begun to go rancid.  In order to avoid this problem with your coconut oil, be sure that you buy only cold-pressed (or expeller pressed) coconut oil. Any oil that has been heat expelled has already started going rancid.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but ALL conventionally processed and refined vegetable oils are rancid to some extent by the time they reach the store, folks. This rancid state is hard to detect but is ripe for developing disease-causing free radicals in our body. When we cook with them, adding more heat to the process, we are simply compounding the unhealthy effects it will have in our body.  On the other hand, cold-pressed coconut oil is so dependable and shelf-stable that many food manufacturers will use coconut oil in order to prevent their products from going rancid on the shelves.

Unlike other oils, coconut oil has a double-carbon bond, making it much more stable even under heated conditions. Because of this bonding, coconut oil can be exposed to heat, light, and oxygen without promoting free-radical formation and oxidation. This means that the medium-chain fatty acids can remain stable even when you’re cooking with it. In spite of all of this, coconut oil isn’t just ideal for storage and cooking. It’s actually a great preventative food, chocked full of great health benefits.

Not only is coconut oil not harmful to our bodies, but it’s actually great at countering the negative effects that other oils have on our body.  Several studies have been conducted which provided participants a small amount of coconut oil in addition to their standard oil found in a typical meal.  Those who added coconut oil to their diet in addition to their normal fare had a decreased negative affect on their cholesterol levels as opposed to those participants who had no coconut oil in their diet.  Coconut oil is also being researched as an aid for curing heart disease, gingivitis, HIV, herpes, cancer, and a myriad of other diseases readily found in western civilizations.  Coconut oil also counteracts many of the effects of hydrogenated oils such as memory loss, asthma, allergies, diabetes, suppressed immune systems, constipation, colitis, and senility. Coconut oil is so resistant to a free-radical attack that it actually acts as an anti-oxidant, helping to prevent the oxidation of other oils.  It’s also been found to promote healing after surgery or even of sprain joints in our body.  In his book, “The Coconut Oil Miracle”, Bruce Fife had an entire list of ways to use coconut oil as a disease prevention and treatment resource including killing fungus and harmful yeasts, healing skin infections, killing bacteria that causes pneumonia and meningitis, and in aiding in the loss of excess weight. I have to say, I’ve looked, but I’ve not found any vegetable, soy, or corn oil that does any of that.

So, here’s a little bit of information for you. I hope that you will do a bit more research on your own to discover the merits of this great resource. I plan on stocking up on more of it as my primary source of cooking and baking oil.  I love that it has an indefinite shelf-life as well as the great health benefits.  Regardless of the fact that the other oils are less expensive, in my mind it doesn’t matter what they do or don’t cost if they are harmful to my health.  I consider preventative medicine practiced now to be my best asset in Medical and Physical Principles of Preparedness.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

Well, folks. It was bound to happen. After driving non-stop for nearly a full day to Kansas City, teaching two classes, trying to sleep in a foreign bed at night, helping to take care of two sick kids with strep throat, enveloping myself in lots of stress and then driving back to Utah for a full day, I was bound to try and get a spring cold.  I knew that with my travels, I would be taken out of my normal modus operandi of cold prevention and catch some pesky little bug.  *sigh*  But the good news is that it was eliminated in less than 2 days thanks to my practicing what I preach. So, I thought I would “preach” more specifically on this particular topic.

At the first sign of the discomfort of a cold, I started increasing my Vitamin D-3 intake to 20,000 IU’s.  Normally I only take 5,000 IU’s for maintenance, but I forgot to take any with me on my road trip. (Nope, I won’t make that mistake again). Vitamin D-3 is very different to your body than is just plain Vitamin D. It regulates T cells, which are important to the functioning of a strong immune system As an added measure of efficacy, I specifically use the chewable kind so that I can start absorbing the nutrients in my mouth instead of my intestines (it tastes pretty darn good, actually; if it wasn’t vitamins, I could pleasantly snack on the little buggers).

Next, I started consuming lots of chewable Vitamin C. I take 2,000 mg every 2 hours in accordance to the suggestions make by some notable doctor case studies. Since this is just my personal opinion, I’m going to advise the readers to do their own research on the matter. I recommend googling “doctor research on vitamin c”, just FYI.

In addition, I used the NeilMed “Netti Pot.”  For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a warm saline solution that you squirt into your nasal passages to clean out all of the offending bacteria.  An allergist recommended that I use this process since the allergy medicine I was taking has such negative side effects.  I’ve been off of my allergy medicine ever since.  The use of the Netti Pot soothes my nasal membranes as well.

Next, I diffuse two different essential oils throughout the day near my work space. One is Thieves, and the other is “RC”—both made by Young Living. I honestly wasn’t sure about all of the essential oil hoopla, but one of my goals this year was to gain a greater understanding of their medicinal qualities. As a result, I learned about the Thieves and RC formula and have used them successfully under just such circumstances. 

Then I take two “doses” of Redmond Clay in my water during the day. I simply take 2 teaspoons of Redmond Clay, shake it in some water, and then drink it. It doesn’t have a taste. So long as I don’t look at the “dirty water” I’m not bothered by it in the least. The reason why I do this is because Redmond Clay is full of minerals.  Bacteria can NOT live among minerals. So I flush some minerals into my blood stream and scare the little bacteria buggers away.

Last, but certainly not least, I increase my water intake substantially. Water is the only way for me to guarantee that I get the necessary nutrients throughout my body.  It’s also the only way to flush out the nasties that have taken up residence in my tired body.  Water is a key source of energy and it is the first and most important nutrient that your body demands.  I drink about one times my body weight in ounces of water when I’m sick. In other words, if you weight a hundred pounds, you need to try to consume 100 ounces of water when you’re sick, recovering from surgery, or otherwise ill.

Well, did it all work?  Considering that others experienced their cold turning into strep, a chest cold, or worse, I feel quite confident that my medical repertoire was successful in isolating it to 2 days of minor inconvenience.  There are quite a few other options that I can take with various other vitamins and such, but so far this group of methods has not let me down.

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Medical supplies photo c/o www.macombcountymi.gov

by Kellene Bishop

As I’ve shared previously, preparedness is primarily about independence from vulnerabilities.  After being on nearly a dozen medications regularly for years, I decided to take a closer look at my medical vulnerabilities as a whole in order that I might more fully understand what kind of a battle I’m engaged in—after all, bringing the most effective weapon to the battle is only possible if one knows their opponent well. After doing a great deal of research over the last year for the benefit of my own path towards medical independence, I’ve realized that I’ve essentially attempted to fight the battle with a lot of ammo and no firearm. While a mass of cartridge rounds may appear intimidating to most enemies, it’s downright laughable without the right tool to expend them.  Nowadays, it’s my belief that by educating ourselves on just how truly vulnerable we are medically, we can have a better drive and motivation towards taking care of ourselves as much as possible. I hope that you all may benefit from the last two years of focused research that you might be more medically independent in your life.

First of all, allow me to say that I firmly believe that our medical practitioners have an important and appropriate place in our society.  The advances of modern medicine and the accompanying technology is absolutely amazing.  For many, the only alternative to relying upon such advances would be certain death.  That’s one side of the coin. However the other side of the coin is what I’m addressing today—the side which presumes there is no other alternative, responsibility, or accountability when it comes to our healthy independence.

The focus of today’s article is an encouragement that you take more responsibility and accountability for your medical well-being.  Part of that is being more aware of the person or entity that you empower to have influence over your health care.  Here’s just some food for thought to being with. In spite of often being cited to the contrary, heart disease and cancer are not the number one killers in America.  It’s actually medical malpractice. In fact there are a countless articles in the legal world which address this fact, yet you won’t see a medical organization ad that addresses this fact (just Google medical malpractice + cause of death).

Along that same vein, pay close attention to the entities which you give heed to.  I’ve seen a lot of shocking things during my time in the world of high finance.  I’m to the point now that nothing surprises me when it comes to following how money and power really pull the strings to many vital aspects of our survival.

Pharmaceutical recalls photo c/o whatthehealthmag.files.wordpress.com

Let’s take pharmaceuticals for example. How many drugs are you familiar with that have been originally approved by the FDA, only to have them pulled off of the shelf due to fatal consequences in their use?  And yet the FDA approves them.

Have you taken time to research what causes the FDA to approve some drugs and not others? Why are some drugs approved in record time and not others (i.e. the H1N1 immunization shot)? With all of the medical advances in our world for treating cancer have you wondered why chemotherapy and radiation are STILL the only FDA approved treatments for cancer (vs. the successful Vitamin B-17 treatment that causes over 20,000 Americans to go leave the country to find B-17 treatments elsewhere)?  If the FDA really cared about your health, then why don’t they put any energy into approving preventative methods?  I’m sorry to sound so negative folks, but the truth of the matter is, there isn’t much money in preventative health care. You can’t patent naturally existing minerals and vitamins, etc.  If the FDA really cared about your health, then why don’t they or the USDA actually have the power to shut down offending food, meat, or other plants who are repeat offenders?  When it boils down to it, the FDA is driven by power and money. Where there is an absence of gain for the FDA, there is an absence of proactive motion. Worse than a lack of action, are the results OF their actions. Their seal of approval on products has become as questionable as Rosie O’Donnell endorsing health food. It’s unfortunate that the FDA has continually proven themselves to be wrong again and again. As such, they have not earned the respect in my world that merits them to have the final say over what I will and won’t put into my body. When it comes to medical practices, they focus solely on treatment, not prevention.  This is the ONLY reason why they have

administering medicine photo c/o www.cosmosmagazine.com

 not poked their nose into the market of natural remedies up until now—and the only reason why they are threatening to push into this field of oversight is because the treatment medical industry has taken a financial beating over the last 5 years to the tune of over $100 billion dollars! Yup. The treatment methods have powerful lobbying groups and they are making sure that the FDA essentially puts a stop—or at least a large stumbling block—to all of the mom and pop kind of homeopathic methods out there. That sad truth is that the FDA is influenced largely by power and money, not by the “conclusive studies.”  I have found that time and time again the study of a drug tends to lean in the direction of the company that is paying for the study to be done.  While I may sound like a broken record, folks, keep in mind that the FDA had their own doctors come right out and say that a cigarette a day would keep the doctor away, that AIDS was contagious by touching, and that the only acceptable way to treat cancer is a deadly chemical radiation. (See G. Edward Griffin’s book “A World Without Cancer”. It’s packed full of indisputable research, facts, and evidence.)

Along these same lines, the other large vulnerability we have exposed ourselves to is the rampant acceptance of pharmaceuticals.  As one who struggles with clinical depression, obesity, and the ailment of insanity in the world around me (*grin*) I too think that life might me easier if it could just be fixed with a little pill each day.  However, I’ve come to realize that our bodies are so absolutely amazing in how they were created and that if I just do more to encourage them to function properly, then I can avoid so many of the drugs out there.  Pharmaceuticals are high-powered chemicals with real-life side affects. Can you believe that we now are told—with a straight face—that possible side effects of the drugs we take may result in “temporary paralysis, thoughts of suicide, liver failure, heart attack,” etc. etc. (By the way, if you haven’t seen Disney’s movie “Old Dogs”, you may want to. It’s nothing more than meaningless entertainment calories—light and fluffy.  But there’s a hysterical scene in there about what happens when two guys get their litany of medicines mixed up due to the side-effects.  I was cackling so hard, my cheeks and my gut hurt the next day). Due to the scenario in which the pharmaceutical companies test their subjects, most drugs are created much more potently than is necessary as well.

hydration photo c/o yalesustainability.files.wordpress.com

The majority of Americans run through their days dehydrated.  Unfortunately, much of what we put in our bodies chemically is a drying agent, thus compounding the dehydration effects.  However, if our bodies are well hydrated, then the effect of our medicines would be more obvious and thus we wouldn’t need to take as much. Water is necessary to cause the medication to be transported throughout our body.  However, when the pharmaceutical industry goes through the testing of their drugs on human beings, they pay no attention whatsoever to the state of hydration in the body.  The presence of water/hydration in the body compounds the effects of all nutrition—chemical or otherwise. Given that the majority of Americans are dehydrated, the medicines are made more powerful than necessary so that most patients can experience the desired chemical results of their medications. And yet there is a mountain of highly credible research to indicate that the symptoms of serious medical conditions such as heart disease, kidney failure, cancer, depression, ADHD, and diabetes would be dramatically lessened if the patient were to stay well hydrated.  Wouldn’t it be interesting if you were to take a drug that has strict instructions that you not only take a full glass of water with it, but that you also drink plenty of water during the day in order for it to be helpful?  Well, the drug industry wouldn’t sell as much medicine though if they spread that kind of doctrine though, would they?  So, they create and dispense their drugs to the most common denominator—dehydrated bodies.

doctor visit photo c/o shepardinsurancequote.com/

I know that on my path over the last couple of years I have found so many alternatives to traditional medicine.  Allow me to be clear. I don’t think that traditional medicine is evil, per se, I just think that it’s so widely accepted because there’s a seriously concerted effort to get us all to accept it as the answer.  As an expert marketer, I can appreciate such a successful campaign. But the consequences are that most people do not search out alternative answers.  Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of folks who are willing to throw billions of dollars out the window to saturate the market with the message that there are less risky, less expensive, and more effective treatments for what ails us—that don’t require a doctor’s visit, health insurance, surgery, or pricey consults.  Well, in my opinion, if you pick up one end of the stick of mainstream pharmaceuticals, then you also pick up the consequences: dependence, exorbitant expenses, follow-up doctor visits, physical side-effects which require yet more medications, etc, etc.   These kinds of dependencies aren’t just bad in one area of your life.  They have a negative impact on your areas of Physical, Financial, and Mental preparedness.  What are you going to do if you suddenly do not have access to those drugs? What if there’s an earthquake or a long-term power outage? What if you you’re your insurance or your job and can’t pay for them any longer?

In the name of Physical Preparedness, I implore you all to do what you can to cut the apron strings attaching you to the smothering mother of Medical Dependence.  No, I don’t recommend that anyone attempt to perform their own frontal lobotomy, but I’m 100% sure that there is a whole heck of a lot more that we can do for ourselves than what we are doing.  I KNOW that there are several potent medications that would be a much larger part of my life if I let them. But I try to make sure that I proactively put some good things into my body daily.  I’m not the epitome of health. I’m not saying that we all have to be perfect, but I am saying that we should all TRY perfectly.  Yes, I have the indulgences of life frequently—trying to quit many of them—but in my effort at becoming more independent from vulnerabilities I won’t permit my day to go by without making sure my body is stocked up on the good things that I have easy access to.  Quality vitamins and minerals that actually get absorbed into my body, WATER (at least ½ my body weight in ounces each day), good sleep, sprouts, flax seed (yummy in my yogurt) and other good sources of fiber such as wheat meat, whole grain bread, etc.—these are all a part of my daily proactive regime. I find that if I do enough of the proactive behaviors in my day, that I don’t have time or appetite for as many of the harmful actions.   As some of you may know, I also take 2 tablespoons of food-grade diatomaceous earth each day and two teaspoons of Redmond Clay.  I can assure you that there are at least 8 different aspects of my ill health yell loud and clear when I have omitted the proactive consumption of these products.  But I’d much rather have those kinds of things in my body rather than “FDA approved” drugs and treatments and their accompanying side-effects.  Wouldn’t you?

Just another step towards better preparedness folks.  May you exercise all of the independence your body can handle.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

Filling your preparedness pantry doesn't have to cost a bucket load of money. photo c/o www.mcdowelltech.edu

While perusing advertisements for “emergency preparedness” supplies, I saw some pretty hefty price tags just for a year’s worth of food. This doesn’t count the bucket loads of money that one could spend on other gadgets like a solar oven, pressure cooker, first aid supplies, etc. So, let’s get real.  What can a person with only a few hundred bucks a year do to increase their state of preparedness?  Well, here are a few of my suggestions.

First and foremost, spend your money in order of prioritization.  Stick to the priorities. If you’re starting from scratch, review the 10 Areas of Preparedness. Remember that such a list is a prioritized one.  The higher up an area is on the list, the sooner you’ll be confronted with it in need or crisis scenario.  This also means that areas of preparedness further down the list will essentially be at the mercy of your preparedness level on areas of higher prioritization.

The first area is Spiritual preparedness. Fortunately, that area doesn’t require much in the form of funds to implement.

The next area is Mental Preparedness. You could spend a bit of money in that area in the form of books and classes, but a great deal of knowledge, thus mental preparedness, can be provided to you via the library and the internet. 

Physical preparedness is a must in completing the Ten Areas of Preparedness

The next area is Physical preparedness.  Again, this is an area that does not necessarily require money but rather a consciousness effort to get your body in better health. This does not need to come at the cost of expensive supplements and gym memberships.

The next area is Medical Preparedness.  Remember, that this are may require you some preliminary funds in terms of first aid supplies for you and your family and then for others. But keep in mind that providing medical care for you and your family is the first priority. So only spend enough money to take care of that first and foremost.  I have found that with coupons I have been able to acquire a boatload of medical supplies for free or very cheap. Also, in the vein of Medical Preparedness I have taken advantage of whatever free community classes I can that teach CPR, and other areas of commonly necessary medical knowledge. As I review my medical supplies, including medication alternatives, I know that I’ve spent very little by making use of coupons and alternative medical options.

Be sure your 72 hour kit is packed and ready to go. photo c/o coolshadesails.com

The next area is Clothing/Shelter Preparedness.  Most of you are already starting out with some kind of shelter complete with bedding and clothing. So you can usually check that off the list. However, I also recommend folks having a weather-appropriate change of clothes that they can grab and go in a hurry if necessary.  I can assure you that when I created such outfits, I didn’t take them from my existing wardrobe. Instead, I went to the thrift stores and purchased complete outfits for very, very cheap. I then store those outfits in my “get up and go quickly” supplies. That way I’m never stuck with “just the clothes on my back.”  Along with that though is alternative shelter such as blankets and a pup tent for a “get up and go quickly” scenario. Again, these were obtained very cheaply thanks to army surplus and thrift stores.

cheap sources for fuel, such as butane and alcohol complete your preparedness pantry.

Fuel comes next. This is an area in which you can’t cut corners on. As such I would recommend focusing the majority of your available funds in this particular area.  While you will be able to get much of the equipment at an army surplus store, you will need to purchase your fuel via mainstream venues like the rest of us. However, there are less expensive forms of fuel than others such as butane and isopropyl alcohol. I’ve been able to stock up on my cans of butane as cheaply as $1.27 each.  And I’ve been able to get my butane stoves as cheaply as $12 each.  We also have recently purchased lanterns for only $1.97 each!  The key is to keep your eyes open for the equipment you need. Compare prices. If you have the appropriate heating and light equipment, getting a 55 gallon barrel of isopropyl alcohol delivered to your home is very economical and you can keep it outside since it won’t freeze.  See? This is why mental preparedness comes before these other areas-so that you can use these kinds of ideas.

After fuel finally comes your Water Preparedness.  Water is obviously an affordable commodity. There are plenty of corners you can cut. You don’t have to be a purchaser of 2 liter bottles of soda pop to obtain plenty of those kinds of containers from neighbors and friends.  Simply get the used containers from others, wash them out well, and fill them up and store them.  No money necessary.

Then there’s the Food Preparedness.  The most affordable way to have a sufficient amount of food cheaply is to simply utilize coupons in your regular shopping so that you can purchase more of it—at least this is definitely what I’ve discovered to be the case. If you’re one of those people who read this, though, and say that couponing takes too much time, or that you can’t get all that you want with coupons, I recommend that you search on the articles that I’ve

Freeze-Dried Foods are tasty, nutritious, have a long shelf life, and are a real asset to your preparedness pantry.

previously written about couponing. I assure you that there’s very little food stuffs that I haven’t been able to purchase free or cheap. Also keep in mind that freeze-dried produce is actually less expensive than fresh produce, not to mention cleaner, more convenient, lasts longer, etc.  If all you want to do though is to buy some food items and forget it, then I would recommend purchasing whole wheat, sprouts, a quality powdered milk, salt, and a quality honey. None of these items should break the bank if you are prudent in your selections of them. If you spend money on no other food, I would recommend that you at least have these five.

After the Food Preparedness area then you have the areas of Financial Preparedness and Communication. These areas aren’t so much a cost to you as they are disciplines, and perhaps a Ham Radio license.  What I’m trying to get at is that preparedness doesn’t need to cost you much more money than you are already spending living your days. See? Everyday preparedness not only works better, but it costs a heck of a lot less money.

(By the way, Five Star Preparedness has a Group Buy on Raw Honey this month. Just go to www.fivestarpreparedness.com/GroupBuy).

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.