Optimum Connections

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Oil of the month

Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata)

Botanical Family: Annonaceae (custard-apple)

Plant Origin: Commores, Indonesia, Philippines

Extraction Method: Steam distilled from flowers. Flowers are picked early in the morning to maximize oil yield. The highest quality oil is drawn from the first distillation and is known as ylang ylang complete. The last distillation, known as the tail, is of inferior quality and is called "cananga."

Key Constituents:
    Germacrene D (15-20%)
    Alpha Farnesene (8-12%)
    Benzyl Acetate (9-15%)
    Benzyl Benzoate (3-6%)
    Linalol (6-10%)
    Methyl Paracresol (5-9%)
    Isoeugenol (3-5%)
    Cinnamyl acetate (3-5%)

ORAC: 130,000 µTE/100g

Historical Data: Ylang ylang means "flower of flowers." The flowers have been used to cover the beds of newlywed couples on their wedding night. Traditionally used in hair formulas to promote thick, shiny, lustrous hair.

Medical Properties: Antispasmodic, vasodilating, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antiparasitic, regulates heartbeat.

Uses: Cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac problems, anxiety, hypertension, depression, hair loss, intestinal problems

Fragrant Influence: Balances male-female energies, enhances spiritual attunement, combats anger, low self-esteem, and increases focus of thoughts, filters out negative energy. Restores confidence and peace.

Application: Dilute 1 part essential oil with 1 part vegetable oil; (1) apply 2-4 drops on location, (2) chakras/vitaflex points, (3) directly inhale, (4) diffuse, or (5) take as dietary supplement (see Appendices E and T).

Found In (oil blends): Aroma Life, Awaken, Clarity, Dream Catcher, Forgiveness, Gathering, Gentle Baby, Grounding, Harmony, Humility, Inner Child, Into The Future, Joy, Motivation, Peace & Calming, Present Time, Release, Sacred Mountain, SARA, Sensation, White Angelica

©2005 Essential Science Publishing. All rights reserved. Technical data taken from the Essential Oil Desk Reference. To order go to www.essentialscience.net or call 800-336-6308.

I have been using many oil blends on my forehead (specifically Awaken, Dream Catcher, Gathering and Present Time) to propel our home-based wellness business towards profitability. One side effect has been to stimulate hair growth so that I have actually extended my hairline further down my forehead. At 53 years old, this is a welcome side effect.

Whole Food Nutrition vs. Supplements

by Russell Louie

Taking vitamin and mineral supplements is generally considered to be a "healthy" addition to our diet. However, in past centuries, people were able to stay healthy without supplements because they generally ate a healthier diet than we do now and their traditional wisdom told them to eat super foods naturally rich in essential vitamins and minerals required for health. They were therefore less prone to the degenerative diseases of today (heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and cancer). Also, foods were grown on small farms in mineral-rich soils. Today, foods are grown in mineral-deficient soils on "factory farms" where the main goal is to produce high quantity rather than high quality of food. In addition to this, with the advent of our fast-food diet and highly processed foods prevalent today, we no longer get the basic nutrition needed to stay well. Modern technology has improved so much that we can now isolate the vitamins and minerals our modern day diet is missing that are required for health. But is this sufficient to promote health and is it an improvement on what our ancestors ate? When we extract a vitamin or mineral from a food (or create it synthetically), how do we know that we have extracted all the components in the food that are needed to promote health? What chemicals might that food contain that we need for health but have not yet discovered? Scientists are now discovering a wealth of phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables that promote health and are different from the vitamins and minerals previously discovered. More importantly, is it safe to take these isolated supplements in a pill rather than as part of the food they naturally occur in? Or could there be side effects from taking them in a way that is not natural to our body?

Consider this recent research:

• Early infant multivitamin supplementation is associated with increased risk for food allergy and asthma. (PEDIATRICS, Vol. 114, No. 1, July, 2004, pp. 27-32)
• There is now strong evidence that antioxidant supplements--vitamins A, C and E and beta carotene--are not effective in protecting against gastrointestinal cancer. On the contrary, there may be a small increase in mortality from these tumors among people taking antioxidants compared with a placebo. (Goran Bjelakovic, professor, internal medicine, University of Nis, Serbia and Montenegro; Eric Jacobs, Ph.D., senior epidemiologist, American Cancer Society, New York City; Oct. 2, 2004, The Lancet)
• Patients in the Vitamin E group (daily doses of 400IU) had no significant difference in cancer incidence, cancer deaths, and major cardiovascular events but higher rates of heart failure and hospitalizations for heart failure. (Effects of Long-term Vitamin E Supplementation on Cardiovascular Events and Cancer, March 16, 2005, JAMA. 2005;293:1338-1347)

Based on our combined 75+ years of holistic experience, we have come to the conclusion that nutrition from whole food products is far superior, safer and more holistic than isolated supplements. To support this conclusion let's look at some old research.

Back in the 18th century, European travelers were crossing the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. They discovered if they drank fresh lime juice they did not get scurvy (a vitamin C deficiency resulting in weakness and joint pain, internal hemorrhages cause black-and-blue marks to appear on the skin, gums hemorrhaging and their tissue becomes weak and spongy, teeth root break down where teeth loosen and eating becomes difficult and painful). It wasn't until the 20th century that they finally isolated the beneficial component in citrus fruits as vitamin C. What is not commonly known is by taking isolated Vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid one only gets rid of the symptoms of scurvy. When the ascorbic acid is discontinued the symptoms and disease returns. However, if one takes Vitamin C made from an extract of whole green peppers not only do the symptoms disappear but the scurvy is gone when discontinued. Vitamin C in the form of a whole food product contains rutin, bioflavonoids, Vitamin E, selenium and zinc that Nature dictated is needed for Vitamin C to work optimally in our body. All these complementary compounds are present in whole food sources of Vitamin C (e.g., green peppers, oranges, rose hips, acerola cherries). By eating only an isolated supplement with just ascorbic acid or by juicing an orange and throwing away the pulp and peel, one is missing all the above necessary compounds. I have proven this to myself by taking a megadose 2,000mg Vitamin C tablet and a whole food Vitamin C made from rose hips and acerola cherries (vitamin C=300 mg) to my chiropractor when I had a cold or flu. Through nutritional testing the chiropractor determined the 2,000 mg supplement would help me recovery from the cold or flu but the 300mg whole food tablet would do just as well or better.

Consider this: more expensive Vitamin C supplements are buffered to prevent nausea for those with a sensitive stomach (can't tolerate ascorbic acid). Nature included the buffer ingredients needed in the pulp and skin of whole food sources of Vitamin C. Research has shown 90% of the antioxidant power of whole foods is in the pulp and peel. Who is smarter--the scientist that discovered we need to put back the buffer ingredients in Vitamin C supplements or Nature?

If you give an eleven year old a kick ball and tell them to go have fun, they naturally know what to do with the ball and can immediately begin to play. If you give the same child a bicycle in a box, they will have to spend time assembling the tools, reading the instructions and assembling the bicycle before having fun. Such is the case in our body when we take an isolated supplement. When taking just ascorbic acid, the body must now search for other sources of rutin, bioflavonoids, Vitamin E, selenium and zinc to make the vitamin C work optimally. When eating oranges, rose hips or acerola cherries the body absorbs all the whole food nutrients at once and begins the holistic healing process immediately. Whole food nutrients are more efficient and totally holistic, while isolated supplements may be naturally derived but not completely holistic in function.

Some people would counter this by arguing that we need supplements because we are so deficient that foods cannot supply the amounts we need. We would answer by suggesting that people consume superfoods, that is, foods that are naturally extremely high in certain nutrients and thus promote healing. Traditional cultures knew this instinctively and would feed superfoods to those with a higher need for nutrients such as those with illnesses, children, pregnant women and parents-to-be. The superfoods would vary depending on what was available in their area but included cod liver oil, raw cream, spring-time butter from pasture-fed cows, fish eggs, chicken eggs, algae (www.optimumchoices.com/spirulina.htm), Chinese Goji berries (www.optimumchoices.com/Wolfberry.htm), bee pollen, kelp, etc.

Here are some final thoughts from two prestigious sources:

• To reduce cancer risk, the best advice presently is to consume antioxidants through food sources, rather than supplements. (“Common Questions About Diet and Cancer,” American Cancer Society)
• “…there are insufficient data to justify an alteration in public health policy from one that emphasizes food and diet to one that emphasizes nutrient supplements. (“Essential Nutrients: Food or Supplements?” Journal of the American Medical Association, 2005;294:351-358)

At Optimum Choices, we do not sell vitamins, isolated supplements, herbs or extracted products. We only sell whole food products (superfoods) that promote 100% holistic wellness. Check out the details on the following whole food products: BioSuperfood for people (www.optimumchoices.com/spirulina.htm), BioPreparation for pets (www.optimumchoices.com/BioPreparation_for_animals.htm) and NingXia Red^TM juice (www.optimumchoices.com/Wolfberry.htm). There are many antioxidant juices (such as wolfberry, Goji berry) on the market but as far as we know, NingXia Red^TM is the only one that uses the whole wolfberry and contains 51% wolfberry juice, pulp and peel in every bottle (wolfberry is also called Chinese Goji berry). We encourage you to do your own research and determine what is right for your holistic wellness.

Book of the month

The Dogs of Bedlam Farm
by Jon Katz

ISBN 0-8129-7250-3
Click picture to order from Dogwise

review by Margaret Auld-Louie

Some books I read are so outstanding that it becomes clear before I finish them that they are destined to become a "book of the month". This is one such book, recently written by Jon Katz. We featured one of his earlier books, The New Work of Dogs a couple of years ago (click on title to read our review of that book). This book is more personal, detailing the author's sometimes difficult relationships with his dogs, reconciliation with his sister and struggle to survive a bitter winter as a novice sheep farmer on his newly-purchased farm in upstate New York. The book is introspective and thoughtful. He details his struggles to bond with and provide a happy environment for his second border collie, Homer, finally coming to the gut-wrenching conclusion that Homer would be happier in a different home. He shows how he took to heart the advice of his dog trainer and friend who told him "If you want to have a better dog, you will just have to be a better god-damned human." He describes how his first border collie, Orson, an abused and psychologically-damaged dog, became better at herding as Jon learned to control his temper and not yell when Orson did something wrong (like eating donkey poop). Also, he details how his border collie named Rose, just a puppy when he bought the farm, blossomed under the positive training methods he raised her with and was able to develop her fabulous herding instincts.

Like The New Work of Dogs, he also explores the human/animal bond, particularly people involved in dog rescue work, and discusses the sometimes unhealthy ways that people bond with and perceive dogs, as well as use them as substitutes for healthy interactions with humans. He grows in his understanding of why people do this and how dogs can help them heal, due to observing his sister healing her traumatic childhood through her relationships with her rescued Newfoundland dogs. And through their shared love of dogs, he is able to reconcile with his estranged sister.

Reading about his experience purchasing and running his sheep farm is also fascinating. If you thought living on a small farm in the country was either easy or idyllic, you will learn otherwise from Katz's experience. The hard work and bitterly cold winter nearly destroyed his middle-aged body. And helping his sheep have lambs proved to be difficult, sleep-depriving work. However, he persisted in his efforts and succeeded in increasing his sheep herd, growing to love the farm and his neighbors who helped him out.

Even if you don't agree with all of Jon Katz's opinions, he is one of the most perceptive and thoughtful writers on the canine/human relationship, which makes his books worthwhile reading.

Contact us

Click here to give your pet the fountain of youth today!

E-mail

General Information: Russell@OptimumChoices.com
Webmaster: Webmaster@OptimumChoices.com
Newsletter Editor, Margaret Auld-Louie: Editor@OptimumChoices.com

Telephone

303-271-1649
866-305-2306 (toll-free)
Normal office hours are 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Mountain Time (U.S.). If you would like a return call outside those hours, please specify what days and times are best.

Location (call first for appointment)

416 Plateau Pky
Golden, CO 80403-1533
U.S.A.

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