#27. Så hva er forskjellen mellom essensielle oljer og ekstrakter?

Originalartikkel publisert på LinkedIn, også på deres nettside, 23. juni 2021, av: Nuqo Trading

“Med den økte bevisstheten om naturlige produkter stiller flere mennesker spørsmål om forskjellen mellom eteriske oljer og ekstrakter. Begge har en viktig rolle i naturlige velværeprodukter som brukes i alt fra aromaterapi til te, og riktig prosess er avgjørende for å få mest mulig ut av disse naturlige stoffene.

Hovedforskjellene mellom essensielle oljer og ekstrakter er prosessen. Mens begge utvinnes fra forskjellige deler av anlegget, er prosessen veldig forskjellig. Eteriske oljer må ekstraheres gjennom destillasjon, mens ekstrakter dynkes i en væske for å isolere smaken.

Oljer som er samlet fra de aromatiske delene av blomster, røtter og blader er kjent som essensielle oljer. Disse oljene er konsentrert i naturen og tilberedes ved dampdestillasjon. Anleggsdelene plasseres inne i et dampkammer, damp slippes ut over anleggsdelene og oljer samles opp ved å klemme under damptrykk. De ekstraherte stoffene samles i dampkammeret og avkjøles i en kondensator. Kondensatoren lager vann og skiller oljen til en konsentrert form.

Med ekstrakter går plantene gjennom en trekke prosess, hvor det oppsamlede stoffet blir konsentrert. Dette kan også gjøres ved å pulverisere planten. Den vanligste utvinningsprosessen er urtete, mens tinkturer krever at plantestoffet bløtlegges i alkohol i lang tid for å fjerne de essensielle forbindelsene.

Hver metode fjerner de viktigste forbindelsene fra plantene og konsentrerer det beste fra naturen i en enkel, lett å bruke substans.”

Mitt spørsmål til Nuqo Trading:

I min håndlagde såpeproduksjon bruker jeg olivenolje, som har blitt tilsatt 720 grams urter som rosmarin, oregano, salvie, lavendel, i 15 liter olivenolje. Infusjonstid er et halvt år. Deretter filtreres de bløtlagte urtene ut, og pulverisert i kjøkkenmaskinen, filtreres igjen og føres tilbake til den tilsatte oljen, slik at alt det som er mulig å trekke ut av de bløtlagte urtene beholdes og brukes i såpeproduksjonen. Den infuserte olivenoljen ser svart ut når malingen og tilbakefiltreringen er klar. Lukten er ekstraordinær. Ved siden av det bruker jeg en te fra samme urteekstrahert (i mange dager), som også er veldig mørk. Jeg bruker denne teen til å blande med for såpe å lage nødvendig natriumhydroksid. Senere, når væsken begynner å forsåpe, tilsetter jeg den nødvendige mengden eterisk olje av samme urt for den batchen.
Spørsmålet mitt er: er resultatet av infusjon, og måten jeg lager oljen på, også et slags ekstrakt?

Svar på LinkedIn, av Nuqo Trading:

Mest sannsynlig! Såpene dine høres fantastisk!

I videoen kan du følge opprettelsen av (i dette tilfellet) lavendelsåpe, fra åker til infusjon, til kutting og pakking:

#26. Loofah og hudpleie

Det offisielle navnet er Luffa aegyptiaca, eller egyptisk Luffa. Det er en agurklignende frukt, men tilhører gresskarfamilien. Når frukten er moden, kan den spises. Hvis det henger igjen og blir overmodent, tørker det gradvis ut og et fibrøst stoff blir igjen. Når frukten er høstet, kan skinnet fjernes og det fibrøse materialet kan kuttes opp, selges og brukes som en badesvamp.


Svampen føles hard når den er tørr, men myk når den er våt. Svampen føles da som en fast frotté, som fortsatt er grov nok til å fjerne gamle hudceller. Ved å bruke svampen mens du masserer aktiveres alle hudfunksjoner og blodsirkulasjonen i huden styrkes, noe som bremser aldringsprosessen i huden. Regelmessig bruk av loofahen holder huden ung, frisk, skinnende og strålende. Luffaen kan også brukes til en ansiktsskrubb.

Huden


Huden er et organ, akkurat som hjertet, nyrene, leveren. Totalvekten er en sjettedel av kroppsvekten. Huden er et komplekst og aktivt organ, en mantel, som fungerer som et beskyttende lag mellom kroppens sensitive vev og alt utenfor kroppen. Huden er ikke bare en barriere, den er også involvert i å opprettholde kroppstemperatur og indre fuktighet, nevrosensoriske funksjoner og naturlig motstand mot infeksjon og sykdom. Aldringsprosessen påvirker huden på flere måter. Overhuden tynnes ut og fornyelseshastigheten avtar dramatisk etter hvert som vi blir eldre, og hos kvinner spesielt etter overgangsalderen. Det meste av hudpleie er først og fremst rettet mot å bremse aldringsprosessen, bremse dannelsen av rynker. Når vi begynner med ekte hudpleie i tide, holder huden vår seg sunn mye lenger og hudsykdommer og rynker er mindre sannsynlige

Hudpleie


Huden kan få næring både fra utsiden og fra innsiden. Siden huden er et naturlig vev, er det logisk at en naturlig olje er det beste produktet for pleie av hudens overflate, det vil si utsiden. En olje som har alt i seg for den omsorgen er olivenolje. Du kan bruke den oljen direkte på huden, men du kan også tilsette 10 dråper eterisk olje, etter eget valg, til 10 cl olivenolje. Eterisk olje kan du kjøpe på en helsekostbutikk som Arnika, og Med24. Etter vask og skrubbing med den såpeaktige loofahen, skyll kroppen. Deretter legger du litt olivenolje i håndflaten, og sprer olivenoljen over den fortsatt fuktige kroppen din. Tørk deretter kroppen. Oljen trenger raskt inn i huden fordi den er varm.

Hudpleieprodukter


A. Utsiden av huden
La oss se på følgende bilde. Vi får se på det en forstørrelse av hudoverflaten. En naturlig såpe, for eksempel Cretan-Garden såper, er et utmerket middel for å fjerne talgkjertelfett, svette, kroppslukt, skitten, bakterier, sopp og virus.

Hud, med hår, døde hudceller, tette porer, bakterier og virus (iStock)

Når du bruker en fet såpe, for eksempel en olivenoljesåpe, blir det et veldig tynt lag med olivenolje igjen på huden etter vask og tørking. Ved å bruke olivenolje som kroppsolje, støttes huden i sin elastisitet, fuktighet og tilstand. Olivenolje er høy i vitamin E og K, som begge er svært viktige i hudpleie. Olivenolje er også et universalmiddel etter soling, eller til og med solbrent hud Dagslys er veldig sunt for huden, men det er nødvendig å beskytte deg mot overdreven direkte sollys. Selv da er olivenoljen en god måte å beskytte huden din ekstra på.

B. I huden
Ved å spise sunt og regelmessig, drikke nok vann, grønn te og fersk fruktjuice, holder du huden sunn fra innsiden og ut. Frukt, grønne økologisk dyrkede og usprøytede grønnsaker og også økologisk olivenolje er bra for sunn hud. Alkohol tørker ut kroppen og huden. Som et resultat kan huden eldes og det kan oppstå for tidlige rynker.

Hudtilstand


Ved å bevege seg nok daglig, være i frisk luft, få nok søvn, bo i et godt ventilert hus, gir du blodet nok oksygen og at oksygenrikt blod er sårt nødvendig for å forhindre rask hudaldring. På neste bilde vi ser ung hud til venstre og eldre hud til høyre. Du ser at den eldre huden er tynnere, inneholder mindre fett i de nedre lagene og blodårene inneholder mørkere blod: det er blod med lite oksygen.

Adapted from Characteristics of the Aging Skin – PMC (nih.gov) with permission from Dr. Miranda A. Farage

Antioksidanter beskytter huden mot aldring


Oksidanter (frie radikaler) er aggressive stoffer, som skapes i kroppen av blant annet stress og underhudsspenninger. Disse aggressive stoffene produseres også av stråling fra mobiltårn, Wi-Fi, smartmålere og alle andre trådløse enheter.

Kilde: Store Norske Leksikon / Frie radikaler og antioksidanter
Av Lobo, V., Patil, A., Phatak, A., & Chandra, N.
Lisens: Falt i det fri (Public domain)


Et overskudd av frie radikaler eller en mangel på antioksidanter forårsaker oksidativt stress: skade på sunt vev og celler i kroppen vår. Resultatet er ukontrollert celledeling, raskere aldring av kroppen og større risiko for helseproblemer[kilde]. Oksidanter, frie radikaler, forårsake vev og hudskader. Antioksidanter bekjemper oksidantene, men elektromagnetisk stråling reduserer effekten av antioksidantene. Dette er vitenskapelig undersøkt og bevist i flere studier. Siste studie: se her. Å unngå stråling i størst mulig grad er derfor et godt valg. I tillegg er det viktig å støtte antioksidantene med vitamin A, C og E, og mineralet magnesium.


Vitamin E er rikt representert i olivenolje og rosmarin (urt). Olivenolje inneholder i tillegg tilvitamin E også vitamin A, K og mineralene jern, kalsium, magnesium og potassium. Daglig bruk av olivenolje til måltider, men også som hudpleieprodukt, anbefales derfor.

Mer anbefalinger


Anbefalinger for terapi, ressurser og aktiviteter som bidrar til å redusere stress inkluderer

  1. terapeutisk massasje:
  2. akupunktur / videoer
  3. gåing
  4. fotturer
  5. idrett
  6. hagearbeid
  7. yoga
  8. meditasjon
  9. urteterapi:
  10. aromaterapi / videoer:
    • essensielle oljer som lavendel, appelsin, furu, sypress, ylang ylang, salvie
  11. blomsterterapi:
  12. slå av
    • all elektromagnetisk stråling om natten ved å bruke flymodus på telefonen
    • slå av wifi

Ytterligere informasjon

#17. Kvinners Helse

Introduksjon til informasjon om vulvovaginal (genital) helse (engelsk) (norsk)

Den følgende artikkelen om kvinnehygienens rolle i vulvovaginal helse er laget av tre ansatte i Reckitt Benckiser LLC[1], et selskap som produserer rengjøringsprodukter. Selskapet produserer rengjøringsmidler, desinfeksjonsmidler og luktfjernere til husholdningsbruk. Reckitt Benckisers produkter betjener kjemisk industri og husholdningsprodukter. Det betyr at det er interessekonflikter. Til tross for det, publiserer jeg den for å tilby en interessant lesning, for å skape bevissthet om alle fasettene rundt kvinnelig hygiene. Cretan-Garden såper er ikke kjemiske, men naturlige, og er trygge å bruke til også intimhygiene, hvis du bruker såpen på riktig måte: skyll med mye vann. Hvis du aldri har brukt Cretan-Garden-såper før, observer hvordan huden din reagerer. I tilfelle du lider av vulvovaginale helseproblemer[2], anbefaler jeg at du ikke bruker noen form for såpe eller vaskemidler, men å først kontakte din fastlege, eller en offisielt registrert naturlege.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Kvinners helse

Rollen til kvinnelig intimhygiene i vulvovaginal helse: Global hygienepraksis og produktbruk
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745505717731011
Anmeldelse av: Ying Chen, Elizabeth Bruning, Joseph Rubino, Scott E Eder
Første gang publisert: 22. september 2017

Abstrakt

Kvinner bruker ulike feminine hygieneprodukter, ofte som en del av deres daglige renserutine; Det er imidlertid en mangel på publisert medisinsk litteratur relatert til den ytre vulvaen og hvordan personlig hygienepraksis kan påvirke den. Denne oversiktsartikkelen gir bakgrunnsinformasjon om de fysiologiske endringene som skjer i løpet av kvinners liv og vurderer relevansen av forbigående og fastboende mikrobiota når de er relatert til vanlige vaginale og vulva lidelser. Den diskuterer også behovet for kvinnelig intimhygiene, vanlige praksiser for feminin hygiene fra et globalt perspektiv, og de potensielle fordelene ved å bruke egnede eksterne, aktuelle feminine vulvavaskinger for å minimere risikoen for vulvovaginale lidelser og for å forbedre den generelle intimhelsen hos kvinner rundt verden.

Støttet av internasjonale retningslinjer, er daglig skånsom rensing av vulva et viktig aspekt ved feminin hygiene og generell intim helse.

Kvinner bør oppmuntres til å velge en nøye formulert og klinisk testet ekstern vask som gir målrettede antimikrobielle og andre helsemessige fordeler uten å ha negativ innvirkning på den naturlige vulvovaginale mikrobiotaen. Les videre her [i engelsk].

[Tillegg av admin. A.J.: daglig vask med urteolivenoljesåpe er trygt, når du bruker såpen på riktig måte, som betyr: bruk nok vann til å skylle.]

Bilde av Maria Eduarda Loura Magalhães fra Pexels

Kapitler i artikkelen

  • Introduksjon
  • Fysiologi av vulvovaginalområdet
    • Det vulvovaginale området
    • Mikroflora
    • pH
    • Vaginal utflod
    • Beskyttelse mot infeksjoner
  • Vanlige vulvovaginale lidelser
    • Vulvovaginale infeksjoner
    • Vulvovaginal kløe og unormal vaginal utflod
    • Intim feminin hygiene
    • Retningslinjer for feminin hygiene
    • Vanlig praksis rundt om i verden
      • Sosial, kultur og religiøs påvirkning
      • Oppsummering av vulvovaginale produkter
      • Vitenskapelig støtte for en riktig designet feminin vask
  • Konklusjon
  • Fremtidsperspektiv
  • Referanser (76)

Ytterligere informasjon:

  1. Reckitt Benckiser, LLC – Bloomberg
  2. Vulvovaginal Helse – Website with explanation / Nettsted med forklaring
  3. Vulvovaginal Helse – A modern blog / En moderne blogg
  4. Vulvovaginal Candidiasis – Website «100comments« / Nettsted «100 kommentarer«
  5. Alt du trenger å vite om vaginal damping – Healthline
  6. Salvie for perimenopause og utover / hormoner, histaminer og vaginal helse – Sydney Naturopath
  7. Helsefordelene med salvie – ganske enkelt kosttilskudd – Simply Supplements
  8. Sammenligning av effektiviteten til Salvia officinalis[Salvie], clotrimazol og deres kombinasjon på vulvovaginal candidiasis: En randomisert, kontrollert klinisk studie – Research Gate

#11. Shampoo

Shampoos are just another kind of soap, a liquid soap, and with as many chemicals as the most of the industrial soaps and detergents. Even the neutral shampoos can contain chemicals. Read therefore the information on the box or container before buying a soap or shampoo. Soap is per definition alkaline. Shampoos therefore as well. To make a shampoo more neutral, by lowering the alkalinity, the industry uses mostly chemicals, acidic chemicals. To make a shampoo lather the industry adds special chemicals, named sulfates. An informational article about it: The facts about shampoo lather. Lather is not a guarantee that your hair and scalp become clean though.

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Shampoos, all sorts of shampoos, the many brands, all are claiming to be the best for your hair, offering for every hair type another shampoo, another conditioner, another hair mask. I have used for as long as they exist pH nautral shampoos, hair conditioners, masks, but my hair was, despite the neutral pH of the shampoos, and the beautiful natural conditoners, and masks, never really okay. My hair is thick, curly, dry, fluffy, and now I am becoming grey it is even dryer. I have tried everything. Because of the mentioned characteristics of my hair it is impossible to have it long. Not even half long.

Herbal olive oil soap as a shampoo bar

I have started lately to use my own herbal olive soap for hair washing, to see what happens. It looks better and better. . The most significant difference is that I do not need to wash my hair more than once per week. My hair looks and feels normal, is so much easier to be dressed. I was wondering why.

Though pH neutral shampoos can be used every day, the question is if washing your hair every day is really okay for hair and scalp. My thoughts go far back in time when hair was washed just once per week. That had a reason: the skin of the scalp is not the same skin as on the rest of your body. Every single hair is growing out of the scalp-skin and it is the skin that keeps the hair in a good condition. We need indeed hair conditioners and hair masks when we wash the hair daily. But if we offer the skin of the scalp the time to do their work in their own natural way, and if we do not immediately destroy their work, by daily taking away what the skin itself produces, namely sebum, we do not need hair conditioners as we do now. Daily washing the hair is maybe okay according to shampoo manufacturers, but it is a matter of logic thinking that the natural resistance of the skin and the hair will decrease because of exhaustion, or will become overactive at the very beginning, when the daily shampoo attacks start, even when the shampoo is pH neutral. Using a neutral shampoo once per week was for me not the solution. Reason to use it more. And that did not work either.

A natural conditioner: argan oil

My own experiences with my oily cold process herbal olive soaps are that washing my hair with it once per week is really enough. After making my hair towell dry I use a teaspoon pure argan oil and spread it over and through the towel-dry hair and massage it into the scalp and hair. I let the hair dry naturally. My fluffy, dry hair is gone, but I expect that hte condition of my hair will improve more. In a few weeks I will add an update here.

To make it more personal I have added about 20 drops of rosemary essential oil to the 50 ml bottle, and stirred it very good. Argan oil and essential oils can be bought at House of Deli, Crete:

Additional information

  1. What ages hair? – PubMed
  2. Hairloss due to electromagnetic radiation from overuse of cellphone – ResearchGate

My personal experiences with EMF and hair loss: during the time that I was not aware of the impact of EMF on my health, not informed about symptoms of overradiation, I was indeed losing so much hair that I was wondering what was going on. I have written about this in my blog Multerland, in several posts[Archives 2017-2018]. It was the start of a private study about EMF. The consultation of an osteopath was helpful to stop my bad physical condition: she worked on my scalp, neck, and it felt as if a layer of glass broke and my scalp was back to normal again. After several treatments my hair was growing again. The new hair looked like baby hair, but after some months it was back to normal. The only way to get rid of the effects if wireless radiation is to live in an EMF free environment. I bought the Acousticom2. This calibrated device is able to measure EMF. In this way I could find the rooms where the radiation is almost zero, or at least the less, where to put the bed, where the desk with computer. Of course all wireless is turned off, the smart meter is turned off, the Wi-Fi is turned off, also in the computer and printer. All is cabled, I do not have internet on my cellphone and mostly the cellphone is on flymodus.

#10. Rosemary-infused body oil

The benefits of the herb rosemary, or rosmarinus officinalis[1][2][3], were already hailed in the Minoan Civilization[4]. Rosemary is a kitchen herb, but a medicinal herb as well. Medicinal herbs[5][6][7][8] are available as tinctures, tablets, pills, teas and essential oils. These are for internal use, oral use. Essential oils however are also used externally. The term medicinal is an indication that nobody should use these without consulting a well-trained professional therapist, or a medical doctor who also studied these herbs and/or its oils, how to use these, when, for which health problems, and what the dosage should be.

Rosemary is known for its benefits for the skin. It is present in almost all skin products like shampoos, creams, massage oils, and body oils. Four out of seven Cretan Garden soaps are made out of rosemary-infused olive oil[9][10][11][12]. The other three soaps are made out of lavender-infused oil[13], oregano-infused oil[14] and sage-infused oil[15].

Your home-made body oil and body scrub

Body oils are expensive. You can make your own body oil. Your skin will love it, and your wallet as well. Follow the next steps and enjoy the result.

  1. 500 ml organic extra virgin olive oil
  2. 30 gram dried organic rosemary leaves
  3. Put the dried rosemary in a casserole that is big enough for the half liter olive oil plus the 30 gram rosemary leaves. Warm the oil up to 38 – 60 degrees Celsius and keep the casserole in this temperature for about 48 -72 hours. During this time all the goods are extracted from the leaves into the oil. This process is named infusing. Another method: add the olive oil and herbs in a bowl, or casserole and keep it for some weeks on a warm sunlit spot in the house. Stir the oil-rosemary mix during the infusing time every day. I infuse olive oil as well, for making soap, but I offer the oil more time to infuse. At least three months.
  4. When the oil is infused you can filter the herbs out, by using a sieve. If you want to make rosemary pulp you can add the oily herbs in the kitchen machine and pulverize these.
  5. Take an empty bowl or casserole, and put a cheesecloth in the sieve.
  6. Put the rosemary-olive-oil pulp from the kitchen machine cup into the cheesecloth, and let it leak out for a while, till all oil has disappeared.
  7. Make this process more efficient by pouring the filtered oil for the second time over the pulp. At the end you can take the rest of the oil from the pulp when you take the four points of the cheescloth together and press the oil out. Your hands will become very oily but you can remove this with kitchenpaper.
  8. Fill an empty, well cleaned and dried fluid soap dispenser and add about 20 drops rosemary essential oil, or an essential oil of your own choice.
  9. The rest of the infused oil can be stored on a cold place, for instance in the refrigerator. Put a lid on it.
  10. The left-overs of the rosemary pulp in the sieve can be used as a body scrub. You can store it for instance in an empty, clean, glass glass jar in the refrigerator. Before using a body scrub to exfoliate your skin, read my blog post: Exfoliating the skin[16].

How to use the body oil

The best moment to use a body oil is after a shower or bath, before drying your body with a towel. Pump some body oil from the dispenser into the palm of one of your hands and devide the oil over both hands. Apply the oil on the entire body. Massage the oil into the warm and wet skin. In this way you do not need so much oil, the oil is easier to spread, and because the skin is warm the oil is easy to be absorbed. Then pat the skin dry. You will discover that the skin is not oily, and after drying the skin shines and looks younger, healthier. In case your skin is really dry it will take some weeks before your skin is back to normal again. You can use the body-oil every day.

Instead you could massage the entire body from head and hair, to toes according to the Indian abhyanga massage before taking a shower. Read more about this massage in my blog post “The skin”[17]. The used oil is also a with herbs infused body oil.

Other uses: after a day at the beach, in the sunlight, in the hot dry wind, the salty seawater, or in winter when being outside in the cold, or 24/7 in a warm dry room. You can use the rosemary body oil also as a hair mask.

Attention: the rosemary aroma is uplifting, stimulating, energizing, and therefore best not to be used before sleeping. In case you would like to create a body oil for a good night rest, use lavender instead of rosemary.

Benefits of rosemary-infused body oil

  1. Anti-aging
  2. Improves elasticity
  3. Moisturizes
  4. Protects the skin
  5. Can be used in cases of eczema and acne
  6. The aroma of rosemary uplifts the psyche
  7. The aroma creates beneficial effect on the central nervous system
  8. The aroma stimulates the 3rd chakra, balances the 5th chakra[18]
  9. Photo: Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

Sources and additional information

  1. Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary) as therapeutic and prophylactic agent – Journal of Biomedical Science
  2. Gallery Rosmarinus officinalis – Flickr
  3. Rosemary essential oil – New directions Aromatics
  4. Herbs for Health and Beauty in Minoan Crete of 2000 BC – Explore Crete
  5. Historical review of medicinal plants’ usage – PubMed
  6. Herbs – Multerland
  7. Herbal medicine – Multerland
  8. Chinese Traditional Medicine – Multerland
  9. Rosemary soap – Cretan Garden
  10. Lavender-Rosemary soap – Cretan Garden
  11. Patchouli-Rosemary soap – Cretan Garden
  12. YlangYlang-Rosemary soap – Cretan Garden
  13. Lavender soap – Cretan Garden
  14. Oregano soap – Cretan Garden
  15. Sage soap – Cretan Garden
  16. Exfoliating the skin – Cretan Garden
  17. The skin / Abhyanga massage – Cretan Garden
  18. A Beginner’s Guide to the 7 Chakras and Their Meanings – Healthline
  19. Rosemary harvest in Morocco – Medicine Hunter
  20. How to Make Herb-Infused Oils for Culinary & Body Care Use – Mountain Rose Herbs
  21. Effect of Olive Oil on the Skin – ResearchGate
  22. Virgin olive oil as a fundamental nutritional component and skin protector – ReasearchGate
  23. Olive Oil in Botanical Cosmeceuticals – ResearchGate
  24. Enhancement of antioxidant and skin moisturizing effects of olive oil by incorporation into microemulsions – ResearchGate
  25. The foundation for the use of olive oil in skin care and botanical cosmeceuticals – ResearchGate

#08. Eksfoliering av huden

Hva er eksfoliering?

Huden din fjerner naturlig døde hudceller for å gi plass til nye celler. Eksfoliering er å fjerne døde hudceller fra overflaten av huden din ved å bruke for eksempel:

Eksfoliering kan forbedre hudens utseende, men hvis det ikke gjøres riktig, kan det gjøre mer skade enn nytte. Det beste er å velge trygge materialer.

  • vaskeklut
  • loofah
  • tørr børste

Jeg opplever tørrbørsten -en badebørste som har riktig styrke for huden – som en veldig utmerket daglig hjelp til å virkelig forbedre tilstanden til min egen eldre hud. I denne figuren nedenfor kan du se forskjellen mellom yngre og eldre hud. En av forskjellene er blodåren: i den eldre huden er den mørkere rød, noe som betyr at det er mindre oksygen. Når du børster huden, forbedres blodsirkulasjonen i huden.

Adapted from Characteristics of the Aging Skin – PMC (nih.gov) with permission from Dr. Miranda A. Farage

Les mer :

  1. Blogg Cretan-Garden: #26. Loofah og hudpleie
  2. Huden – Store Norske Leksikon / Per Holck, Professor Emeritis, Dr. Med., Universitetet i Oslo
  3. What Does It Mean to Exfoliate? Why You Should and How to Start – Healthline
  4. Dr. Berkowsky’s Vital Chi Skin Brushing System™ – Natural Health Science
  5. Skin care in the aging female: myths and truths – PubMed
  6. The truth about dry brushing and what it does for you – Cleveland Clinic

#07. Skin and pH

When writing this post it is July 2021. We, humans all over the world, have an experience with skin and pH(power of Hydrogen) values, while knowing maybe not anything about pH and if not being aware of the fact, why the skin of the dorsal of their hands looks so incredible bad since the last year. Most probably this is caused by the antiseptic sprays (high percentage alcohol) at the entrance of all shops. Not one doctor, dermatologist, talks about it. However, when one uses a soap to wash hands it has to be skin neutral. They say.

Skin neutral?

The pH value of the skin is on all places of the body different. Therefore one uses an average pH value, which is about 5 or lesser. What exactly is causing the pH value of the skin? First one needs to know what exactly is “skin”. Skin is an organ which covers and protects all what is beneath the skin, and outside the skin. The skin is nourished by the food we eat. If we never eat a balanced food, concerning pH levels, acidic and alkaline, the skin will not be able to have a healthy pH level. The influence of too much acidic food, which is the most popular among humans in the “civilized” countries, influences of course the constitution of the skin, and its pH values.

Also influences from outside the skin, like air pollution, artificial electromagnetic radiation, burning sun rays, extreme temperature, contribute to the condition of the skin, and its pH. On health websites one claims that only soaps with a pH value that is similar with the skin pH are healthy for keeping a healthy skin. This would mean that swimming in the salty sea pH 8,2), or ocean (pH 8,2), even bathing in tap-water (pH value between 6,5 and 8,5) or taking a shower should be avoided.

The neutral pH level soaps are a mix of the normal alkalinity of soaps, and mostly several chemicals to achieve a lower pH level. These chemicals are more skin damaging than a normal soap ever can. With other words: a lot of industrial propaganda for their so-called neutral pH products should be suspected.

The term alkaline is a sort of curse in the ears of many, because of the industrial propaganda for their self created myths that a soap must have a neutral pH value. How can they explain the alkalinity of for instance breast milk(pH of 6,35-7,35)[1], the alkalinity of the skin of new-borns(pH value 7)[2], the alkalinity of the amniotic fluid(pH value 7,1-7,3)[3] in which the foetus swims before it is born? The foetus is extremely sensitive: imagine the damage that could be created in its development of organs, brains, eyes, blood vessels, nervous system, bones, skin…. Nature however found it better to let it swim in alkaline fluid, not in neutral fluid, neither in acidic fluid. The pH value of blood ranges between 7,35 and 7,45. It is the blood that nourishes the skin from inside, and the lymphatic fluid in the skin pours out the acidic waste to the surface of the skin. If the food habits of the human being are not healthy, unbalanced, too acidic, of course the blood will be more acidic and the skin as well. How high was the pH level of the skin of our ancestors? They washed with alkaline soap, without any problem. Skin problems occur because of an unhealthy life style, bad hygiene, the poisonous environment we live in, and the poisonous food people eat.

Healthy lymph have a pH that ranges between 7 and 10. The lymphatic system, part of the immune system, is a network of ducts that carry the lymphatic fluid (LF). LF also contains white blood cells called lymphocytes, fats, and proteins.[4]. The lymphatic system, made up of lymphatic fluid, tiny vessels, nodes and organs, is responsible for removing excess fluid, infections and acidic waste[5].

Viruses, Corona and pH

There are several publications about viruses and how they react to low or high pH values. The most of the publications contradict each other. Some write: Viruses thrive, like bacteria, in an acidic environment. Viruses infect body cells by binding to the proteins in the cells and then multiplying. Scientific research shows that this process mainly takes place at a low pH value or in an acidic environment. An acidic environment has a pH of 0 to 7. As the pH becomes more basic, the activity of viruses decreases sharply. Scientists have established this in various studies in numerous viruses in both humans and animals. The relationship between pH value and infection-increasing activities has been demonstrated in, among others, influenza1, corona2, hepatitis C3, foot-and-mouth disease4 and other viruses in animals. By increasing the alkaline buffer in your body, which improves the pH value of your body cells, the sensitivity to viruses in the body could decrease[6][7] More: [8][9]

Since scientists are not unanimously concluding that alkalinity of food, or body care products, create a not virus-friendly environment it is necessary to wait for more research.

Sources

  1. pH value of breastmilk – ScienceDirect
  2. Skin pH of a newborn baby – PubMed
  3. Amniotic fluid has a pH of 7.1 to 7.3. – Healthline
  4. pH value of healthy lymphatic fluids – Portland Press
  5. About lymphatic fluid – PrairieNaturals
  6. Viruses are pH sensitive – Reelyse
  7. The influence of pH on SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity – ResearchGate
  8. Conditions Favoring Increased COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality: Their Common Denominator and its Early Treatment – PubMed
  9. What do we know so far about COVID-19 and alkalinity? Health Desk
  10. Additional information about pH values – Scientific Research, §6
  11. The Skin – Cretan Garden Blog

#06. Essential oils and their aroma

A short history

The use of aromatic plants and trees, goes far back in history, to the time of the Egyptians and Babylonians, 3000 – 4000 before Christ. It is told however that the oldest knowledge of essential oils.is to be found in China.

The Egyptians used the essential oils from plants and resins to mummify the dead, because of the cleansing and anti-sceptic properties. Cleopatra used essential oils to enhance her attraction. Also in the bible essential oils are mentioned, like myrrh, incense, cloves, sandalwood, rose, and cedar.

Those who worked as perfumers during the Black Death plague epidemic were not contaminated by the plague: they inhaled the aerosols which were mixed with the anti-sceptic aerosols from the plants while working with it, and also the anti-sceptic properties of the plants entered the body via the skin.[Additional: The Forgotten Pollution: Dr. Schnabel’s Hepa Filter]

Essential oils

Essential Oils are the highly concentrated, volatile, aromatic essences of plants. Essential oils are derived from the leaves, flowers, wood, seeds, roots, bark and resins of trees and plants.. Essential oils are composed out of diverse aromatic volatile liquids, which are distracted from the plant parts via steam distillation. To create one litre essential oil one needs many kilos aromatic plants. To create one litre of for instance rosemary oil one needs 50 kilos rosemary leaves, and about 5000 kilos for a rose and jasmine oil.

Essential oils and the chakras

There is hardly any information about essential oils in the combination with the term “chakras“. There seem to be essential oils however that could be helpful in the healing of blocked or disbalanced chakras. I have just one but excellent advice: the smell you are searching for on that moment, and absolutely your favourite, fits for all chakras. If you want to read more about it then this article could be helpful.

Hydrosols

Hydrosols, also known as “flower waters,” or “herbal waters”, are the water condensates from the steam distilling process of essential oils. Hydrosols have similar properties and scents to essential oils, but these aromatic waters are much less concentrated. Hydrosols are especially suited for children, because they can hardly create irritations. One or two soup spoons in a baby bath are helpful in cases of inflammations, or eczema. Consult a certified aroma therapist for the right information before experimenting with it. The pH values of hydrosol varies from 4,4 to 7. This means that it could neutralize a too alkaline skin or a too acidic skin, into a natural skin condition. Read more about the pH value in Scientific Research, scroll down to pH values.

Aroma therapy

The use of essential oils is rather safe when using these in an aroma lamp diffuser, or in massage oils and body-oils, if one is following up the advice about the total of drops on a certain total of water for a bath, footbath, or aroma lamp. Also when using essential oils in a carrier oil, like olive oil, to create a body-oil or a massage-oil, or to dilute it for just a small spot on the skin, one must be well informed about the total of drops essential oil on how much carrier oil. Internal use of essential oils is dangerous, unless one follows up the advice of a well-trained and certified aroma therapist.

Photo by Anna Tarazevich from Pexels

Quality criteria

There are many different brands on the market with all several different essential oils, and all smelling different from another brand with the same oil-name, and not smelling so nice at all. It can be related with the own nose, of course, and preferences, but it can happen that not only you dislike a certain smell: it can also depend on the brand, and the country, the climate, the height of the area, the hours of sunshine, the soil, the pH of the soil, even the entire community of plants and trees, animals, the so-called biotope where the plants grow where the essential oil is extracted from, are creating the chemotype, the ct, and the scent. It is impossible to smell an essential oil when one orders it from the web. It is therefore wise, if possible, to buy an essential oil in a good health shop.

Steam distillation is a delicate process. It needs professional experience and a constant control. The essential oil must be for hundred percent natural and may not be denaturised by half-synthetic molecules and not be mixed with essential oils with the same scent, but less expensive and of a lesser or even inferior quality..

Books

Article

  • What Are Essential Oils, and Do They Work? – Healthline

Scientific Research

  • An Overview of the Biological Effects of Some Mediterranean Essential Oils on Human Health – PubMed
  • Essential oils and Health – PubMed
  • Essential Oils, Part I: Introduction – PubMed
  • Oregano essential oil as an antimicrobial additive to detergent for hand washing and food contact surface cleaning – ResearchGate
  • Antiviral efficacy and mechanisms of action of oregano essential oil and its primary component carvacrol against murine norovirus – PubMed
  • Antibacterial activity of oregano (Origanum vulgare Linn.) against gram positive bacteria – PubMed
  • Essential Oils of Oregano: Biological Activity beyond Their Antimicrobial Properties – PubMed
  • Carvacrol, a Plant Metabolite Targeting Viral Protease (Mpro) and ACE2 in Host Cells Can Be a Possible Candidate for COVID-19 – Frontiers in Plant Science [[oregano’s principle component is carvacrol, admin]]
  • Oregano Oil and Its Principal Component, Carvacrol, Inhibit HIV-1 Fusion into Target Cells – PubMed
  • Why aromatherapy is showing up in hospital surgical units – Mayo Clinic


#05. Effect of olive oil on skin

“Effect of olive oil on skin” is a chapter in the book: Olives and Olive Oil in Health and Disease Prevention, (pp.1125-1132).

Parts of the abstract, published in ResearchGate, in 2010, by Diana Badiu, Rafael Luque, and Rajkumar Rajendram:

The popularity of cosmetics derived from natural sources is increasing. Such products are ecologically “ethical” and are effective and safe to use.

Vitamin E is the main lipophilic antioxidant that inhibits peroxidation, especially if associated with “natural” moisturizers such as the lipids in olive oil and olive extract. Vegetable oils containing EFAs have proven to be of great use in the production of cosmetics as either active incipient or raw materials for the synthesis of novel compounds. EFAs are easily integrated into the skin’s hydro-lipid film and are nourishing, moisturizing, and protective.

Some of these substances have been used for centuries yet can still meet the needs of today’s consumers. Apart from their moisturizing and soothing effects, and anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory function, these products reduce aging of the skin with their antioxidant, stabilizing action on the cellular membranes. Treatment with olive oil has no side effects. Olive oil does not burn or traumatize the skin.

More scientific research:

  • Virgin olive oil as a fundamental nutritional component and skin protector – ReasearchGate
  • Olive Oil in Botanical Cosmeceuticals – ResearchGate
  • Enhancement of antioxidant and skin moisturizing effects of olive oil by incorporation into microemulsions – ResearchGate
  • The foundation for the use of olive oil in skin care and botanical cosmeceuticals – ResearchGate

Article:

  • How to Use Olive Oil on Your Face – WikiHow

More scientific research on the website Cretan Garden: go here

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