Essential Oils make great flavoring for water

An essential oil is a liquid that is generally
distilled (most frequently by steam or water) from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Essential oils, are not oily-feeling at all. Pure, unadulterated essential oils are translucent and range in color from clear to deep blue. Essential oils contain the true essence of the plant it was derived from and are highly concentrated. While a very few essential oils, such as lavender and tea tree, are safe to apply directly to the skin, most are so concentrated that they must be diluted with 'carrier oils such as sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, grapeseed oil and then apply this blend to the skin for absorption. Essential oils have been used for centuries in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits.

Essential oils are easy to use on any age person and most people love them. Learn about Garden Essence Essential Oils and about the different ways to use essential oils.

One way that I like to use the oils is to flavor water. My favorite is Grapefruit, just a drop or two and you have the most amazing tasting calorie free water. Grapefruit is detoxifying and has diuretic properties. Lemon stimulates liver and lymph activity, it is highly detoxifying and energizing. Lime helps wake up your mind. Mandarin & Orange are great for anxiety and stress, they are very calming. Why pay $1.00 or more for flavored bottled water when you can make your own from high quality essential oils?

I have people ask me from time to time to look into the oils that they like, which are always MLM based companies. While these companies always have great oils, due to the nature of how the multi level business is run, the cost of the products end up costing 4 to 5 times as much as Garden Essence Oils. Garden Essence Oils are 100% pure, single species, first distillation, guaranteed free of pesticides and herbicides, for aromatherapy use oils. Or in laymen's terms, these are the best oils money can buy. You can spend more on your oils, but you are NOT getting better oils. I had a customer just call and order Rose Oil, which is a very expensive oil. She exclaimed, well, not as expensive as YL Oils, our's was $42.53 vs $200.00 for YL oils. We want to help people and in this economy the way to help people is with high quality products at affordable prices. I can sleep well at night knowing that we are doing that at Herbs First.

Bulk herbs that are high in fiber

We have had a lot of people order the same three bulk items lately, Apple Pectin, Guar Gum and Psyllium husk. I assumed that that they were using it for some kind of weightloss and after getting so many orders I finally emailed a customer to see what they were using it for. The customer I emailed said they are body builders on a restricted diet and they use it to keep the hunger pangs down. They combine the three herbs and add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon to 8 to 16 oz. water, mix it and drink it quickly because it gels up fast. This little concoction will do more than just keep you from feeling hungry, there are a lot of health benefits to eating fiber.

Fiber maintains the bulk needed for peristalsis to work properly. Fiber is more filling and moves from the stomach and through the intestines slower than other foods. This combo can be a good in addition to a healthy diet to help with the feeling of satiety and keeping the entire digestive system working well.

Apple pectin has been found to be helpful in lowering cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well as decreasing the chances of colon cancer and other diseases.

Guar Gum is thermogenic, meaning it helps to burn fat by converting it to energy. It is also a great herb for people suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome and other disorders of the intestinal tract.

Psyllium husk also helps with Colitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, as well as lowering blood sugar count. It has been found to pass more fat in stools.

Apple Pectin, Guar Gum and Psyllium husk combined make a good source of fiber to help with the feeling of fulness as well as being a good way to keep food moving through the intestinal tract. It is fun to learn about how people are using the herbs they buy from Herbs First.

Is Candida causing your health problems?

Candida albicans is a yeast that lives in all of us. When the digestive system is working properly, the amount of Candida in the body is kept in balance. With the overuse of antibiotics and the consuming of unhealthy amounts of sugars and the wrong carbohydrates, Candida can grow out of control.

Some of the most frequent Candida symptoms are:
• abdominal gas and bloating • headaches • migraines • excessive fatigue • cravings for alcohol • anxiety • vaginitis • rectal itching • cravings for sweets • inability to think clearly or concentrate • hyperactivity • mood swings • diarrhea • constipation • itching • acne • eczema • depression • sinus inflammation • pre-menstrual syndrome • dizziness • poor memory • persistent cough • earaches • low sex drive • muscle weakness • irritability • learning difficulties • sensitivity to fragrances and/or other chemicals • thrush • athlete's foot • sore throat • indigestion • acid reflux • chronic pain • and more.....

Candida symptoms mimic many diseases and misdiagnosis is common. Many people suffer for years going from doctor to doctor, which eventually leads people to alternative solutions.

Christopher Protocol for getting rid of Candida:

Day 1 & 2: drink one quart of Black Walnut and Pau d’ arco tea (one quart of combined herbs) or take 5 capsules five times a day of Dr. Christopher's Intestinal Sweep Formula. This will kill the yeast. If nausea occurs, take plant enzymes with the tea -Take Dr. Christopher’s Lower Bowel formula to help flush out the dead candida. It is important for the bowels to be working to flush out the candida, take the Lower Bowel Formula the entire time to have three bowel movements per day.

For the next 14 days, take five capsules five times per day of Dr. Christopher’s Soothing Digestion formula, or one tablespoon of Slippery Elm gruel five times a day. The herbs will coat, soothe and heal the lesions in the intestinal wall caused by the candida.

After 14 days repeat day 1 & 2

For the next week, take triple the stated dosages on the label amounts of multi-strain Pro-biotics to re-establish the flora. The pro-biotics need to be taken for a week to rebuild the flora. Primadophilus® Optima has 14 strains of friendly bacteria and would be a good choice.

Note: Do not feed the yeast during this procedure. Do not consume any sugar or alcohol in any form, dairy, grains or fruit. Enjoy wonderful vegetable, nuts, seeds and sprouted legume diet. Read more on this protocal on Herbal Legacy.

In three weeks you will be enjoying renewed health!

Is Bottled Water Good for You?

The average person today chooses to drink bottled water over tap water. If you ask someone the reason they drink bottled water, the typical response is, "It tastes better" or "It's cleaner". We've all heard it and more than likely we have said it ourselves.

What most of us may not know is that the FDA regulates bottled water as a packaged food product. You may be thinking, "Well, it has to be better for you then, right?" Although there are strict guidelines, a four year scientific study of 1000 brands of bottled water performed by the Natural Resources Defense Council showed that 1/3 of the bottled waters violated their own industry standards. Also, they found that the water contained bacteria and even arsenic.

Bottled water is no better than tap water. Blind taste tests have been performed to see how many people actually preferred the bottled water over the tap water. During one test, 75% of the participants picked the bottle that was filled with tap water over the store bought bottled water.

So, bottled water does not taste better, and is not cleaner. In fact, many bottled water labels state that the source of the water is a municipal water supply. This means that you just paid $1.50 or more for the same water that's coming out of your faucet. The only difference between bottled water and tap water is that bottled water leaves you with a landfill full of plastic bottles.

According to Erik Olson, drinking water expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council, on bottled water, "Pepsi was the first to see it and got involved. They used their existing marketing and their existing transportation and so on. They're making money hand over fist just by basically selling Coke or Pepsi without the syrup in it f

or as much or more than they sell the Coke or Pepsi."

Alkaline water, on the other hand, has been shown in many scientific studies to truly be cleaner and improve your health. Alkaline water is linked to weight loss, helping with diabetes, helping with cancer and many other diseases in the world today. It has also been shown to be six times more hydrating than regular tap water or bottled water. You will pay approximately $400 per year for bottled water, drinking one bottle of water per day. As we all know, we need much more than that to stay healthy. Now we are looking at approximately $1600 per year to stay properly hydrated, but we are also paying to consume bacteria and poisons. Not to mention, over 1,000 plastic bottles that need to be disposed of or recycled. The cost of a water Ionizer is about $1700 and is a one-time cost. The machine is expected to last about 30 years. That's $56 per year for the machine plus replacement filters as needed.

Not only is alkaline water better for you, its cost effective as well. I don't know about you, but staying healthy and saving money sounds good to me!

Save 15% on the Genesis Platinum, enter code "spring15" when checking out.

The information we provide in our newsletters is not intended to diagnose or cure our readers. This information is provided for informational purposes. Please consult your doctor if you have a serious medical condition.

NutriRain Herbal Sprays

People comment from time to time that they like to purchase from Herbs First because we are loyal to our product line and helpful to people in recommending formulas that will help their particular ailment. I really appreciate feedback like that, because I get calls from manufacturers wanting us to add their products to our site. I feel we have the best that is available with Dr. Christopher and Western Botanicals formulas, the formulas do what they are supposed to do. It is rare that my curiosity is ever peaked about any other product line, and we are not going to just add a bunch of products to the site. We are very familar with the products that we sell because we use them.

Our warehouse received a shipment of NutriRain herbal sprays. I brought some home to use to decide if they would be a good addition to what we carry. I liked that they are sprays which is something we don’t already have, and being an oral spray they are quickly absorbed into the system for almost immediate use. Each little sprayer has 220 sprays in it, and at a dose of 2 - 3 spray each bottle will last from 70 to 110 doses which I find to be a good value for the money. Liquid herbals quite often are not tasty, but from the four that I tried I found that the taste was ok.

I put the Active Energy spray by my desk to give myself a quick pick-me-up. The label says to take it twice a day, but I find that I take it a bit more than that, closer to 4 times a day. Compared to the high cost of energy drinks on the market, at a little over 20 cents per dose Active Energy is very affordable.

I’m a pretty high stress person and find that I need sleep aids more often than not, so was excited to try the Deep Sleep. I have my array of choices in my night stand from Kava Kava, Slumber, Sweet Dreams, Relax-Eze, Mindtrac & Melatonin. With sleep aids I find I have to take something different every few nights. Deep Sleep spray is very quick and easy to use in the middle of the night if I wake up, I take a couple of sprays and quickly fall back to sleep. A bottle of Deep Sleep will easily last me three months, a good value for the price.

I tried the Satisfied Libido spray and won’t go into detail but feel that it helped.

Last but not least and on the top of my list is the Balance for Females. I’m getting a bit older and having hot flashes every now and again, so jumped on the chance to try an herbal spray that works for hot flashes. Of the four that I tried this is my favorite so far, because I can be in the middle of a hot flash and spray 2 - 3 sprays and with in a minute or so it is gone! Talk about fast. Morning and night three sprays has been about right for me. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a hot flash, so keep it by my bed side for quick use.

I’m excited to try the other two, Sunshine Mood for those grumpy or PMS days. Defense Immune Spray would be a great one to have in your purse during the cold season. Easy to take to work or school or on the run. Often if I am out in public and people are coughing I try to remember to take some Immune System Formula when I get home. Having a bottle of Defense Immune would be handy to put in the purse and use when needed. I have had bottles of extract in my purse and on quite a few occasions dropped them and of course they always break. The sprays are in plastic bottles so breakage won’t be a problem.

I don’t think that the sprays will replace anything that I currently use, but to have the option of using a spray will be a nice addition to my herbal program. NutriRain Herbal Sprays are suitable for all ages and easy to use. The bottle has a little safety tab that needs to be broken off before use. We hope you will enjoy this great line of sprays.