Why I didn’t get therapeutic traction from any oil brands other than Young Living

I had been using essential oils on and off since my early 20s before I stumbled across Young Living 2 decades later. I was what you would call an oils sceptic…thinking that oils were simply something that you burned in your house to smell nice or to use as perfume. It never dawned on me to use them medicinally or to ingest them. 

Then I opened up a bottle of YL Thieves oils that a friend gave to me after a mould nightmare in my home and my hairs stood on end with full head to toe good bumps (my sign of truth). I was energetically drawn to that little bottle of Thieves like a month to a flame and simply had to get some more once it ran out. One oil turned into a starter kit a couple weeks later and I started using the YL oils over the coming months and years with some profound effects. I realised that they were different to anything else I had used before - they worked like medicine. I got genuine therapeutic traction from them in a way that I never got with other oils. They boosted my and my kids’ systems so we got sick less and recovered quickly, they fortified my emotional resilience, lowered my cortisol levels and improved memory function, clarity of thought and concentration. No matter what ill or issue presented (whether it was emotional or physical), I found myself saying “there’s an oil for that”.  When I discovered that I was able to deal with all and any issues in my own home at any hour of the day or night without handing over all my power to external providers, well, at that point… the game changed. Profoundly. I became my family’s alchemist and healer and that touched something deep in my ancient DNA. 

I went on a quest to determine what exactly makes YL oils so different to anything else on the market. After much research I discovered  that YL has a “seed to seal” policy which  basically means that YL is the only oils company that has full control over its processes and provides full sourcing and processing transparency  from planting of the seeds, harvesting, distillation, testing and sealing of the bottle- end to end. This Seed to Seal policy makes YL unique and ensures unparalleled quality control and transparency. There is no other oils company that:

• own its own farms (and even allows and encourages you to visit them!)

• harvests the plants at their peak harvest time so they work like medicine

• distills on site so the plants don’t lose their potency

• does as much testing as YL (down to the parts per million)

• provides total transparency end to end, from planting of the seed to sealing the bottle.

As someone who is extremely passionate about the provenance of our food and transparency with its source and processing, YL do exactly the same with their oils. 

While all of the hundreds of steps and processes that go into the Seed to Seal process ensures unparalleled quality, 2 keys aspects that I like to highlight that appear to make a profound difference are:

1. YL harvests plants at their peak harvest time: there is a point in time when a plant is at its “peak” i.e. when all the chemical constituents (the naturally occurring compounds) are present in the oil at their highest and most consistent bioactive levels. When a plant is harvested at its peak harvest time, THAT’S when the chemical constituents of the plant are at their highest levels and hence the oil that is captured from the plant has true therapeutic qualities. Ylang Ylang for example is harvested at 2am because through trial and error YL discovered that that is that plant’s peak harvest time. Other oil brands will harvest when commercially convenient. Not YL. When a plants is not harvested as it peak harvest time, the oils might smell nice but it won’t provide the greatest therapeutic traction that a peak harvested plant will provide.

2. Unlike other oils brands, YL does not fractionate their oils. Fractionation involves skimming off the heavier, fattier, more pungent molecules on the top to provide for a sweeter smelling oil. Like skimming the cream off full fat milk, fractionation adulterates the essential oil and undermines the oil’s innate intelligence and therapeutic properties. This is why YL oils smell more rich, pungent and earth-like than the equivalent oil of other brands. The same oils in other brands smell sweeter (often sickly sweet like candy) because sweet smelling things sell well. But they don’t work as well.

Trust that when you purchase YL oils you are purchasing unparalleled quality therapeutic-grade oils and supporting a company that cuts no corners in setting the standard for the industry.  

To purchase a YL starter kit and join our low tox community, simply fill out the contact form on this page of my website. We would LOVE to connect you to YL and support in your wellness journey every step of the way with our free comprehensive resources, personalised support and access to our vibrant community.

Love,
Soulla 

Watch my 10 minute overview of the 8 foundations of health

It was a pleasure to be invited by XM.com (one of the world’s leading retail financial markets trading companies) to speak on the topic of wellness for financial market traders and provide a broad health framework that traders all around the globe can apply to optimise their health, wellness and performance.  

I was interviewed by Boardroom Media anchor Andrew Musgrave and XM.com CEO Peter McGuire. 

I gave a very broad overview of the 8 Foundations of Health…. Something I would have truly benefited in hearing and adopting when I was a young corporate lawyer for 10 years back in the day (it would have saved me a series of health crises 😪). 

Learn more about the 8 Foundations of Health in my FOOD AS MEDICINE DIGITAL PACKAGE which dives into more detail in each foundation of health focusing on nutrition. This ultimate health and wellness package contains:

✔️over 5 hours of nutritional talks on the fundamentals of robust nutrition, gut health and creating a less toxic home

✔️ a 60 page “How To” manual that sets you up for life 

✔️ 5 online cooking classes (bone broth, slow cooks, organ meats, baked cakes and chocolate).

In health,
Love Soulla xx

My top 7 tips for grain consumption

Who doesn't love a warming bowl of oat porridge or freshly baked sourdough bread smeared with butter? The Italians certainly devour their pasta and rice is a staple for Asians.  While grain consumption is ubiquitous globally especially the Western world, this wasn’t always the case. Our hunter gatherer ancestors spent the majority of their existence on this planet (spanning approx. 2.6 million years) eating a grain-free palaeolithic diet primarily of nose-to-tail animals, vegetables, seafood, nuts, fermented foods and a little fruit. We can certainly survive (and thrive!) without grains (and many people do!) but to do so is often regarded as “weird” or “extreme” or “difficult” (especially when it comes to kids) and most people (short of a medical reason) would consume them at least occasionally.  

I am often asked “Soulla, what do you think about grains?” Well, it’s too big a question to unpack in one or two sentences. But the answer goes something like this: 

If you can live without grains, all the more power to you. I consider them as empty fillers at best or as the vessel or portal by which to consume more nutrient dense foods. At worst (and here I’m referring to the ultra processed grains) they are, in a word, toxic, and do more harm than good especially the gluten containing grains.  

If you do consume grains whether regular or occasionally or rarely, here are my top seven tips: 

1.  SOURCING- ideally buy organic as conventional grains are typically heavily sprayed with pesticides, adding to your toxic load. When it comes to bread opt for bread made from ancient grains as opposed to modern day hybridised versions that are a far cry from the grains cultivated 10,000 years ago. My favourite brand is Iggys.  

2. PROCESSING - ideally buy grains that are as least processed as possible as the more processing means the more denaturing which reduces nutritional content. For example when it comes to oats, opt for steel cut as opposed to rolled oats which are more processed. Quick oats are even more processed again (ditto all the cereals that line the supermarket shelves). Puffed grains are also denatured.  

3. PREPARATION- grains need be properly prepared through soaking, sprouting or fermenting (which includes the sourdough process), to reduce the phytates and other anti nutrients found in them (which wreak digestive havoc). Proper preparation makes grains more digestible and more nutritious. Eg. opt for sourdough bread as opposed to yeasted bread, soak rice or oats overnight in water then discard the soaking water. Grains need to then be cooked well to aid in their digestion.  

4. FREQUENCY OF CONSUMPTION - ideally eat only occasionally (not daily) as humans did not evolve to eat grains. We survived and thrived for 2.6 million years without them. Grain are newcomers in the human diet and were first cultivated only 10,000 years ago which is a tiny blip on the timescale of human evolution. Consequently the overconsumption of any thing that we are biologically designed to eat results in illness and disease. Read the book Grain Brain for more info.  

5. VARIETY- favour gluten-free grains over gluten-containing grains as gluten is a difficult protein to digest. If you’re coeliac, avoid all gluten-containing grains (wheat, rye, barley) and ideally all grains as they can cross react. Take precautions against over consuming gluten if you have that coeliac gene as gluten consumption can, at any point, trigger the gene to express itself. If you have non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, you’ve got a little more wiggle-room than if you were full blown coeliac, so eat occasionally or sparingly but gauge feedback from your body. Gluten-free grains include rice, oats, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa and millet (unless processed in a factory that contains gluten). My favourite porridges are made with rice or oats. Check out my recipe here. I make pancakes with buckwheat flour instead of wheat flour   

6. TURBO CHARGE NUTRIENT DENSITY - despite what mainstream dietetics tells you, think of grains as empty fillers, hence why we want to turbo charge their nutrient density with pastured animal products. I infused my porridge with egg yolks, butter and cream and cook the rice in whole milk instead of water. I slather on inches of butter (and chicken liver pate or sardines or avocado) on sourdough bread. I infuse my fried rice with loads of bacon and veggies. Ditto for risottos. And I cook the rice in bone broth instead of water.  

7. AVOID IF FAT LOSS IS A GOAL -  grains turn to sugar very quickly in the body which gets stored as fat (thanks to insulin hormone) if not burnt off through movement. If fat loss is a goal, go easy on the grains and eat more animal protein and natural fats. In the words of Chris Kresser “think of rice as glucose”.  

I hope these 7 tips help you to navigate the world of grains a little better.  

Learn more robust nutritional theory in my FOOD AS MEDICINE DIGITAL PACKAGE which is the culmination of over two decades of my learning, research and practical experience consolidated into a comprehensive yet concise package for you. This ultimate health and wellness package contains over five hours of nutritional talks on the fundamentals of robust nutrition, gut health and creating a less toxic home, plus a 60-page “How To” manual that sets you up for life plus five online cooking classes (bone broth, slow cooks, organ meats, baked cakes and chocolate). Co-presented with Marieke Rodenstein (Australia’s leading holistic dietician and Kresser Institute functional medicine practitioner) this ultimate package provides you with all the tools, information and resources to optimise your health.