DoTerra Essential Oil - Lavender Magic!

So you've more than likely heard about Essential Oils by now. And you're probably wondering if they work, right? 

I remember growing up on natural remedies. Do you remember something called "Sun Rider"? Well I do, it stunk like something awful, and burned a little too. But you know what? It seemed to work on a sore throat! Crazy. And maybe it was a placebo affect, who knows, but in the end I felt better. Natural remedies have been around for thousands of years, and even though a lot of them may not match the potency of modern day medicine, they make a difference.

So with all the buzz lately, my husband and I decided to do our own research using DoTerra Essential Oils. Is it really all that it's cracked up to be? Do they make a difference? Based on our experience, the short answer is yes, but we're not yet sure if they do absolutely everything they promise to do.

But for now let's focus on the positive with a good story. 😄 Not too long ago my husband was helping me in the kitchen with some cooking and somehow managed to accidentally grab a super hot casserole dish, that he didn't know was hot! haha Needless to say it left a nasty mark and burned his right hand pretty good. Based on a book that we purchased on when to use certain oils, we found that DoTerra's Lavender Essential Oil would supposedly help with mild burns, so we decided to throw some on. Why not?! Because we all know that burn creams are dodgy at best.

So we grabbed the bottle and put a couple drops on his hand, and low and behold it worked almost instantaneously! The burning sensation went away within a minute or so, with no blisters, and no scar. Needless to say we were SUPER surprised and pretty impressed.

So as we continue to learn and grow with Essential Oils we'll be sure to post them here.

So there is a quick review for you based on a real life experience, and we hope to post a lot more!

Feel free to comment below and share your experiences with us! In the meantime here is a little video we found on YouTube explaining some of the benefits of Lavender.

Check out another one of our articles on Essential Oils

No More Excuses ~ Why You Should Drink More Hot Chocolate

Are you one of those people looking for another great excuse to eat chocolate, or to sip on another cup of hot chocolate?  

Well, I am.  I love dark chocolate especially.  My husband's favorite is white chocolate, but I'm slowly converting him over to the dark side.  The darker the better.  Read on to discover why you should drink more hot chocolate without excuses.

Years ago I recall going through a Farmer's Market in WA state.  There was a vendor there that was serving all kinds of garlic flavored dips.  He said, "Oh, don't worry about the garlic smell on your breath from my dips.  Just go 3 doors down and make sure you taste the dark chocolate samples and the garlic smell will disappear."  Sounded like a plan to me.  Now, you have to understand one thing. I Hate garlic. Period.  But I also know of the tremendous health benefits one can get from eating 1 fresh clove of garlic daily.  So I do, but I still don't like it. Well, we went 3 doors down, sampled the darkest of dark chocolate, loved it, and tested out the garlic guy's theory.  Sure enough.  It really works.  So each day after eating our 1 clove of fresh garlic daily, we top it off with a few dark chocolate covered almonds, and wahlah, no more garlic breath.

Recently a Harvard Medical School study showed that drinking two or more cups of cocoa daily can improve one's memory.  60 people with the average age of 73, were given 2 cups of cocoa a day for 30 consecutive days.  At the end of the study all but 5 showed improved blow flow to the brain and significant improvement with their memory.  Another study shows how a certain cocoa extract called Lavado actively helps fight Alzheimer's disease.  You can read more here.

Another recent study showed how cocoa can aid in weight loss.  Cocoa has the ability to boost endorphins, helps brain function and puts one in a more positive mood.  I can certainly attest to both of these. Despite the over eating of the calculated servings on our dark chocolate almonds, my husband and I are losing weight.  When we feel very anxious, upset, frustrated etc., we will eat 5-10 of these delicious dark chocolate covered almonds, are moods are nearly 100% more positive and happier.  More information can be found here.  In addition, cocoa has been helpful in reducing blood pressure, benefiting the heart and vascular function.  Click here for info.

Cocoa is loaded with minerals such as iron, manganese, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc.  It has more antioxidants than red wine per same serving size.  It is almost twice that of red wine, and 2-3 times stronger than green tea, and 5-7 times stronger than black tea.  When purchasing cocoa powder, try to avoid those that have undergone Dutch Processing.  That takes all the good stuff out.

If you are looking for an excuse to drink more hot chocolate, made from the dark cocoa powder, then here you have it.  From the above to other benefits such as strengthening teeth, being kind to diabetics, preventing cancer, protecting skin, then stop looking for excuses to not drink it, because now you have many reason to drink a cup or two of hot chocolate a day.

One way to help increase the health benefits of your everyday hot chocolate mix, add cacao powder, (in it's raw form) or cacao nibs.  What we like to do is buy the high content cacao chocolate bars and add a square to our regular hot chocolate as it is heating up.  You can find our hot chocolate mix here.
We especially love drinking them out of these Serafino glasses by Ozeri.  They are so perfect, as they don't burn our hands, look awesome, and pretty much unbreakable, but looks and feels like glass.

True Synergy - Pure and Potent Turmeric Curcumin Extract

Details:  True Synergy offers a Pure and Potent Turmeric Curcumin Extract.  It comes in capsule form.  Turmeric has powerful antioxidant effects.  It neutralizes free radicals on its own, then stimulates the body's own antioxidant enzymes.

Turmeric supports joint, heart and brain health.  It benefits radiant skin and hair.  It helps relieve pain and inflammation in the body safely and naturally.  Helps those suffering from arthritis.  Helps with Alzheimers.

#turmeric

My Product Review:  Turmeric or Curcumin is one of those items that should be in everyone's medicine cabinet or spice rack.  It controls diabetes, builds and improves the immune system, and digestive system.  It speeds up wound healing.  (Put it directly on cut or wound.)  It's a natural liver detoxifier and a natural pain killer.  Turmeric does so many more wonderful things.

I've purchased Turmeric from grocery stores to sprinkle on my foods during and after cooking.  Love it for making yellow rice, and making my gravies more appetizing and appealing to the eye.  It's a natural yellow coloring.  However, whenever I sprinkle this on my foods after cooking, even though I mix it in real well, I have severe stomach cramps.

Because I know how good turmeric is for our bodies, I've been searching for a capsule form that I can take without any side effects.  True Synergy offers such a product.  They suggest taking 1 capsule a day with a meal.  Let me tell you, I can take this with or without a meal, and take more than 1 a day without any side effects, aka stomach cramps, whatsoever.

I especially like the way it helps my back.  When I have a long day working out in the yard, believe me, 1 capsule is all I need to relieve any back pain I may have encountered.  This is awesome.

My husband likes taking it because he wants to avoid any colds or flus. It has definitely strengthened our immune systems.  We still have a few sneezes and sniffles, but that's it.  And even those have significantly decreased.

We've only been taking these capsules for a couple of weeks, so haven't noticed any other benefits. However, turmeric has been added to our daily routine of healthy eating.

Pros:  Love that my stomach can tolerate this, and my back pain simply vanishes within 30 minutes of taking just 1 capsule.

My Rating:  A Big Thumbs UP!!!

Disclaimer:
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Almased

Details: Almased is a low glycemic soy based health shake.  It speeds up and improves your metabolism.  This is diabetic friendly.  Made in Germany from high quality fermented soy, yogurt, and honey.  All natural, non GMO, and gluten free.  Supports healthy blood sugar levels and thyroid function. 

My Review: Mom's Thumb Reviews team is always looking for great healthy tips, advice, tools, and options for people to choose from.  Almased is one of the best products in the shake department that we have tried.  The suggested way to drink it is to take the serving amount and put it into 10oz of filtered water/ skim milk/ Almond milk, with a tap of ground cinnamon, and a tbsp of olive oil/ flaxseed oil.  Here is what I have found: water is not a good medium to mix the Almased in.  Skim milk is the most cost effective choice, and Almond milk and skim milk taste the best.  I have stopped adding the oil after the first week because it was weird tasting and made my drink super lumpy.  I love the cinnamon!  After 3 weeks I am in love with this product.  My body feels so good when I have this. And I have learned that when I drink an Almased in the morning I also want one for dinner.  So I've been eating a regular meal for lunch and half a meal for dinner.   I have yet to get the total control and courage to try the 14 day Almased diet cleanse.  But I will because it sounds amazing.

Doing this for 3 days of straight Almased for 3 meals a day, and then 4 days of Almased for 2 meals I lost 8 lbs, and since then have lost another 3 lbs.  It works!

Pros: great flavor, feels good to the body,  easy to find online or in stores

Cons: tastes bad in water, can be grainy texture

Skintactix Acne Rosacea 30 Day Treatment

Want a great way to get rid of acne? 

Skintactix is a company that specializes in products for Acne, Rosacea, Blackheads, Whiteheads, Oil Skin, Skin Damage, Sunscreen etc.  They have a great page to help you identify what kind of acne you may have, including pictures.  This is a valuable tool.  Once you know what you are treating, you can go to their web pages that describe the products you will need to take care of that skin condition.  Most skin conditions should see great improvement within 30 days.  They offer a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee with all products.

Review: My husband has had rosacea for a very long time.  He gets it so bad, that he will get the bumps on the insides of his eyelids.  He has been to eye doctors to help relieve him of this.  He has undergone some pretty hairy procedures to remove those bumps.  His eyes will swell up really bad even before going to the doctor.  His forehead is usually covered with enough spots to look like he's got the measles or something.  He keeps his hair longer on his forehead to hide it.  Sometimes when he eats really spicy foods, or gets really really stressed, his whole face turns into a big mass of red splotches and bumps.  Many doctors have told him it is something he'll just have to live with.

He has tried over the counter cleansers that pharmacists recommend, he has tried the over counter stuff that doctors have suggested.  He has been on prescription drugs as well, just to clear this condition up.  Of course nothing works long term, meaning nothing over 5 days.

Day 1 of use

Day 2 of use

Then our daughter introduced the Skintactix Acne/Rosacea products to us.  There is a 4 step routine to follow both morning and night.  My husband has never spent so much time on his face before, but he definitely likes what the results are.  Just a word of caution...the products did say it could worsen before it gets better.  Please note the pictures of Day 1 and Day 2 of use with Skintactix.  Yes! His face got extremely worse on Day 2.  He was ready to throw those things out the window.  After checking with the website, and read that is normal, he continued.

Week 2

Week 3

It's been 3 weeks exactly now.  The website says to give it a full 30 days.  Well, right now, look at the difference. He is so excited about the improvement.  We are in the process of waiting to hear back from the company if he needs to continue these products after 30 days of use, or stop then start again if the rosacea returns.

In the meantime, there are some other things he wanted to be sure was mentioned.  The routine does dry his face out during the day.  There is a moisturizer, which is step #4, but that doesn't really stop the sloughing off of the 3rd step poultice.  Since he works from home that isn't too much of a problem, but when he goes somewhere like to church, he has to continue to brush off the sandy type material from off his clothes.  He did say he's willing to put up with this because of the improvement he has seen.

Week 4

Pros:  My husband has never been so excited as this to see his face clear up from his long standing rosacea.  He keeps hoping it will last and not return.  The best part is that he hasn't had any of those bumps under his eyelids, and his skin is almost back to normal.

Cons:  For me the biggest downside to all of this is the smell.  It lingers all day all night.  I can't stand it.  I almost have to hold my breath when I kiss him because the products really stink.  My husband says he gets used to it, and is willing to put up with the smell because it is actually working.  His biggest complaint is that Step 3 product is very dry, and this sloughs off his face all day long.  Not only that, but there is not enough of this product to last 3 weeks.

Update:  When my husband received these products, the #3 like mentioned above in the Cons section was extremely dry.  We have been in contact with the  Skintactix Company via email.  (Their voicemail has not been set up.)  They have always responded within a 24 hour business day, have been extremely helpful and concerned about making good on their products.  They will be sending him a new #3 Green Tea Poultice, and did mention that #3 isn't supposed to be dry.  Unfortunately, it is made with a natural clay that has a sulfur smell, hence the smell that I cannot stand.  However, it was good that they let us know this. 

My Rating: A Great Big Thumbs Up for improving the rosacea for my husband!!!  A thumbs down on the smell and flakiness of the poultice (step 3.)  



UPDATE:  After 2 full months after my husband stopped using Skintactix products for his Rosacea, his face has remained clear.  We're both still very impressed.

Hemp Hearts

Health and Wellness: Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils: Hemp Hearts are raw shelled hemp seeds.  They are natural, non GMO,vegan approved, and made with 100% wind power.  The facility where Hemp Hearts are processed is a dairy, soy, nut and gluten free facility.  3tbsp is the daily serving size, with each 8oz bag containing 8 servings.  Per serving there is no cholesterol, no sodium, 10g of protein, and no trans fats.  Hemp foods in general are packed with sustainable nutrition and natural energy.  Hemp foods have a slightly nutty flavor, is a complete vegetarian protein making it very easy to digest, has the ideal ratio of Omega 6-Omega 3 including GLA and SDA, and contain fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and other vitamins and minerals.  Hemp comes in the Hemp Hearts (Natural and Organic options), Hemp protein powder, and Hemp Oil.  The Hemp protein powder has a variety of different options available as well.

My Product Review:  I found Hemp Hearts when researching specific foods that helps nurture and  strengthen your physical heart.  There are plenty of herbal supplements available at pretty much any store that has a pharmacy, but to find foods that are specific to heart health, this is huge!  The CEO and Co-Founder of Hemp Hearts was introduced to these miracle seeds when he was super unhealthy, lacking of energy, and on the verge of being very sick and ill.  He fell in love with the nutritious little seeds and has found a very environmentally safe way to process and provide these to the world.  When I got my order I found a few very interesting and very pleasing aspects about this company.

1. My Hemp Hearts were packaged the day I placed my order, so they were super fresh, and have the best possible shelf life because of how fresh the package was.
2. I got my Hemp Hearts 3 days after they were processed and packaged specifically to me order.
3. I got a great sample cook book with 10 amazing recipes to use Hemp Hearts in, plus a website link that gives me a cookbook all about Hemp.
4. A brochure of all the best Hemp products, with sample recipes and ideas on how to use each product.

Salad with Hemp Hearts

Rice with Hemp Hearts

Smoothie with Hemp Hearts

Hemp Heart encrusted fish fillet

I have personally tried this straight out of the package, in a rice dish, as a fish fillet crust, on a salad and in a Green Smoothie.  My Mother In Law fell in love with Hemp Hearts when she ate my fish fillet encrusted in Hemp Hearts (Hemp Hearts was mixed with Lindwoods Co-Q10 ground flaxseed/almonds/brazil nuts and walnuts mix and used as the fish crust).  She is very excited to start adding Hemp into her diet.  I love them too!  They taste really good, are super healthy, and make everything taste really good!

Pros: healthy, vegan, all natural, organic, heart healthy, tastes amazing! You can find their products in shops like The Vitamin Shoppe, on Amazon, and Long Gevity Warehouse in bulk.

Cons: my package doesn't last very long, I need a bulk order

                                                                              My Rating

Odwalla Juice

Odwalla Juice is great! 

They come in 10 packs of 12 oz bottles in 3 different flavors.  4 mango tango, 3 original superfood antioxidant vitamin C and other nutrients, 3 bluberry B-Vit.  When you buy this package you are helping the Haiti Hope project as Odwalla donates money from each purchase to this charity.  Mango Tango has 220 calories, 44 grams of sugar, 370 mg of potassium, vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Vitamin E.  Original Superfood has 190 calories, 37 grams of sugar 550 mg of potassium, Iodine, Iron, Manganese plus the other mentioned vitamins.  Blueberry B has 210 calories, 34 grams of sugar, 530 mg of potassium, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Niacin, Floate, Biotin, Pantothenic acid, Vitamin B6, B12, plus the other mentioned vitamins.  The bottles are biodegradable and can be recycled.

My Product Review:  Here's the thing, I bought these because one of my husband's coworkers drinks them for breakfast during the work week.  So I bought them at Costco, and my husband loves each flavor, with the Mango Tango as his favorite because it has more sugar and is sweetest.  Wanting to review these I had to try them too.  I only like the Mango Tango.  The Blueberry B was the most gross to me.  But let me explain.  Its not gross, it just has a funny taste, and I can tell you its not the vitamins because I could handle that flavor.  I don't really know what the funny taste is but its too funny for me to ever drink it.  The Original Superfruit is okay to me. Again, my husband and his coworker love all the flavors.  What I do like about the bottles is that I can wash them out and use them for crafts, science experiments, and or fill them up with colored water and super glue the lids on for my kids to play with their pretend kitchen set outside.  Here's the thing, they are healthy enough that I would recommend them, but test them and see if you like the flavors.  I'm comparing them to my fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies I drink for breakfast and lunch and love my flavors better.  I give this product a thumbs up because my husband loves them, but a thumbs down because I don't.  They are priced awesome, so give them a try, as its all natural and organic not everyone has the same taste buds.