Prepping and Your Health

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The following article was contributed by Dayna Colvin, a holistic organic writer. She is a very active environmental advocate. She and her husband live in the Pacific NW, USA and are happy new parents of an adorable baby boy and share their home with 2 adorable, wonderful, sweet cats, their furry babies. You can reach her via email and social media at:

email: [email protected]
Twitter – notperfume
Facebook Author Page – EarthStewardWriter
NotPerfume Organic Nontoxic Scent Information – notperfume

The Case for Essential Oils

Organic essential oils are a very important part of my holistic self-care and survival. I suffer from painful chemical sensitivity and asthma and I am often exposed to toxic levels of synthetic scents and cigarette smoke. The horrible exposure hurts my health to the point that I can’t breathe and the only natural remedy that will help me feel better is an organic essential oil.

Essential oils are the life blood of all plants and can save your life. One strong aromatic whiff of peppermint, orange, lemon, and eucalyptus soothes my nose and helps me feel much better. I can feel my lungs clearing and I can breathe better. I must say that I will not leave home without my favorite essential oils. I always carry a bottle of peppermint, orange, and tea tree oil in the event that I need a healing boost and I need an emergency rescue.

Peppermint is wonderful healing for the lungs and helps headaches too. Peppermint is also very energizing. Orange is a natural organic antimicrobial and is great for cleaning the air, as is lemon. Eucalyptus is great for clearing the lungs and is very energizing. I have several bottles of essential oils in my medicine cabinet and I use them to help soothe my baby when he is feeling stressed and needs some calming. Essential oils are a very important part of our first aid kit and they should be in everyone’s first aid kit.

A Warning

I do feel the need to warn people of a very serious health concern.

There are many synthetic scented products on the market, including commercial detergent, deodorizers, and personal care products that claim to contain essential oils, but the truth is to the contrary.

All synthetic scented products contain petrochemicals that were manufactured in a laboratory and there is nothing natural in any of the ingredients. Synthetic scented products contain cancer causing petrochemicals that can cause potentially harmful health hazards and are best avoided. My sensitive sense of smell immediately knows the difference between an organic pure essential oil and a synthetic scent.

The worst part about synthetic scents is that the US FDA does not regulate any scented products and companies are not required to disclose the toxic ingredients in their products. When you see a scented product that contains “fragrance”, you can be sure that it contains more than 10,000 toxic petrochemicals. When I learned this sobering fact, I was shocked and horrified and made the important decision to only purchase my personal care products from a natural food store or make my own healthy products.

Taking Charge of Your Family’s Health

There is a lot to be said about self-sufficiency and do it yourself.

For many people, this can be a slow process if this is new to you and if you don’t have the budget. I can assure you that as a mother who works hard to take care of her family and is on a fixed budget, it can be done.

A good example is that I save money and protect my family’s health with my earth friendly homemade laundry detergent. I use 1 measuring cup of baking soda and 1 measuring cup of white distilled vinegar in my laundry and it cleans very efficiently. There is no toxic residue, no toxic fumes, and the money I am saving is well worth it.

In today’s day and age, we cannot say we cannot afford to make healthy earth friendly choices. Instead, we need to say we cannot afford to make unhealthy choices. Making healthy choices for your family and voting with your wallet is the best thing you can do for survival and environmental conservation.

I highly recommend that anyone who takes survival prepping seriously take important action steps to green their home and learn to become serious label readers. It’s very important to learn what all the ingredients are in the products you buy.

Learn the difference between propylene glycol and sweet orange and pay very close attention to all the products you buy for all your family’s needs. Please do not fall for marketing tactics like “hypoallergenic”, “scent/fragrance-free”, “sensitive skin”. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap of these marketing tactics and my health suffered in painful ways.

If You Can’t Pronounce It Don’t Buy It

My simple approach that I recommend to everyone is, if you cannot pronounce the ingredients, pass it by and leave it on the shelf. If in doubt, do without is my motto and I live by this motto with all my purchases. My family has been using Dr. Bronner’s organic lavender castile soup for 20 years and we also use Earth Mama Angel Baby and we are very happy with both. My other motto I live by is keep it simple.

In my humble opinion, this is the best motto to live by to be a healthy prepper.