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6 Ways to Travel Well and Stay Well (Especially With Kids!)

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Beeyoutiful Mary Leave a comment

Along with fun and excitement, traveling also brings a measure of stress on a body’s health and well being. It takes a toll with later nights, strange beds, hectic (yet fun!) schedules, and exposure to more people and places and thus more germs. There is nothing worse than being out of town and sick, except being out of town, sick and without your favorite supplies. It’s doubly awful if the ones who succumb are young children!

Our family had a stomach bug catch us several years ago on the tail end of a long trip for my husband’s job. Having Tummy Tuneup, Activated Charcoal, Essential Oils, and Vitamin D on hand helped kept me from getting sick too, and we were able to get home quickly and recover.

Here are the strategies and items that I consider absolutely crucial in my family’s travel arsenal.

When I get to our hotel room, I immediately plug in our diffuser. Optimally, I can add Eucalyptus Essential Oil and Bandito Blend into the Breeze and then we can go out for a couple of hours, giving the essential oils time to do their disinfecting jobs. But, since I have littles, I will usually turn instead to a child-friendly combination of Lemon, Spearmint, Tangerine and Thyme to diffuse. Those oils are less irritating to their little systems but still are effective at going after bacteria.
I always bring a small travel size spray bottle. When I arrive, I add several drops of Spearmint, Thyme and Tangerine Essential Oils and then fill with water. I use this to wash down all the surfaces in the hotel. You can also pull down the beds and spray the mattresses, if necessary; just spray lightly and then allow to air dry. That, combined with diffusing into the air, will cleanse the room of the majority of potential threats.
Before we go out in crowds, we prevent, prevent, prevent! If it’s summer, I usually skip the Vitamin D. But if it’s winter or we already seem a bit unwell, we dose up with Cod Liver Oil for extra Vitamin A and D. A dose of an elderberry syrup is next. And finally, we never travel without our probiotics! Our choice is usually Tummy Tuneup because it is easy to dose the little ones, and it’s shelf-stable so I don’t have to worry about keeping it refrigerated.
In case our tummies go sour, we keep extra Tummy Tuneup, Activated Charcoal, and essential oils on hand. Our favorites are Spearmint (for anyone under 10), Peppermint, and Oregano, each well diluted in a carrier oil and massaged on the feet, lightly on the abdomen, and down the spine. We open a capsule and put Tummy Tuneup powder under the tongue. I use Charcoal to both treat and prevent the spread of upset stomachs; it’s highly absorbent and can quickly bind to toxins and move them out of the digestive system.
If a nose is running, we dose up with our Berry Well and Vitamin D [LINK] and then keep a paper towel handy with a few drops of either Spearmint or Peppermint to assist in breathing. (I use Spearmint for children under ten and Peppermint for ten and over.) We also brew a big cup of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea to sip. All you need is your hotel room’s coffee maker and you are all set with hot water to make enough tea for everyone.
Cuts and bruises! Busy travel days in unfamiliar environments can lead to more accidents and injuries than normal. I clean well with soapy water and then slather on some Miracle Skin Salve. For stings, bites, and sunburns, I bring along a baggie of dried Plantain (at home we often use the fresh leaves, but in urban areas it can be scarce or there is a possibility of pesticides). For fresh plantain, just chewing it up a bit and applying the crushed leaf to the sting or bites brings almost immediate relief. You do that with dried plantain as well, or you can make a poultice with hot water and the dried leaves.

While these items don’t chase away every chance of sickness, they do make any downtimes on trips a lot less stressful. Have we missed any of your favorite tips or products? We would love to hear your travel tips!

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BONUS POST: 10 Simple Immune-Boosting Strategies Anyone Can Use

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Beeyoutiful Mary Leave a comment

You knew we’d come through with more than we promised, didn’t you? Here’s a BONUS POST in our Five Days of Immunity Boosters. Let us know which of the strategies discussed this week is your favorite!

The key to staying strong is a healthy immune system. These ten suggestions are the protocols that many of us at Beeyoutiful use to guard our own families against viruses, colds, and flu. We are not doctors and thus cannot diagnose or prescribe for your specific health situation. If at anytime you or a loved one becomes ill, please seek appropriate medical attention. 1. Eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables. We’re talking about 5-7 servings per day. Consider serving things like cole slaw (especially if you can sneak in a little probiotic-rich yogurt and honey), steamed cabbage, and sautéed onions and brussels sprouts. Adding garlic or fresh herbs to these dishes will not only enhance the flavors, but will also add a small antiviral boost. Cruciferous veggies contain glucosinolates which directly stimulate the thymus. Your thymus is the control center for your immune system, so supporting and nourishing the thymus is very important for maintaining a healthy stasis.

2. Supplement with thymus and immune system-supporting nutrients. The following are some favorites used by our Beeyoutiful families. We tend to pick and choose between all of these options and rotate among them based on individual needs and specific immune system vulnerabilities.

Berry Well Syrups: Supports and nourishes the thymus gland and helps support the immune system in specific ways that makes it particularly beneficial in protecting against viruses. In addition, the elderberry provides terrific symptom relief by decreasing congestion.
Immune Boosting Supplements (Bee Immune, Ultra Immune and Colostrum Transfer Factor): You can take these in conjunction with each other, but we rotate them on and off while doing illness prevention protocols. Since up to 80% of our immune system resides in the extensive intestinal tract we refer to as the gut, also using high-quality probiotic support makes sense. We rotate between Tummy Tuneup and Ultimate Defense.
Key Nutrients: Make sure you are taking in or supplementing with Zinc, Selenium, Potassium, and Calcium and Magnesium.

3. Vitamin D3 and Omega 3: There was a reason our grandmothers reached for the Cod Liver Oil bottle with each sniffle! It works to specifically support the parts of the immune system that effectively fight off viruses, and it’s also beneficial in reducing inflammation. You can either take these separately, or combined in Cod Liver Oil. Cook your foods with coconut oil and eat a diet rich in safe, wild-caught fish as well.

4. Vitamin C: We have seen significant benefits from Vitamin C with lung-related ailments; eating your Vitamin C-rich vegetables or supplementing will help decrease mucus and increase lung health. Rosehip C is specifically good because it also directly supports the thymus gland to operate optimally.

5. Bone Broth: Keep those bones a-simmering! Add in a few herbs such as Rosemary, Thyme, Sage and Garlic. Don’t forget the veggies too! This is a great way to get key vitamins and minerals. Some of our little ones really enjoy sipping warm cups of nicely flavored bone broth. For some of the others we hide it as a base in soups, rice and noodles.

6. Bottoms Up: Take in fresh juices regularly. Here’s a favorite recipe. 7. Get some clean air! Enjoy some fresh sunshine and a few minutes of daily exercise. Using a personal rebounder is a great way to stimulate the lymphatic system which operates as the central highway system for the body’s immune system. It’s vitally important to keep it cleared out and working optimally in order to maintain healthy immune support. Bonus: rebounding also gets your exercise in at the same time!

8. Detox Baths: At least once a week, take a bath using a detoxifying agent (such as Eucalyptus Bath Salts, Epsom Salts, or Baking Soda).

9. Chest Poultices: These can be used weekly even when healthy, or as needed after being sick. Garlic, Lobelia, Chamomile, or Mullein are all great choices for chest poultices. Click here to see Steph’s 8-minute tutorial video on how to do a garlic poultice.

10. Diffuse those oils! Bandito Blend, Thyme, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, and Tea Tree Oil are our top choices. These can also be diluted and massaged onto feet where there are a lot of nerve receptors and thus are ideal for facilitating rapid absorption into the bloodstream. (Please note that some essential oil experts recommend not diffusing or using some of these essential oils around or on very young children. We encourage individuals to do their own research and do due diligence in sensitivity testing before using any essential oils on young children or while pregnant and nursing.)

Remember, we’re not doctors and thus cannot diagnose or prescribe for your specific health situation, but we hope some of these tips will help keep you and your family strong and healthy through the winter. If at anytime you or a loved one becomes ill, please seek appropriate medical attention.

Hold Up Sickness with Bandito Blend

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Beeyoutiful Mary Leave a comment

Hold Up Sickness with Bandito Blend

by Nancy Webster

The summer before last, our family took on and won a self-imposed No Air Conditioner Challenge. If you’ve ever enjoyed the intense humidity of summer in the southeastern US, you can understand why this was truly a challenge. Although this kept our electric bill low, we wound up paying a high price in the form of mold. Every closet, cabinet, dresser drawer and their contents were affected. What a clean-up job that was as we washed clothes and closets down with diluted bleach!

We did a modified version of air conditioning this summer, using it on the hottest days and a few really hot nights, but relying on open windows and fans the rest of the time, in hopes of no mold and a moderate electric bill. Unfortunately, we still got some mold, especially inside the dresser in the bedroom where four children are packed.

Knowing that chlorine bleach displaces iodine in the body (among the chemical’s many other toxic effects), I was excited when my Beeyoutiful® friends introduced convenient Bandito Blend. A few years back, I found a recipe for a homemade essential oil mold and germ-killing cleaner, but I’ve had too much on my plate to ever collect all the oils to make it myself.

Just ten minutes after quickly mixing up my Bandito mold killer and spritzing it on all parts of the dresser, my daughters’ room went from throat-catching and moldy-smelling to sinus-clearing and wonderfully fresh-smelling. The mold is dead and gone, along with any spiders, dust mites, and germs hiding out in there. And I not only didn’t hurt my body, but actually helped it as I inhaled the antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antifungal mist while I worked. Now we will run our diffuser with full-strength Bandito Blend in the room to keep more mold from growing.

Wise Bandits

When we studied the Middle Ages in our homeschool, our youngest son was fascinated (and probably a little creeped out) by stories of the Bubonic Plague which swept through Europe in the mid-1300s. He especially liked the story of the bandits who plundered the corpses and their homes but did not catch the very contagious Black Death themselves, because they were protected by rubbing their bodies with certain essential oils and herbs before a looting mission.

A well-known essential oil blend is named after these thieves, but Beeyoutiful has improved on the recipe by adding the king of oils, Frankincense (Boswellia carterii), to the already powerful blend of oils in Bandito Blend.

There’s a reason the Wise Men brought Jesus frankincense. Two thousand years ago, it was already considered a valuable cure-all, even though back then they didn’t have microscopes to see how it worked. Frankincense is known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-tumoral, immune-stimulating, antidepressant, and muscle-relaxing abilities. It is anti-germs-of-all-types and is an expectorant, too, so it supports respiratory health.

Bandito Blend also contains two kinds of Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicumand Cinnamomum cassia), which is antiseptic and antimicrobial; Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), which is antiseptic and antimicrobial and also analgesic (pain relieving); Lemon (Citrus limon), to clean and sanitize and “lighten” the heavier scents of the other oils; Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), which is antimicrobial and supports respiratory health; and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus radiata), which shares many properties with Rosemary and also supports a healthy immune system.

To Eat or Not to Eat

In Essential Oil World, you will hear sometimes quite lively discussions over oil qualities, for good reason. The FDA says an essential oil may be labeled as “100% pure” as long as it contains 52% actual plant oil. So buying over-the-counter oils is risky, as they may be diluted almost fifty percent and may not be safe for internal consumption. Beeyoutiful.com is very conscientious about this and sells only truly 100% pure essential oils.

The other discussion you will hear regarding essential oils is about the safety of internal use. Beeyoutiful.com’s position on this is that internal use is up to your comfort level. They know their oils are properly distilled and truly pure. (Some companies call this “therapeutic-grade.”) Internal use by pregnant and nursing moms, young children (

Rosemary oil, a Bandito Blend ingredient, can cause miscarriage and depletion of amniotic fluid, although this seems to be only when used in large amounts. Some are concerned about eucalyptus oil being used for children or internally. However, eucalyptus oil is an ingredient in many time-honored cold salves, lozenges, and syrups for children and is said to be toxic only if ingested in large amounts. Again, internal use is your decision, so carefully consider your situation, then research, ask your doctor, and only do what you are peaceful and confident in doing.

Plague Prevention

Prevent spreading germs by mixing one drop of Bandito Blend per one ounce of water for an all-purpose spray. Add vinegar for extra power. Use this to sanitize and clean sickrooms, kitchens (it cuts grease, too), garbage cans, lunch boxes, public toilet seats, shopping cart handles, coolers, and more. To kill sickness-causing mold, increase the drops of Bandito Blend. We used 5 drops, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (optional; it helps suspend the oil in the mixture), and 1/2 cup water on our moldy dresser. For more concentrated mold, an even stronger solution may be required.

Before leaving home or if you’ve been exposed to an illness or are feeling run down, boost your immune system by applying carrier-oil diluted (1:1 ratio) Bandito Blend to the soles of your feet and back of your wrists and neck. Spritz the family’s toothbrushes before and after use to keep “plagues” from knocking out the whole family. Add a drop or two to liquid hand soap for further prevention.

When You Get Caught

This powerful oil blend is your go-to help when colds and flu strike. Is your throat sore? Spray or swab a 50% dilution of edible carrier oil (like grapeseed, coconut or olive) and Bandito Blend in there. The clove oil will numb the pain while the others kill germs and help you fight back. Or gargle with warm water and a drop of Bandito Blend, and then swallow.

Bandito Blend is a breath of life especially to those sick with coughs and sinus infections. Diffuse it full strength or fine mist spray a diluted version into the air periodically to clear the lungs and stop air-borne germs. Rub an oil-diluted Bandito Blend in the “hot spots”, including the chest and down the spine to release tension and boost the immune and nervous systems. Add 1 drop to 1/2 cup of warm (not hot) water and sip or mix with a teaspoon of honey to soothe coughs. If your lungs are really having a hard time, consider doing an enema with about 20 drops of Bandito Blend added to the water.

Oral Health

Canker and cold sores stop hurting and go away when you apply a drop of Bandito Blend to them. You may need to reapply a few times. Gingivitis, or gum infection, is greatly improved when Bandito Blend is applied directly or mixed in a bit of water and swished. Oil pulling, which draws toxins from the entire body and especially the mouth, is enhanced when a drop or two of Bandito Blend is added to the coconut or sesame oil and swished for 15 minutes and then spit in the trash. (Don’t swallow pulled oil!) This can help prevent tooth decay, too.

Wounds

Bandito Blend can be applied to cuts, scrapes, and open wounds to kill germs and speed healing. It can also be used safely on dogs, horses, sheep, goats, and cows, but not on cats.

There are many more uses for Bandito Blend, but the best part is just how wonderful it smells. Your nose not only enjoys the scent but takes that wonderfulness inside your head and your body, so you can almost feel the smell! Now I hope my daughters don’t start enjoying this feeling so much in their refreshed and mold-free bedroom that they forget to come help me in the kitchen!

Nancy Webster is wife to Greg, mom to eight children, and grandma to a granddaughter. Her family lives on a partially-working farm, where they homeschool around milking the cow and weeding the garden. Nancy is a long-time student of alternative health and diet and volunteers as a Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader for Southern Middle Tennessee.