Episode 279: Supporting Your Digestion and A Look Into MetaPWR

Your digestion can make a big impact on how you live your life every day. So today we'll talk about some of our tips on how to support a healthy digestive system. Welcome back to Essential Oil Solutions with doTERRA, the podcast where you'll hear exciting, useful and simple everyday uses for essential oils from experts in the field. This episode is brought to you by some brand new products that are going to help you become your best self.

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doTERRA: Today we're excited to talk to Dr. Scott Johnson, Director of Research Substantiation at doTERRA, about supporting your digestion. Then we'll take a look at the plants inside the MetaPWR metabolic blend. Scott, thank you so much for joining us today.

Dr. Scott Johnson: My pleasure. I always like being on your podcast and sharing.

doTERRA: Yes. Well, I am excited to talk about digestion today because I think that's something that after the holidays, people find out they really need to start paying attention to. So, my first question is what are some things that maybe can interrupt my digestion?

Dr. Scott Johnson: Well, one of the most obvious things is eating the wrong foods. And I use the term food loosely here. During the average human's lifetime, more than 120,000 pounds of food will travel through their digestive tract.

doTERRA: Wow.

Dr. Scott Johnson: And so that's a lot of food and a lot of opportunity to either help or hinder your digestion, depending on what you eat. Highly processed foods, artificial sweeteners, excess alcohol or caffeine, pasteurized and homogenized milk and fried foods are just a few of the common foods and beverages that can disrupt digestion. And they do so by changing the permeability of your or integrity of your GI tract, triggering undesirable shifts in the gut microbiome, reducing the absorption of vital nutrients.

Or they can directly attack the GI tract, the lining of that tract. Not drinking enough water is another factor. Your digestive system depends on adequate water every day to function properly. Water is important for the integrity of your gut and the passage of and breakdown of foods. When we think about things in our lifestyle outside of the digestive tract, not getting enough sleep can interfere with your gut microbiome and disrupt the cycle your gut follows daily.

This disruption of the gut microbiome actually shifts its balance to include more bacteria associated with weight gain and poor glucose and fat metabolism. High stress levels are another thing that can be harmful to digestion. When you're stressed enough, digestion slows or even stops so that your energy, resources and stores can be diverted to life saving functions and to activities that your body fills are necessary to overcome whatever threat it's perceiving at the time.

Lack of regular physical activity also reduces metabolic function and slows the movement of food through the GI tract, which can lead to bloating and upset stomach. So in reality, we should follow the doTERRA Wellness pyramid not only for our health and well-being, but also to my digestion. What we find is good for overall wellness is also good for digestion.

doTERRA: Absolutely. It sounds like our digestive system is really paying attention to what we do with the entire rest of our body.

Dr. Scott Johnson: It really is.

doTERRA: So then, you know, you mentioned the wellness pyramid. What are some of those lifestyle choices that I can make to really help support that digestion?

Dr. Scott Johnson: Well, for starters, we can do the opposite of what we just said can harm your digestion. Eat a variety of foods that are minimally processed. Hydrate well. Avoid excess alcohol and caffeine. Be physically fit and active. Rest and manage stress, which is probably something that a lot of us just ignore in today's fast paced lifestyles, but is something that's critical. And of course, support the health of your gut. Beyond that, it is important to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels, because high blood sugar can lead to inefficient transportation of food through the GI tract. Because the intestinal muscles don't work effectively when there's too much sugar in there.

doTERRA: Now, what about those moments when my digestion needs a little bit of extra support? We're coming off of the holidays, or maybe, you know, a really busy time in our lives. What are some of your favorite doTERRA products to help support a healthy digestion, and how do you incorporate them into your daily routines?

Dr. Scott Johnson: I think one of the first things that comes to mind is digestive enzymes, which are a great way to support overall digestion. These enzymes help your body break down specific types of foods or nutrients that are within those foods so that they can be released and utilized by the body. We have obviously TerraZyme, which is a whole food enzyme complex combined with the tummy tamer blend of peppermint, ginger and caraway extracts to maintain healthy digestion and metabolism.

It is particularly useful when you're eating foods you don't normally eat, or maybe a meal that's higher in one particular macronutrient, such as protein or carbs. When you eat enzyme deficient foods, which is the bulk of many people's diets these days, or foods that tend to not sit well with your digestive tract. So how I would incorporate them is take 1 to 3 capsules with meals throughout the day, particularly if you find you're going to be in one of those situations that I just mentioned.

Another good, good thing to consider is probiotics, because probiotics are key to digestion, because they support overall digestion, not to mention impact virtually your entire well-being. Your gut microbiome is involved in everything from immunity to helping maintain a healthy inflammatory response to mood and even cognition. So, maintaining a diverse and healthy gut microbiome is one of the most important things you can do for your health, and that includes your digestive system.

I personally take and recommend taking your probiotic right after your evening meal, so we have a couple of different options that you could choose. We obviously have PB Restore or the PB Assist plus packets, and so you can choose which one is best for you and take that right after your evening meal is when I think it works best. In addition, there are many essential oils that can help support healthy digestion or soothe the GI tract when you experience occasional digestive issues.

And really, who doesn't? I mean, you've mentioned that we're we just during the holidays, we tend to eat a little bit differently. And that can be disruptive in and of itself. So ginger, peppermint, citrus oils, cardamom, caraway, fennel and coriander are just a few of the essential oils that come to mind because they're frequently used to support the digestive system. So, you can use any one or a combination of these in a capsule or include them as part of a soothing stomach massage, to make it convenient and easy to get digestive support. doTERRA also has DigestZen Softgels, and that can be taken with or after your meals.

doTERRA: All of those sound like such incredible recommendations, and I love the probiotics in there to create that foundation. And then the oils and the DigestZen for that occasional extra support that you might need. I think looking at that well-rounded picture, like you mentioned earlier, the whole body is so critical, right? Scott, thank you so much for joining us today for teaching us a little bit more about what affects our digestive system and how we can support it.

Dr. Scott Johnson: You bet. Thanks for inviting me.

doTERRA: The MetaPWR blend is a combination of grapefruit, lemon, peppermint, ginger, and cinnamon bark essential oils and has become a powerful addition in many daily routines. And today, we wanted to look a little bit more at the history of the plants that make up this blend. Today we're going to talk about some historical uses for some of these plants, but we want to remind you that various plant parts such as the leaves, bark, flower stem, fruit peel, bud, resin, etc, were often used for many different practices and benefits. These historical uses are mentioned here to offer insight as we explore the history of oils and plants. As such, these ancient uses are solely for informational purposes and are not being advocated or recommended by doTERRA. Proceed at your own risk with such uses.

First, we have grapefruit, which brings a citrusy brightness to the blend. The genetic origin of grapefruit is actually a hybrid mix.

One ancestor of the grapefruit was the Jamaican sweet orange, which is itself an ancient hybrid of Asian origin. The other was the Indonesian pomelo. One story of the fruit's origin is that a certain Captain Chadwick brought pomelo seeds to Jamaica and bred the first fruit, although it's more likely that it probably originated as a naturally occurring hybrid between the two plants sometime after they had been introduced there. Unlike other earlier citrus fruits like the orange, the lemon, and the lime, the grapefruit received a rather cold reception.

So how did the grapefruit go from being too sour to enjoy on a regular basis to the popular fruit it is today? At first, the tree was grown only as a novelty in Florida, and the fruit was barely used. Even in Jamaica, the trees were often cut down. The original white grapefruit was joined by a pink and later a red variety that was much sweeter than its predecessors. The discovery of these new shades caught the public's imagination and helped the little known fruit become a supermarket staple.

But grapefruit isn't just known for its delicious taste. It has also been used throughout history for its many benefits. In traditional Chinese wellness practices, grapefruit is classified as a sour food. Sour flavors are associated with specific parts of the body, and sour foods are thought to be astringent, cooling, and help generate yin. Grapefruit has also been used in traditional Ayurvedic wellness practices.

The next beautiful citrus in the blend is Lemon. Lemons have existed for thousands of years, and no one quite knows their exact origin. But they think that lemons were first grown in either Assam, a region in northeast India, northern Myanmar or China. The lemon belongs to the scientific family roots here, which includes many notable citruses like the orange, lime, mandarin and grapefruit, and is a family of great economic importance for its edible fruits.

However, though we consume many lemons these days, at first they were not widely grown to be used as food. When they were first grown, it was purely for ornamental purposes. This continued until about the 10th century, but as the lemons started to be used for more and more, it grew in popularity. The Arabs brought the lemon to Spain in the 11th century, and it spread rapidly. Just 50 years later, the lemon was being widely grown in the Mediterranean, and crusaders returning from Palestine brought the bright lemon to the rest of Europe.

In ancient Rome and Egypt, lemon juice and oil was used in traditional wellness practices, and ancient Egyptians would ingest the juice of a lemon regularly for its benefits. Up to the present day, the lemon’s sacred wellness properties are revered in Chinese wellness practices beyond its uses in traditional wellness. The lemon tree has long been considered a valuable luxury and a symbol of prosperity. In Rome, Egypt, and China, only the most elite would decorate their homes and gardens with this vibrant plant as a means to display their wealth and success. So much so, that for centuries, the bright yellow lemon fruit made frequent appearances in still life and portrait painting to demonstrate both the elite status of their subject and the buyers sophisticated taste.

Next, we have peppermint. Did you know that some of the earliest mentions of peppermint appear in Greek mythology by Roman philosophers in the Christian Bible, and by monks in the Middle Ages? There are even ancient Egyptian texts dating as early as 1550 BC that include peppermint. Peppermint is said to get its name from mint, a nymph who appears in Greek mythology, but it's also mentioned in another myth about the importance of hospitality and a beautifully scented home.

The story says that two people visited a strange village and were greeted with rudeness. No one in the village offered food or drink or a place to stay. Finally, they came across two elderly people who invited the strangers in for a meal. Before the meal, they wiped down their table with mint. The two strangers revealed themselves to be Zeus, king of all the gods, and his son Hermes. As a reward for the kindness shown, they turned the couple's home into a temple and made mint a symbol of hospitality.

In the Victorian language of plants, mint symbolized virtue. From the mid 1600s to the mid 1800s, the position of “herb strewer” was an official royal job. Herb strewers literally tossed handfuls of fragrant herbs, including mint, around the British Royal chambers and during public ceremonies to cut down on unpleasant smells. In addition to virtue and hospitality, peppermint has also been known to symbolize protection and personal strength.

People also say that if you dream of mint, it can be a sign that pleasant surprises are headed your way. But peppermint has been used for much more than just symbolism. It appears in many traditional wellness practices, including those of the Chinese, Greek, and medieval European peoples. It's even mentioned in 13th century Icelandic wellness texts.

Next, we have Ginger. We know that Ginger originated from island Southeast Asia, and that it does not exist in its wild state. And while it's most often called ginger root, it is in fact not a root at all. It's something called a rhizome, which is an underground stem. The first written record of ginger comes from the Analects of Confucius, a large collection of sayings and ideas from the philosopher Confucius.

He wrote these Analects in China during the Warring States period, which means they were written between 475 and 221 BC. In this collection, Confucius was said to eat ginger with every meal in 406 A.D.. Ginger is written about again when the monk Faxon wrote that ginger was grown in pots and carried on Chinese ships for its wellness properties. In antiquity, ginger was associated with fire, the sun and heat due to the spicy kick of its scent and taste, and various folkloric myths associate the spice with the sun and the powers of fire.

Which is why it was often used by priests during fire rituals. Ginger is one of the first spices to have been exported from Asia, arriving in Europe with the spice trade, and was used by ancient Greeks and Romans, both for its flavor as well as its benefits. The Greeks would even wrap ginger in bread for use after meals. However, when the Roman Empire fell, Europe forgot all about ginger until Marco Polo brought it back again from his travel to the east and Europe found its love for ginger again.

It became highly sought after and valued. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the value of a pound of ginger was equivalent to the cost of a sheep. Queen Elizabeth the First of England is actually credited with the invention of the gingerbread man, which became a popular Christmas treat in Indian cuisine. Ginger is a key ingredient and has a role in traditional Ayurvedic practices. Ginger is used in many forms, for example raw, crushed, or powdered in the culinary practices of cultures around the world and utilized in many traditional wellness practices, including Chinese. From Korea to France to the Philippines, people around the world have fallen in love with the scent, taste, and benefits of ginger.

Finally, we have cinnamon bark. When you reach into your cupboard and pull out the powdered cinnamon, you might never imagine that cinnamon was once more valuable than gold. In the Middle Ages, cinnamon was transported via cumbersome land routes in the Middle East, resulting in a limited, expensive supply that made the use of cinnamon a status symbol in Europe. Legend holds that the Roman emperor Nero burned as much as he could find of the precious spice on the funeral pyre of his second wife, to atone for his role in her death.

To maintain their monopoly on the cinnamon trade and justify its exorbitant price, traders would weave colorful tales for their buyers about where and how they obtained the luxury spice. One such story, related by the Greek historian Herodotus, said that enormous birds carried the cinnamon sticks to their nests, perched high atop mountains that were insurmountable by any human. According to the story, people would leave large pieces of ox meat below the nests for the birds to collect.

When the birds brought the meat into the nest, its weight would cause the nest to fall to the ground, allowing the cinnamon sticks stored within to be collected. Another tall tale reported that cinnamon was found deep in canyons guarded by terrifying snakes and first center, a Roman philosopher. Pliny the Elder proposed that cinnamon came from Ethiopia, carried on rafts with no oars or sails, powered by man alone and his courage. Today, we don't have to make up any kind of story to recognize that cinnamon holds great value in our lives.

These incredible oils come together to create the powerful MetaPWR blend, and we know that you and your family will love it.

Thanks for joining us and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils. If you want to try any of the products you learned about, click on the link in the episode description or find a wellness advocate near you to place an order today. And remember, if you liked what you heard today, rate, review and subscribe wherever you listen.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.