Episode 57: Digestive Health with Sandra Pascal

doTERRA: Are you aware that there are actually ten organs that become involved in the digestive process from beginning to end? The digestive system is incredibly complex, and a lot of us tend to take the work it does for us every day for granted. So today, we're going to delve into the digestive system and figure out how to give it some love. 

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. If you like what you hear today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. We always appreciate hearing from you. Today, we're excited to sit down with Sandra Pascal to discuss what digestive health is, some lifestyle changes we can make to support good digestive health, and what products doTERRA has to offer.

Sandra, we are so excited to be able to sit down with you today and talk about a really important topic in—I think—everyone's lives. And that is digestive health. So my first question is what exactly is digestive health?

Sandra Pascal: Hi. Thank you so much for having me on here, first and foremost. Thank you doTERRA. Thank you for this opportunity, and thank you for your time. And yeah, let's jump right in. 

This is exciting. You know, digestive health—you know, what is it? My goodness, I didn't know how important it was until I came into the doTERRA family, and I just learned so much about how our gut is this incredible place in our body where so many things happen, and it's not like—it's not just about like weight. I always associated digestive health with weight, you know, that—that was my correlation, and then my mind was opened to the fact that our immune system—is like—a big portion of it is housed in her gut.

And that was just mind-blowing because once I knew that, then I could—I started making better choices and was able to take responsibility for my own health on a whole other level. 

doTERRA: Right. 

Sandra: Because our immune system—you know—that's how we—how our body supports itself and healing itself. And, my goodness, and then the next thing I learned was how our emotions affect our digestive system. Like when you—I mean think about it guys, like, when you get bad news, does your head hurt? Do your shoulders hurt? Or is it in the—don't you say, “I could feel it in my stomach—in my gut. I feel like I got kicked in the stomach”? 

So, it's—it's an incredible area of our body that we definitely should show some love to and definitely pay close attention.

doTERRA: And that is so fascinating how one piece of our body, of this whole complex system, can affect so many different things.

Sandra: Yeah, yeah absolutely. But who knew?

doTERRA: Right, who knew? 

Sandra: Unless you’re a doctor!

doTERRA: Absolutely, so moving on from what it is, we move to how can we take care of it a little bit better. So Sandra does the food that we eat impact our digestive health directly?

Sandra: Absolutely. You know, I'm a—I'm living proof that it does because—you know—when it comes to nutrition it is such a—like, you know, you hear, like, people start talking about nutrition and this—this whole emotional thing happens where you just feel like a lot of guilt and, like, shame. And then you get overwhelmed because, you know, we just—we're so busy. Whether you're a stay-at-home mom or you have a full-time job or you do both or you have a family or, or—it doesn't matter—you're in school, whatever the case is, like, we all have these very busy lives, and making sure that we're getting proper nutrition—you know—it's going to take some effort. 

It definitely is going to take preparation, thinking about it, putting a plan in place so that you are feeding your body the nutrients that it needs. Proper nutrition is so important, and the more that we study digestive health and how much—you know—our nutrition plays a role in our overall—in all our body systems, it's so powerful. Like, you know that saying “you are what you eat.” You know, it couldn't be more spot-on—like, they nailed it.

However, nobody's perfect—and—nobody. And you shouldn't try to be perfect because then that also creates a lot of overwhelm. So, you know, you try to buy as organic as you can. You want to stay away from pesticides and herbicides and GMOs, but then that causes stress because some people are like, “Well, I can't afford to buy food like that all the time.” 

doTERRA: Right.

Sandra: Or, you know, whatever that the case is. So, at the end of the day, guys, it's just doing the best that you can. You know, in moderation. Be conscious.

I did the raw vegan thing last year. Amazing. Very hard, but amazing, drove everybody around me crazy, and you're listening. I love you, and thank you for being so supportive, and I'm sorry it was so crazy. But it was amazing. But it was—I had to travel with my food. You want to be raw vegan? I mean—like when, when I mean travel, like, if I'm going you know 30 minutes from my house to—you know—for a meeting or something, like, I've got to bring my own food.

doTERRA: Right.

Sandra: So, with that said, what you—what you want to do is eat as clean as possible and listen to your body because we have the keto and the Atkins and the vegan and the raw vegans and the this—so many different diets. And at the end of the day, what I've learned—this is just from my own personal experience in the last two years diving in the whole digestive, nutrition, and emotions world and how it impacts our body—is listen to your body. And there's wonderful tests out there that you can get bloodwork and saliva work that you can get done to figure out how—what your body needs.

If you really want to know, well, this is where science comes in. And we’re a health and wellness company, and we're all about natural, correct? But we also can use modern science to leverage what's good for us and what's not—what our body can process and can't. 

You know, what you may be okay eating meat two-to-three times a week. Your stomach—your digestive system might be awesome and then taking doTERRA Terrayzme and PB Assist and the supplements and doing all that and drinking Lemon in your water, you're good to go. But I—red meat and I don't feel good. I just don't feel good, like, it just makes me feel “bleh,” and I feel bloated, and I just don't miss it anymore. So, but that's because my body—and I did that test. I actually got a test done, and it was so eye-opening that a lot of it had to do with—you know, my culture. Like, if you—if you take a look around the world, like, certain cultures eat more of this than that. Right? 

doTERRA: Right.

Sandra: And that's what I love about the supplements for doTERRA that I found fascinating a few years ago, when I was told at one of the conferences that even our supplements—doTERRA has specifically designed them depending on the region, like where they're being bought, because certain areas eat more of this than that, get more of this nutrient than that nutrient. So, I thought that was pretty fascinating. 

doTERRA: Yeah.

Sandra: But anyways, with that said, you can imagine, like—you understand what I mean by like different cultures eat more of this than that, right? 

doTERRA: Absolutely, yeah.

Sandra: So your body—your body's going to process it differently, right? So, if you really want to know, then get the test done and find out what your body processes. 

But in the meantime, you don't need to go that far. Just try to be mindful, you know, eat more veggies, more fruits, don't eat late at night because that—you know, you're eating and then you go to bed. So now you're laying down and you expect your poor digestive system to work while you're laying down sleeping. It's really hard. You know, it puts a lot of stress on your body. So being mindful of the time of day that you eat, the portions that you're eating, and definitely getting plenty of water and eating as clean as you can. 

And this is where our products come in, when you're not a perfect person. So, if you're listening to this and you're not a perfect human being and you don't have the perfect diet and you're on a budget, so listen up because I'm about to give you some really awesome tips.

doTERRA: So thank you, and that leads perfectly into my next question that I have. So there are all these things you can do. There's great food that you can incorporate into your diet to make sure you're doing your best. But like you said, we're not perfect. So what are some essential oils that we can use to support our digestive system?

Sandra:

Lemon Essential Oil

So as far as the oils, first and foremost, Lemon. I mean that is—and you see everybody squeezing lemon in their water at the restaurant, but you're not getting the essential oil. You're—you're just getting, like, the juice, and—and the real, like, the mac daddy, the good stuff, what you really want in your system is the Lemon essential oil, and that is in the rind. That's not in the fruit. 

So, one drop of Lemon on an empty stomach. So, you know, I'm the type of person that if it's not in front of me with, like, flashing lights, I don't do it, even though I know I'm supposed to, I don't. So I put a glass of water next to my bed, and when I wake up, it's already there. I put a drop of Lemon, open my essential oil box, and I put a drop of Lemon, and I drink that. If you want to switch it up, Grapefruit is also amazing. 

Celery Seed Essential Oil

But recently, because now we have this amazing Celery Seed essential oil, I do that, and there's—celery juicing is all the craze, and it is amazing, and it is awesome. But trust me, it's a lot easier to put a drop of Celery Seed essential oil in a Veggie Cap or in a glass of water and drink it, than making your own freshly pressed celery juice every day.

doTERRA: Oh, absolutely. 

Sandra: So, I love that. So, it's amazing for your digestive health.

Slim and Sassy^® Metabolic Blend

Slim and Sassy is amazing. And if you don't have it, you need to buy some right now. This blend is so amazing for so many reasons: because it has Lemon in it, it has Grapefruit in it. So bada bing bada boom: two birds, one stone, right? 

Using Essential Oils to Support Your Digestive System

And then on top of that you have all these other essential oils in there that are really good antioxidants, and they also curb sugar cravings. So we're talking about digestive system, and everywhere you look at, “Stop sugar! Don't eat sugar! You're going to die you eat sugar! Sugar is bad for you!” Like, oh my gosh. 

Basically nowadays if you can— if you're going to get into this, you can really get into a rabbit hole, if you start stressing out about nutrition, like, because there's a thousand reasons why you should eat eggs and a thousand reasons why you shouldn't, a thousand reasons why you should eat dairy products and a thousand reasons why you shouldn't. 

So, the cool thing is by adjusting the essential oils every day, you're giving your body the support that it needs. So if you had that slice of pizza or you ate too much or whatever the case was, maybe you had a little too much alcohol the night before, it's a great way to detox the body by simply ingesting those oils. So Lemon, Grapefruit, Peppermint, I love, and it's also really refreshing. And we all know Peppermint is amazing for the digestive health. The Celery Seed is awesome. 

Using Citrus Essential Oils Properly

I also love Lime. Lime is—basically the citruses, you want to shake it up a little bit. You know, using the same oil every day, you might get bored of it. So just—you know—play around with them, and—and just keep it fresh. And make sure you're using a, you know, I love my flask, you know, stainless steel container or glass: we never want to put the oils in paper, plastic, or Styrofoam because it doesn't work very well. The oils are so amazing, they eat through that stuff and you don't want to ingest that. And speaking of digestive system, you definitely don't want all that toxicity in your system. So those are just some of the oils that come to mind when we're talking about gut health.

doTERRA: I love that there are so many options, and like you mentioned, it doesn't take a lot. It's just adding a drop to a glass of water or a drop to a Veggie Cap, and that's so simple and easy. A bottle will last you quite a while if that’s you're using it for.

Sandra: Oh, are you kidding me? There's 250 drops in 15 mLs! Like, you're doing one drop—like, I dare you to take 20 drops of lemon and a glass of water. It's not happening. Forget about it. So one drop, it's more than enough. 

And listen, before you guys start rolling your eyes, I know the Celery Seed doesn't taste amazing. All the other ones that I mentioned do. That one does it. Get over it, put it in a Veggie Cap, and take it. It's amazing for your system. And seriously, like, it's not that big of a deal. Like, you get used to it. You know what I mean? And when you realize how amazing it is, come on, you're not going to care how bad Celery Seed tastes. Trust me. I'm telling you from experience.

doTERRA: So you mentioned a couple of the supplements earlier in the conversation. Let's go a little bit more in-depth about those. So what are some supplements that doTERRA has to help with this digestive health?

Sandra: Oh, do we have sound effects? Hallelujah!

Okay, so as amazing as our oils are—because they are, and that's why they're the best ever, ever, in the world, in the history of the planet—our number one products are our long life vitality supplements. And confession time, okay, I didn't take the supplements until four months later, after getting the oils into my home.

doTERRA: Wow.

Sandra: Even though the supplements came in my kit, yeah, and I finally stopped being stubborn because—okay, so why didn't I take them? Let's be real here: I don't like swallowing pills. Those are too many pills. I'm not taking all that. I don't need that. I've already spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on vitamins in the past. I have them all. Well at the time, I had literally in my bathroom, the kitchen—you know, everybody has that kitchen cabinet. I know you guys have it. Don't even try to hide it. I know you do. And we take them, and then we don't take them because we don't get results. So why would doTERRA be any different? Besides, they're not a supplement company. When I went to the class, it was all about the oil so why are they selling me supplements? So that was my thought process, ok? 

And then I gave in because my friend was like, “You should really take them because if they don't work, I'll give you your money back.” And I'm like, “Wait, what? Okay, now we're talking. Money is more important than my health.” Crazy how I used to think, huh?

So I started taking them. So, let's break it down because the rest is history, my friends. I’ve almost missed flights, I've turned around. Like nothing—nothing gets in the way of me not having these supplements on my possession 365 days a year. I'm not even joking. Like, it's that serious.

Microplex VMz^®

So Microplex. So this beautiful supplement, Microplex VMz, has all the vitamins and minerals from whole food sources. So you—I know a lot of people love Dr. Oz, and they follow him and Dr. Axe, and they're amazing doctors. And they talk about all these vitamins and minerals and all the things you should be taking. Well guess what, people? They're in here. And the highest quality grade because that's the doTERRA standard. So if you're looking for supplements, you—there's—it's a no-brainer. It's doTERRA because their standard of quality is, bar none, the highest available. 

So you're going to put things in your body, you're going to want to go with the best. So especially, I'm talking to everybody who—you know—likes their pasta, likes their cheeseburgers and french fries—I like them too. You know, we don't have like the perfect—remember, this was the conversation for not perfect people. So if you’re perfect, you should probably hang up. So this is great because here you get to get all your all those fruits and vegetables that you normally wouldn't be eating, you know? 

Supplements and the Modern Diet

And by the way, even if you were the super cleanest, healthiest eater, you can't possibly be eating all the kale that you need in one day. It's just not happening. So, you—everybody, and listen to me clearly, everybody should be on supplements because our food is not—even if it's organic and the purest, like, most precious land that it’s being grown on, we're still not consuming the same amount. 

And our food doesn't have the same amount of vitamins and minerals that it used to have because there's something called food inflation. And you can believe that because our earth—you know—like, it's not the same soil. You know what I mean? So that blew my mind when I heard about that I was like, “Wait a second. I have to eat four apples, equivalent to what my grandma used to eat—just one apple—to get the same nutrition?” 

They're like, “Yup.” 

I was like, “That's crazy. Who eats for apples? So—so I just have to take this pill?”

“Yup.”

I'm like, “Done. I'll swallow it.”

So it's got the vitamins. They all know what to do. This is easy peasy people. If—if you're busy and you don't got time to be figuring out—you know—how much broccoli and kale and this and that, you should be taking, and your vitamins, take the VMz. You're good to go. Four times a day. I know, four times a day. It is what it is. That's how much you need. So when people are like, “Wait, did you say four times a day? Four pills?”

I'm like, “Yup. And that's just one bottle. We got four more to go. So relax.” 

So I just split them up. I take half of the dosage in the morning and the other half at lunchtime. That's what I've done.

xEO Mega^®

So then we move on to our omegas. Oh my goodness, like, if you—and I was one of these people—if you tend to be hotheaded and short-tempered, and you may have a stressful job or I'm talking to all the mommas out there, all those courageous, amazing super women that stay home, and super dads, that stay home with their kids and are running the household, I know it can get overwhelming. So you need food for your brain. And believe me, I know, I know, I can see you right now. You're rolling your eyes, because I did too! I'm like, “What the heck does my omegas have to do with my brain?” Oh, a lot. 

So, our brain is 80 percent fat. So, this is essential, the—the omegas that are in here, they're plants. There are plant oils in the xEO Mega of doTERRA. And not only plant, but marine oils in there too. We also have a vegan option. If anybody out there is listening and you want the vegan omega, we do have that, and it's also awesome. I've also tried it. 

So, you'd be surprised—that's probably one of the number one most popular side effects that I hear in the last six years that I've been using these and selling them is, from people, is their mood. How—because it's not that people aren't sleeping; they're just not getting restful sleep. 

Omegas and Cardiovascular Health

The second thing that we definitely have to take omegas—and ladies, please, cardiovascular health. Come on, like, it's 2020. Let's get with it, guys. The science is out there. The results are out. The studies are there. We got to take care of our heart. Our heart is so powerful, and our heart is connected to our brain. And these two organs are so essential for overall, like, well-being and health. 

When your brain and your heart are in coherence, and that's a whole other podcast. And you guys can, like, google information on that, on heart coherence. When your heart and your brain are in alignment, you guys, your life, your health, everything changes. It's so beautiful. 

So these omegas are amazing for cardiovascular health. They provide clean fuel for your body to burn for improved energy and stamina. How does that sound? Come on, who—raise your hand if you need more energy. Come on, everybody's hands should be up.

doTERRA: Right. 

Sandra: Right? So amazing. 

Alpha CRS^®+

And then last but not least from this beautiful three-pack called long life vitality, we have the Alpha CRS, and this is your super antioxidants. These are—this is your cellular protection, guys, like—and when we talk about cellular protection, our bodies are so beautiful and divine that they are made to heal themselves and to repair themselves naturally. But because we're exposed to so many toxins and because we don't live in a perfect world and we don’t have the perfect air and we don't have the perfect food and our products—you know—we do our best to buy the cleanest of the cleanest—you know—personal products, like hygiene products and cleaning products for our home, but listen, there's toxins everywhere. We're exposed to a lot of toxicity. So you're going to want to protect your cells. 

So, love your body. Love those beautiful cells that keep you alive. They play such an important role. Please trust me. From someone who had, two years ago, a real awakening with herself—let's put it that way—I love my cells dearly, and I'm taking care of them on a whole other level. So this is nonnegotiable: Alpha CRS every single day.

Talk about free radicals. You take this, and it goes in there, and it does all the work for you. Whatever cells need to go, it helps your body get them out. And then all your healthy beautiful cells, it keeps them rocking and rolling, all happy, in the love fest, in your body, working, working. 

And hello, you want to look young? You could spend all the money on all the stuff on the outside, but youth—in my opinion—comes from the inside, and it comes from having a healthy heart, a healthy mind, knowing how to manage your emotions, stress, getting good sleep, and then helping those cells—you know—giving them that boost. The older we get, we need help. Come on, you know, it’s ok. 

DigestZen TerraZyme^®

So those are the three-pack of the supplements, and now we go into the other products, which are everything that complement these three supplements we just talked about, is TerraZyme. These are digestive enzymes. So because we cook our meals or we eat a lot of processed food, this is definitely something you should take. TerraZyme helps break down the food.

So what I learned is that even as a healthy eater—you know—I, listen, I do my best. I consider myself 80 percent clean and then the other 30—don’t worry about it. Pizza. I said it, okay? I sneak in my cookie or two. But it really helps our digestive system, if we can as—you know—when we eat, if we give it enzymes because they go in there and they break down all the food. And even for our cleaner eaters, you—your body could use the extra help breaking down that food so it can absorb—it absorbs all those beautiful nutrients of all your organic amazing stuff that you're eating, and your body's going to get the max nutrition out of it and the health benefits.

PB Assist^®+

And then we do need to talk about PB Assist, our probiotic. So what do I do? I take PB Assist three times a day. This helps with my good flora in my intestines, and it is essential. I repeat, essential—essential people—that we take PB Assist every single day so we can have proper digestion.

And the cool thing about these, on a side note, is they are double encapsulated so they're able to get all the way into your digestive system. Okay? Because that's an issue with a lot of these supplements. See, doTERRA has gone above and beyond not just with the quality of these products, but in the delivery system.

doTERRA: Right.

Sandra: That is also a big game changer because if they're not getting into your system in the right time and—you know what I mean—being processed correctly then you're just literally urinating your money into the toilet bowl. I said it. It’s the truth. Okay? 

So, and by the way, on a side note, doTERRA’s—well everything that I just talked about literally these—I've talked about five separate bottles of supplements, and they cost less than two, two, of the bottles that I used to buy from one of my doctors. 

doTERRA: Wow.

Sandra: Yeah. So we've done a little research because we're crazy like that. And what I talked about—it’s about $280 if you want to go buy it—with all these ingredients, if you look at all the ingredients in all these bottles that I just mentioned—and you break it down and you try to go buy all these on your own, get ready to—to have $250–$280. 

doTERRA: Wow.

Sandra: And all this, right here, I don't think it's more than, like, $140. Right? Something like that? Yeah.

DigestZen^®

So those are—we have other products for digestive system, like DigestZen is amazing. We have it in the oil form and in the gel caps, easy to swallow, it's ready made for you. This is if you're having a lot of stomach indigestion, maybe you eat too much, you shouldn’t have eaten that much. So this is really popular during the holidays. Love that.

Zendocrine^®

We have Zendocrine, and there's a whole line of Zendocrine. Those are really awesome. But you guys can check out on the doTERRA website for our detox, this really cool 30-day detox that we have. And it's really awesome, super easy, and it really gets your body—you know—in a good position, like, it cleans it out. And yes, you're going to—you might feel a little sluggish, and you might have a headache or whatever, but hey, baby, you're detoxing, okay? What are you going to do? Like, it's temporary. It's 30 days, and after that you're going to feel amazing, more energy, better focus. It's just so powerful. 

This gut situation is amazing when you really understand and—and you support it and you work with it, not against it, you guys become best friends.

doTERRA: Well Sandra, thank you so much for sharing all of this incredible information with us. It truly has been a treat and a pleasure.

Sandra: Thank you! And yeah, I had a good time, and let's do it, guys. Make this—make this change, empower yourself. Your gut deserves it. You deserve it. And amazing things are going to come out of it. You have skin issues, they're going to clear up—you know—emotionally, you're going to be—you know—you are going to be that person—you know—skipping and whistling Dixie. Like, it is possible. You'd be surprised. All right guys, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Wish you all the best. Sending you lots of love and happy, healthy guts.

doTERRA: Thanks for joining us, and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils. If you liked what you heard today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. Also, if you want to try any of the products you learned about, go to doterra.com or find a Wellness Advocate near you to place an order today.