Turpentine: The Healing Oil?
If you can find a better, holistic solution to your aches and pains, would you try it? Skip the Advil, because you’re in luck! Turpentine oil has been used as healing medicine for generations to remedy soreness and muscle pains.
Turpentine oil has been largely used as a paint thinner and brush cleaner. It’s used as a raw material in the synthesis of resins, oil additives, synthetic pine oil and campor, according to Britannica. The oil can be obtained through cooking wood pulp, steam distillation of shredded pine, or from the distillation of the exudates of tapped pine trees.
Turpentine oil is colorless, oily, odorous and flammable and creates a warming sensation when applied to the skin. Many notice an immediate effect after applying, and their pain is reduced within hours. Use a small amount to either massage or swab on the affected area. For best results, apply the oil 3-4 times daily until pain or soreness improves.
Turpentine oil can be used for many ailments:
- Muscle Pain
- Toothaches
- Lung Congestion
- Joint and Nerve Pain
- Cold Sores
- Sprains
- Cramps
Cautions
Please use this oil at your own caution, consult a physician to be sure this the right product for you. Be sure not to apply turpentine oil to any open wounds or swallow in excess amounts. You can use it on cold sores only before they erupt. You can add the turpentine oil to a humidifier or vaporizer to inhale and clear lung congestion.
Make sure to wrap or cover the areas of the body where the oil has been applied for better penetration and avoid staining clothes or furniture. Turpentine oil is flammable, so be sure to wash your hands after each application.
Turpentine oil’s smell is intense, and to some, unpleasant. You can mix it with your favorite essential oils to create a better smelling remedy. Other essential oils have their own valuable uses; find out which oils are best for you.
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Why Do We Sleep? For More Reasons Than You May Think
Most of us spend about a third of our lives asleep, despite not really having an answer to the question, ‘why do we sleep?’ Now neuroscientists are realizing that sleep is more important than previously thought. They’re also realizing that the worn-out platitude, “you can sleep when you die,” is terrible advice, as that day will undoubtedly come sooner if you short yourself on a good night’s sleep.
According to most contemporary research, you should be getting around seven to eight hours of sleep every night, and if you think you can get by on fewer than that, there’s a really good chance you’re fooling yourself.
Why is Sleep Important?
While the exact mechanisms of sleep are still being studied, neuroscientists including Matthew Walker have made interesting learnings about what happens when we deprive ourselves of sleep and the impacts sleep (or lack thereof) has on society as a whole.
When we’re awake, Walker says that essentially, we’re causing low-level brain damage. By this, he is referring to the build-up of the sticky, toxic junk in our brain known as beta-amyloid. This accumulation of beta-amyloid has been found to correspond with the onset of Alzheimer’s, among many other adverse health effects correlated with a lack of sleep.
Sleep is beneficial as more than just a healing function; it also replenishes spent resources and regulates hormone levels that dictate our appetite, cognitive function, and motor skills. The two hormones that dictate whether we are hungry or full, ghrelin and leptin, have been observed to flare up and down, respectively, when we’re sleep deprived. This inevitably leads to an increase in hunger, but even worse, it leads our bodies to crave unhealthy and fattening foods — those heavy on carbs and light on greens. In fact, people who run on four to five hours of sleep per night tend to eat 200-300 more calories per day.
For men, sleep is an important regulator of hormones, most notably testosterone. Sleep-deprived males can have the same virility and strength as a man 10 years their senior. For women, a lack of sleep can lead to a significantly increased risk of breast cancer and drops in immune hormones.
According to Walker, just introducing a single night of just four hours of sleep among a normal eight-hour sleep schedule, can bring about a 70 percent drop in natural cancer-killing cells, the immune assassins that target malignant carcinogens. Every day our bodies produce these cells and others to fend off disease and maintain our health, and while a cat nap might make you feel refreshed, it won’t make up for the loss of these cells.
