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Transcript
Top Takeaways
- It is important to add essential oils to a health regiment for a healthy lifestyle.
- Dr. Eric and Sabrina have a new book called The Essential Oils Diet.
- The number 1 reason for metabolic burden is toxic overload.
- People need to focus on what things they are introducing to their body, and how they are maximizing their metabolism.
- Sabrina recommends using lavender, chamomile, and vetiver in a diffuser and topically before bed to get a better night’s sleep.
- Another good technique for better sleep is an epson salt bath with lavender in it.
- Having oils like bergamot, lime, neroli, orange and lemon can help stop a panic attack.
- Citrus oils are all antidepressants that can boost endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine.
- Dr. Eric, a recovering smoker, used orange and pepper essential oils to overcome addiction and depression.
- One of the topics discussed in their book is how essential oils can be used for emotional detoxing.
- Essential oils are a sub group of plant based compounds that help us enhance metabolic function, and rids the body of free radicals.
- Orange, lime, grapefruit, peppermint, and cinnamon bark oil is some of Eric and Sabrina’s favorite essential oils
- Breathing citrus oils can make the brain trigger neurotransmitters that start to burn fat.
- People who are looking to lose weight need to get their skin engaged, to detox properly, and get the lymph system going.
- Dr. Z and Sabrina’s bioactive approach is to use the healthiest well-balanced foods like walnuts, avocados, berries, fruits, potatoes, and ancient grains.
- Dr. Z suggests to stay away from grass fed and wild caught game, because most meat is not clean and contains high levels of glyphosate.
- Another health technique of Dr. Z’s is to eat only until you feel 75% full.
- Dr. Z uses peppermint, cinnamon bark, and grapefruit to reduce food cravings.
- Dr. Z and Mama Z created a group for everyone buying their new book, to support each other during the 60 Day Challenge, which people have access to after purchasing The Essential Oils Diet.
- Go to essentialoilsdiet.com to purchase their new book and get access to over four hours of video that show you how to do the exercises that we recommend, show you how to cook the foods that we recommend, and a shopping tour!
- You can find out more about Dr. Z and Mama Z and get access to other free resources on naturallivingfamily.com
Wendy Myers: Hello, my name is Wendy Myers. Welcome to the Myers Detox Podcast, where we explore all kinds of topics related to heavy metal detoxification, chemical detox, protocols, and supplements, and bio hacking techniques you can use to detox your body and dramatically improve your health.
Wendy Myers: Toxic metals are one of the biggest contributors to fatigue. My name is Wendy Myers, and in my decade of research, I have discovered that toxic metals affect mitochondrial performance. Your mitochondria are little cell’s powerhouses that make your body’s energy. And toxic metals like arsenic, aluminum, thallium, and cesium, those poison enzymes that produce energy in your body. These toxic metals are found in your food, and water. They’re everywhere. They’re unavoidable in our environment today. Everyone has them in their body. The question is, what metals do you have, and at what levels? Click the link below to take my quiz to evaluate your level of heavy metal toxicity.
Wendy Myers: Today, we have my friend Dr. Eric Zielinski and his wife Sabrina Zielinski on the show. They’re also known as Dr. Z and Mama Z, and they have a wonderful website called naturalfamilyliving.com. And they have a new book out called The Essential Oils Diet, and we’re gonna be talking about all different kinds of things related to essential oils in food. What are the bioactive rich foods, and how do they relate to essential oils? And a lot of great takeaways from the book about the biggest reason behind weight gain. Essential oils you can use to stop cravings and food addiction, and a lot of different tips about do it yourself underarm deodorants, and how to use essential oils, and so many different takeaways and tips in this book.
Wendy Myers: And it’s also an amazing diet book. It’s all about what you can eat, not allowing yourself permission to eat many foods that are considered forbidden in the paleo or keto community, like fruits and things like that, because they have carbs in them. I personally don’t believe you should be removing fruits from your diet, I think they’re incredible healthy. And of course, it depends on your health condition and other factors, but generally, I think people should be eating fruit, and Dr. Z believes so, too. So, today on the show, Dr. Z is the author of the national bestseller, The Healing Power of Essential Oils, and the coauthor of the upcoming book, The Essential Oils Diet. Dr. Z has pioneered natural living and biblical health education since 2003. Trained as an aromatherapist, public health researcher, and a chiropractor, Dr. Z started naturallivingfamily.com in 2014 with his wife, Sabrina Ann, to help people learn how to safely and effectively use natural remedies such as essential oils.
Wendy Myers: Now visited by more than five million natural health seekers every year, naturallivingfamily.com has rapidly become the number one online source for biblical health and non-branded essential oil education. You can go to naturallivingfamily.com to learn more. Eric and Sabrina, thanks so much for coming on the show.
Dr. Eric Z: Well, thank you.
Sabrina Z.: Yes, thank you.
Dr. Eric Z: We love Wendy Myers.
Wendy Myers: Yeah.
Dr. Eric Z: You gotta be top one person in our favorite group list. I mean, really, we were part of a community of a lot of folks that do this stuff, and you are just such a sweet person, but you live the lifestyle that you preach. And I love everything you’re about, Wendy, so I’m so grateful being back on your show. And introduce everyone to Mama Z, my better half, the prettier half.
Wendy Myers: No, and the feeling is mutual. I love the work that you’re doing, and spreading the word about essential oils, and how important they are to add to a health regimen, an already healthy lifestyle. And you and Sabrina do so much good work spreading the word on alternative natural health. So, you have a new book out called The Essential Oils Diet, and in that book, you say that people are asking the wrong questions when it comes to weight loss. So, tell us a little about that.
Dr. Eric Z: You want me to begin this one, baby?
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, go ahead.
Dr. Eric Z: Oh, man. You opened up Pandora’s box here. We are fixated, we’re obsessed with quantity, but not quality, bottom line. We’re obsessed with calories, carbs, fats, vitamins, and minerals, and we’re looking at all these numbers, but we’re totally throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Now, the gluten free industry are making billions of dollars selling the worst crap food on this planet.
Wendy Myers: Garbage.
Dr. Eric Z: And no one’s looking at the ingredients, so we’re trying to educate and bring back to food freedom again, where we now look, and don’t be afraid of eating apples. Again, it’s okay. Healthy fruits are okay. People are freaked out about watermelon and apples and high quote carb fruits and things. Where did that happen? How did we become brainwashed to throw away whole groups of food that we’ve been living on since the beginning of time?
Wendy Myers: Yeah. The whole no fruit thing makes no sense at all. These are healthy foods you need to have in your diet.
Dr. Eric Z: Natural detoxifiers, right?
Wendy Myers: Yes.
Dr. Eric Z: How do you detox your life? How do you follow a toxic free lifestyle if you’re consuming none, fruits and vegetables, right? So, we’re not vegan, we’re not vegetarian, but we’re very much plant based friendly. And we just want to educate, again, focused on the ingredients. But here’s the missing link, though, too, is … and I know one reason why I was really happy to talk to you about this, Wendy, on the show, is it’s beyond proven.
Dr. Eric Z: It’s so barebone science understanding now that the number one cause of metabolic burden is toxic overload, it’s just it. Weight loss, weight gain, cancer, autoimmunity, diabetes, all these different things that people are trying to accomplish, prevent, treat, has to do with toxicity. And we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing can monopolize your metabolism than toxicity, and that includes the things that you’re putting on your skin, the stuff that you’re eating, what you’re inhaling. Whether or not you have aerosols and fresheners, and all that stuff. So, that’s really what it is. The people are asking the wrong questions about, it’s all about numbers instead of, what am I introducing into my body, and how do I really maximize my metabolism?
Wendy Myers: Yeah, and stress is a huge factor, also. Essential oils are so key in helping people to reduce stress and manage their cortisol levels so they can avoid belly fat, that so many people are overweight or have an extra 10 or 15 pounds just due to stress. How can essential oils help with that?
Sabrina Z.: Well, and I think it’s important, because we are living a life of detox and trying to limit the toxicity, that includes our relationships.
Dr. Eric Z: Yes.
Sabrina Z.: That includes the stress. And with the essential oils, a lot of times, people that have a lot of stress, I find that they have a hard time sleeping. And that can be a huge factor because of course, if we don’t have sleep, how do we act the next day? And I think I always like to ask people, “Are you sleeping well? Can you sleep well every night?” And usually introducing things like lavender or chamomile and vetiver, I love using those three together. Not just in the diffuser, but also topically before bed, or doing a detox bath with Epsom salts and Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar, and we use lemon and lavender in the bath. And the thing is is that it sometimes is the stress of the day that you need to soak out, but sometimes it’s the stress in the muscles, too. And it gives you enough of a refreshing that you’re able to go to bed and get a good night’s rest, and actually get such a clear view of the day the next day.
Wendy Myers: Yeah, I even track that on my Oura Ring. The only time I get a really super deep sleep, or I have improved deep sleep, is with taking an Epsom salt bath with lavender in it.
Sabrina Z.: Good, yes.
Wendy Myers: And it increases my deep sleep, I actually track that [crosstalk 00:08:54]
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, it’s amazing. And one of my other girlfriends, on her Oura Ring, too, ’cause she was getting the messages all the time that she was not at all to her optimum sleep. And the detox bath is so key.
Wendy Myers: Yes.
Sabrina Z.: And adding, so we use six to eight drops of lavender and one to two drops of lemon, kind of mix it in with some olive oil, and then put it in the bath with the Epsom salts and the Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar. And what I found is it also helps to completely detoxify as well, and it’s also exfoliating your skin cells, so that’s gonna be even better for our outer bodies, especially for women. But the sleep factor is just the biggest key, and it’s awesome.
Dr. Eric Z: And proper sleep helps us to manage stress better, and that’s a missing key to a lot of people’s stress management protocols, is if you set yourself up for failure, you’re gonna fail. You gotta set yourself up for success, and that means a good, healthy diet, well-balanced body care products, good sleep. But if you really get to a point, and I get it, ’cause I used to suffer from panic attacks. You can carry around a little aromatherapy inhaler that looks like a lipstick tube that’s filled with, it’s a cotton swab with essential oils. You can just breathe. You can just breathe in, it’s on-the-go aromatherapy. And this is really nice ’cause it’s very respectful of other people, so you’re not spraying things in the subway or at your classroom or in your office. And having oils like bergamot, lime, neroli, orange, and lemon, specifically the citrus oils can help stop a panic attack in its tracks. And also, we know there’s a direct connection between stress and depression, and it’s cyclical. Stress can cause depression, depression can cause stress.
Dr. Eric Z: Well, these citrus oils are all antidepressants, and they’ve been shown to produce endorphins and dopamine and serotonin to give you just a happy, good, joyful feeling. It’s a really key way, and it also puts the power back in your hands where you’re not a victim of your circumstances, like a lot of people feel, like I used to feel like I was.
Sabrina Z.: Right. And one of the other things people don’t think about is if they’re, let’s say they’re on a journey to lose weight, or they’re on a detox journey. Their body is going to need more sleep.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah.
Sabrina Z.: And especially, I know for me, training for Mrs. Georgia, when I’m in my, like right now, during my peak phase, I am sleeping more. ‘Cause I don’t naturally require a lot of sleep because I get a lot of deep sleep when I sleep, ’cause I can go right to sleep and right into deep sleep. And I find that during the times of detox and during the times of my peak season, I require more sleep. I have to have it.
Wendy Myers: Yes. Yeah, and so many people today are suffering from sleep issues from a lot of different reasons. But when I was having sleep issues, I definitely added essential oils to my regimen, and I also, for de-stressing, I love the sweet orange. I love smelling this when I’m podcasting, and I’ve got a lot of other ones here that I use.
Sabrina Z.: Yay!
Wendy Myers: I just love essential oils so much. I had a neroli, that’s one of my favorites, and they’re definitely part of my health regimen as well.
Sabrina Z.: And that’s great that you mentioned orange, because when I was pregnant with my first, my mom had had terrible postpartum depression.
Dr. Eric Z: Yes.
Sabrina Z.: And it got worst with every subsequent baby. So, we prayed about, we didn’t want to have that happen. But I started researching, and I found that orange and vanilla essential oils mixed together were so powerful for so many different reasons, but especially postpartum depression. And so I came up with a topical blend for the babies, but what I found is, in putting it on them, I was getting all of the inhalation benefits. And not only have I always been told, “Oh, you have the happiest babies. They’re smiling all the time.” But I’ve never had any postpartum depression or any of that utilizing the essential oils on the kids.
Wendy Myers: Yeah. There are so many different uses for essential oils. So, let’s talk a little bit about how essential oils help people to get past the bad habits and the traps that they know are preventing them from living their best lives. You have so many different tips in your book.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah. To me, Wendy, one thing I found is that people that are doing things that are harmful and they know, and I’m gonna make a judgment call against smokers, because I’m a recovering smoker. So, I think I can say this. No one smoking right now on a regular basis, who knows? Again, there’s a level of ignorance. Some people don’t really know, right? But if you know that smoking can cause cancer and if you’re a regular smoker, I’ll guarantee there’s a level of self hatred in your life. And there’s a level of depression, and to overcome that, you really have to fall in love with yourself, right?
Dr. Eric Z: And so anything to make you feel better is very therapeutic, which could help. And that’s where essential oils, again, mood boosting, everything from dealing with nausea, dealing with libido, dealing with hormonal issues. But to help people really feel better again, to love themselves again, but more importantly feel like they’re worth it. And to have something that is almost instant, it takes a while for some of the other things that we do, like nutrition and exercise, and some of the benefits … maybe exercise you get a quick endorphin rush. But essential oils are instant, they literally penetrate your bloodstream within minutes. When you inhale them, you instantly get the effect throughout your whole body.
Dr. Eric Z: And so we’re trying to help people, and it can get a little deep. But we’re trying to help people really fall in love with themselves again and know that they’re worth it. And if you need, and we need to do the things that cause us to feel better, because it is our unalienable right to feel good and joyful, and be happy.
Sabrina Z.: And if we’re not, then we’re not gonna be able to fulfill the potential that we’re supposed to have, and why we are here on the earth. Because if we’re stuck over here just trying to get through each and every day, then we’re not living on for what we’re supposed to be here for, and each of us are called for a purpose.
Wendy Myers: Yeah. My dad smoked for 40 years, and you see that they’re just not loving themselves and almost saying, “I hate myself. I hate myself.” Every time they’re taking a drag of that, ’cause there’s so many health issues. And when you’re stopping smoking and coming off of that, you need every tool that you can use to make yourself feel better and lift your mood. And people are smoking because they’re trying to get a dopamine hit, essentially. They’re trying to increase their dopamine, and essential oils can help to improve your neurotransmitters so you feel better, and you can stop doing that, have a replacement for that.
Sabrina Z.: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah. Yeah, and that’s really been the mission. It’s been the mission of our work. Coming from myself, dealing with clinical depression, suicidal thoughts, I remember falling to drug abuse. I remember smoking on a regular basis and doing cocaine and thinking, “I don’t care what this does to me, I just want to feel good for a minute.” And knowing, I know this is bad for me, and that was my rock bottom, when you almost don’t care. It’s almost like a form of suicide, slow suicide. What we want to do is help you feel, and get addicted to feeling good again. And looking at our kids, and you have a beautiful young daughter, you see her vivacious desire, her lust for life. She only wants to feel good and be happy and play, and where did we lose that along the way?
Dr. Eric Z: I’m 39, Sabrina’s 40, and we have more of a lust for life than I can remember. I’m not saying that orange oil cured me of everything, but it helps, it really does. We’re diffusing bergamot and lime, really these are very energetic, happy, producing, hunger craving curbing kind of oils, too. There’s a lot you can do when it comes to symptoms and addiction. You mentioned, we mentioned, we were talking about smoking and quitting smoking. Black pepper is fantastic.
Sabrina Z.: Yes.
Dr. Eric Z: It’s been shown to actually stop the addiction cascade, and to help people overcome the withdrawals of addiction. And most people, proven, are addicted to sugar, which we know is more addictive to cocaine.
Sabrina Z.: Right.
Dr. Eric Z: So, to help people get off the sugar habit, that’s where essential oils can really help curb those cravings. Like peppermint, cinnamon bark, grapefruit, and lime. Those are our four core oils that we talk about in The Essential Oils Diet. So, just having those things at your disposal in conjunction with good nutrition, exercise, mind body, prayer and meditation. And one thing we talk a lot about in the book are keys to the abundant life.
Sabrina Z.: Yes.
Dr. Eric Z: Emotional detoxing. Essential oils can actually help you get to more of a meditative state, clear away some brain fog. That might help you deal with some forgiveness, maybe some bitterness issues. Some will help you do some emotional recall healing. There are some really cool techniques that people can utilize with letting go, and like we say, letting go and letting God. Kind of getting things off of our balance sheet and putting it on the divine. And that’s wonderful when you don’t have to carry that burden on your shoulders.
Sabrina Z.: Right.
Dr. Eric Z: And that’s part of it. It’s all part of this holistic lifestyle that we’ve been very blessed to live now for about 15 years, and I know you have, too.
Wendy Myers: Yes, I know. I love that you say that you want to get addicted to feeling good, ’cause I really feel that. I really identify with that, where you just want to do things that make you feel good all the time. And that’s just how we are as humans, is pleasure seeking. So, do something good rather than something bad that’s short term. So, in your book, you talk about a slow metabolism is not a scapegoat. Can you talk a little about that?
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah. The thing about metabolism is, metabolism has got a bad rep for a lot of things. Really, and I don’t know where it came about, and I want to find out the solution, or I want to find out where it started. But our understanding of the metabolism has been very much distorted by people saying things like, “I have a slow metabolism. I have a fast metabolism. Let’s speed it up,” or whatever. You know what metabolism is? Metabolism, by definition, is the sum of chemical processes that are required to keep you alive. It’s the energy, we’re talking cellular level, like mitochondrial level, biology, ninth grade stuff. Remember the ribosomes, the things that we had to do in charts in ninth grade? That’s metabolism.
Dr. Eric Z: So, the thing about it is, if your metabolism, again, it’s the energy required for you to maintain life. What’s pumping your heart? The energy required to keep you breathing, and have your cells regenerate themselves. There’s only so much energy that our body can utilize and maintain. And if our energy is being monopolized by toxic burden, by inhaling toxic substances, putting toxic chemicals on our skin through skincare, eating toxic foods, pesticide ridden, genetically modified foods, our metabolism becomes burdened. It actually becomes burdened with keeping us alive, basically ridding our body of the toxins. And what’s happening is instead of burning fat, instead of maintaining a healthy weight, the body can’t even focus on that ’cause there’s only so much that it can do.
Dr. Eric Z: And we know even the Mayo Clinic has gone on record saying that the metabolic function, there’s no such thing as a slow metabolism that makes people gain weight, it’s like a misnomer. And it’s become a crutch for a lot of people, like, “Oh, I have a slow metabolism. I have a sluggish thyroid.” And it becomes, the onus gets out of us, and it’s on something else that we can control, where we start to remember, maybe the thyroid isn’t functioning properly because of X, Y, and Z. Maybe your metabolism isn’t functioning properly because of, you name it, right? So, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to get people back to just, again, living this toxic free lifestyle and feeding the body with the healthy things that produce proper weight management. And it’s not complicated, it really isn’t when you get down to it.
Wendy Myers: No. Are there any essential oils that are really known for helping with improving your metabolism, or maintaining a healthy metabolism?
Dr. Eric Z: When it comes to metabolic function, the key are bioactive compounds. And most people, it kind of surprises me, researchers have been talking about bioactive compounds for well over 100 years. They named them carotenoids, polyphenols, plant based chemicals that are rich in antioxidants, also, essential oils. So, the things that are in our plants that give us robust health, and these are the ones that help fight off the free radicals and keep us healthy. So, when it comes to essential oils, they’re part of a subgroup of food, or a subgroup of food based particles, plant based compounds, that help us enhance metabolic function. Which essentially all goes back to ridding our body of toxins, AKA free radicals, and having antioxidant rich stuff. And so all essential oils can benefit in that sense. So, what we’ve done is we’ve tried to really, I guess distill down the ones that are most cost effective, because some are super expensive.
Dr. Eric Z: We love rose, but not many people can afford a $200, $300 bottle of rose, ’cause it takes a lot of roses just to get it into an itty bitty bottle. So, we want to help people get back on the ones that can, again, cost efficient, and that’s orange oil, lime, and grapefruit. Peppermint is a great one for hunger cravings and energy. Cinnamon bark balances blood sugar and also helps with cravings. And the citrus ones, too, have been shown to actual burn fat. It produces what’s known as lipolysis. Once you breathe citrus oils, the brain will start to trigger neurotransmitters that say, “Hey, start to burn fat.”
Wendy Myers: Oh, I want to smell some of that right now.
Dr. Eric Z: Literally, literally, it’s profound. It’s not like you’re gonna lose 20 pounds by smelling, but if you incorporate them in inhalation. But also, Mama Z has got a recipe she can share.
Sabrina Z.: Yes.
Dr. Eric Z: Our fat burning roll-on applying, ’cause they oxygenate the body, they oxygenate the fat. The body starts burning fat naturally. You could wrap your tummy or your underarms if there are certain problem areas, like she gets ready for her pageants.
Sabrina Z.: Right.
Dr. Eric Z: So much.
Sabrina Z.: And I utilize with the skin, so these oils that he mentioned, the peppermints and the cinnamon bark and the citrus oils, I actually incorporate these same oils into my shower gel that I make. And for people who don’t have time to DIY, they can easily go get an unscented Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, or another one that’s healthy, and put these essential oils in them. And then I like to use the detox gloves in the shower, and I literally wear my little gloves and I put it on my skin. And then I use, it’s a fat massager, but it’s so good for detox. And I get right into those areas. For people, a lot of people, it’s gonna be their flanks, or their tummy, or their thighs, or their buns. And really get that skin engaged, especially if they have a lot of weight to lose, because a lot of that skin has really been stagnant.
Sabrina Z.: And for people who have over 100 pounds of weight to lose, they really need to get their skin engaged and have that. Because it is our largest organ, and we do need to detox that properly. And utilizing essential oils really makes that possible in a way that we can do so easily in the shower. And using those same oils out of the shower in a roll-on or a body lotion, or I mean a body oil. That way, we can continue to have that kind of myofascial release, but use the oils that are gonna help it do the detox that it needs to do.
Wendy Myers: Yeah, and that really gets the lymph flowing, too.
Sabrina Z.: Yes, yes.
Wendy Myers: Whether you’re rubbing it on in the shower or doing a self massage, or another person massaging you. Getting that lymph flowing, that’s how the toxins are carried out of the body, is so important, and it’s a big bottleneck for so many people.
Sabrina Z.: Absolutely, absolutely.
Dr. Eric Z: Do you want to give them the roll-on? This is right from the book. This is-
Sabrina Z.: This is right from our book.
Dr. Eric Z: This works, folks.
Sabrina Z.: Yes.
Dr. Eric Z: Pounds will just fly away. No, it’ll help, it really will.
Sabrina Z.: It does.
Dr. Eric Z: We found that these kinds of techniques help people that are plateaued, and that someone needs a little extra boost, but you’re not a-
Sabrina Z.: Right. So, it’s four drops of lime, three drops of peppermint, three drops of grapefruit, two drops of cypress, one drop of eucalyptus, one drop of cinnamon bark essential oils. And you’re gonna put that in a 10 milliliter glass role-on bottle, and then fill the rest of the way up with fractionated coconut oil or jojoba oil. And basically, I also use it, I use that same combination. I actually multiply those doses by more, and I make a little blend. And then you can actually use that same blend in any carrier, like six to eight drops for every one ounce, if you want to use it as a body oil.
Sabrina Z.: And then using the roll-on on those specific areas, and really, the little fat massagers or whatever, they have little knobs, sometimes wooden. And using those or a fascia blaster, something that is more, you can really invigorate that skin. I mean, you’ll see awesome results. And closer to Mrs. Georgia, in the next couple weeks here, I’ll start doing my, where I actually take and roll that onto the skin. I use a muslin wrap, and then I wrap it in saran. And when you wake up in the morning, you are sweating a ton. But you wrap each individual area, and then you get that extra tightening and toning effect for an overnight experience.
Wendy Myers: I have to try that.
Dr. Eric Z: It works.
Sabrina Z.: Awesome.
Dr. Eric Z: It works. But here’s the thing, though, don’t wrap yourself in one piece because I wrapped her up like a mummy.
Sabrina Z.: Literally. So, the very first time, I was like, I had come up with this awesome recipe and I loved it. Put it on my body, and then I had him wrap my leg and my other leg, and my tummy, and then my arm, and then my tummy again, and my other arm. And then I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Wendy Myers: You had to be cut out of your-
Sabrina Z.: I had to cut myself out. And I was like, okay, mental note, only individual body parts. But what I found is, I buy the muslin, just organic muslin, on Amazon. And then I have a certain size that I pre-cut for my arms and for my legs, so then I just have … it’s so easy. I make it so easy so I can just go, okay. I have them all pre-cut in little bags that say arms, legs, tummy. So, then it’s all set to go so that when I’m going to do it, then it’s not like, oh, I’ve gotta do the whole process. This is gonna take an hour. It’s easy, fast, and you can just sleep overnight, burn extra calories, tighten and tone, and it’s a win win.
Wendy Myers: Yeah. And oh, what we do for beauty. What us ladies do, gosh.
Dr. Eric Z: Funny, it’s great for weddings and beach body, and of course, if you’re super into competing for a Mrs. Georgia pageant. I’m not doing that by the way, but I will actually do a little-
Sabrina Z.: Oh, oh, he is, he is. He’s training to be Mr. Georgia.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah, I’m training now. But what I’ll do is I’ll do my little fat burning roll-on over my little tummy, ’cause I’m 39 and I’ve got a little 39-year-old tire on me that I’m getting rid of.
Sabrina Z.: And we’re talking small tire, okay?
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah, it’s all right, but still.
Sabrina Z.: It’s like a bike tire.
Dr. Eric Z: But still, I’ve been researching essential oils too much. I’ve gotta get back at the gym. So, I got a personal trainer, a good friend of mine. That’s the other thing, too, folks. You can’t do this alone. Get the support you need and whatever, even if it’s … we have an infrared sauna in our home. You have an infrared sauna, buddy. One of your friends said, “Hey, can we have a girls night?”
Sabrina Z.: Yeah. I said, “I have an infrared sauna with chromotherapy.” She’s like, “You have red light therapy?” I said, “Well, I have all of the spectrums of the colors as well.” So, we can do-
Wendy Myers: It’s like a little disco party in there.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah.
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, so we can go red an hour, green.
Dr. Eric Z: Girls night.
Sabrina Z.: Blue, we can go full spectrum. She’s like, “Let’s have a girls night for sure.”
Wendy Myers: Yeah, and you have to really nourish yourself from the inside out to be beautiful, to be healthy, to have glowing skin and a healthy look in your eye. You have to eat these bioactive rich food and nourish yourself from the inside out. Can you tell us some more about the bioactive foods, maybe some of the recipes that you have in the book?
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah. At the core, what we try to share is ultimately food freedom. I know we’ve joked a little about watermelons and apples, but they’re okay. Eating an apple isn’t gonna kill you. It’s not gonna cause you to gain weight. Now, if all you do is eat apples and all you do is eat carbs, well, that’s a different story. So, our bioactive approach is we go back to some of the most healthy, well-balanced foods. Your almonds, your walnuts, your avocados, but again, your berries, but your fruits. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, are pretty good for you. Grass fed beef and wild caught game, we try to caution people against. Because right now, it’s very, very hard to get clean meat.
Sabrina Z.: Yes.
Wendy Myers: Yes.
Dr. Eric Z: Even though your meat might be organic, it says, and grass fed, what are they spraying the grass with? And we see residue of glyphosate in all meat products now. So, we actually tell people, “Hey, take a month off from eating meat. See how your body responds. Have some wild caught fish if you can get your hands on some good, real wild caught fish.” But again, a lot of good, healthy stuff. Your quinoas, your ancient grains, your brown rice. In moderation, we don’t want to, again, go back to eating grains and breads every single meal.
Sabrina Z.: Right.
Dr. Eric Z: But it’s food in its whole form. There’s no vegetable and no fruit that we say is bad for you. Now, here’s one thing. You gotta be in tune with your body. If your body is nightshade sensitive like Sabrina’s is, well, don’t eat them. How do you know? Well, kind of do a food journal. Eat something, and then if you don’t feel good, make a note. What did I eat? And then next time, okay, do I feel this way? But really at the end of the day, you have to find your own approach. We kind of walk people through signs and symptoms. One thing, though, regardless of what you eat, and I actually learned this the hard way.
Dr. Eric Z: We have a podcast, Wendy. And this last week, I talked about my fat pants story, and I had to gain, I gained a couple inches on my tummy. And I remember about six, seven years ago, I was just so humble, I went to the dry cleaner. But that’s a whole other story.
Sabrina Z.: He totally went to a dry cleaner we don’t even go to.
Dr. Eric Z: No. I was embarrassed.
Sabrina Z.: Had his pants altered, and then had me pick them up.
Dr. Eric Z: I was embarrassed. It was embarrassing. I was in chiropractic school. But the thing was, I didn’t go eat fast food and junk, I just ate a lot of food, and the foods that, you know, Mama Z’s gluten free, sugar free, naturally sweetened cookies. I would have maybe five or six instead of just one. I got out of moderation, and food actually became a crutch for me to help me deal with the stress of school and stuff. And I gotta say, that’s real for a lot of people, myself included. But you know, in that story, we’re telling people about this.
Dr. Eric Z: What you can do when it comes to food is you can create a balance that works for you in a very sweet way, that it’s completely different for you than it might be for somebody else. And we walk people through that, and little tips and little tricks along the way. And one thing I learned in my fat pants story was I was eating until I was full. And so one thing I learned, and this is part of the blue zone theory, most blue zoners, they even … I forget the name of it, I don’t speak Japanese. But the Okinawans, they have a name as a blue zone, and they’ve done so much studies right on them, of when to stop eating when you’re like 75% full. There’s a name for that, it’s a tradition.
Dr. Eric Z: So, we talk in the book signs and symptoms of when you’re eating too much. Because I actually was eating good food, but just too much of it. And so now, I’ve trained myself to stop eating around 75%, 80% full. And no, I don’t have a measuring spoon to tell where I’m at, but there are certain things, like when you feel distended. Actually, when food stops tasting really, really good, that’s a sign that that’s enough. Because your last bite of cake shouldn’t, normally doesn’t taste as good as the first bite of cake because you’re satiated. Your body is like, “Enough.”
Wendy Myers: Well, speak for yourself, because I think the last bite of cake is still tasting pretty good to me.
Dr. Eric Z: Well …
Sabrina Z.: Well, and also, one of the research journals that I’ve read said that once you really get in tune with your body, that when you’re actually full, you’ll have a little burp that will come up. And if you’re really keen and aware of when that happens, at that moment, you stop. And so because we don’t waste anything at our house, we literally, we have no problem with putting something in the refrigerator just like it is, like that, and then having it for lunch the next day. Because it’s still gonna be there, and it’s still gonna taste as great. But even a salad, if I don’t finish it, I’ll finish it the next day, and I have no problem with that.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah, no clean plate club. And that’s something that-
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, and I was raised on the clean plate club. I mean …
Dr. Eric Z: That’s the hardest thing. That’s the hardest thing to break.
Sabrina Z.: We did all but lick that plate, and I will tell you, we just don’t do that. And it’s kind of funny because I would hide my food in the coupon drawer, ’cause I sat next to the coupon drawer. And I knew I wouldn’t get in trouble until my mom and dad went shopping, and usually I’d have a couple of weeks to spare. But I found myself hiding the food in there because I wanted to have that clean plate club. And the thing is is that when we’re done, we’re done. And of our kids, we’ll have one kid that will be like, “Oh, I’m not as hungry today.” And the next one goes, “I am.” And they’re like, “I’ll finish your plate.”
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah, it’s easy with kids.
Sabrina Z.: It’s so easy because they barely ever have leftovers. They just, between the two of them, they’re like … and if there is leftovers, they think it’s an awesome thing because they’re like … my son, my oldest son, he loves if there’s a leftover on a plate ’cause he’s growing through a growth spurt right now. And yesterday, he said, “Mom, I ate all of this, all of that, and all of that. Guess what? I am a growing boy, and I am still hungry.” He said, “Do you have any of that vegetable lasagna in there, that special stuff you make?” ‘Cause we make it all allergy friendly and all of that. And I said, “I do.” And he goes, “Wait, you mean the stuff that I had a couple days ago that was really good?” “Yup.” And he just cleaned it right up. I was like, “Wow.”
Sabrina Z.: So, you know, when you have good things and you’re able to recognize your body signs, you’re able to say, “No more.” And teach the kids that it’s okay not to have a clean plate because that’s how it needs to be. If you’re body is full, you’re full.
Dr. Eric Z: I learned that from the kids, I mean, the baby. Babies will say, “Enough, enough.” They’ll throw it on the floor.
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, “I’m all done. All done.”
Dr. Eric Z: I was actually shocked at myself seeing our babies say no to food, even if it was their favorite treat. And I was like, that’s interesting because you don’t see that in adults. Adults don’t have that litmus test anymore. And so I started thinking back, I’m like, okay, how do I retrain myself? Having kids, Wendy, has been the best thing for my health. I’m telling you, for my life in so many areas. They are really, really good at a lot of things, and healthy. Their instincts, intuition.
Sabrina Z.: Yeah.
Dr. Eric Z: So, I’m really trying to tap into that and help people get back to those, just vibrancy and lust for life and health, and all the things that our kids have enjoyed. And I also don’t want to beat it out of them. I don’t want to verbally or physically or any other way force that. That’s kind of a form of physical abuse. “Eat that now.” We’re not …
Sabrina Z.: I remember hiding food behind the couch once, because my dad and mom would say, “Okay, well if you don’t eat it for this meal, then you’re eating it for a snack, and the next meal, and the next meal, until it’s gone.” So, we’re not doing that, and we’re not going to. But don’t get me wrong, if we have a child that’s refusing to eat good things or other stuff like that, we’ll have to do a little bit of a standoff sometimes, and we have. But we don’t do it on a school day or anything like that, “No, you’re not going to school with any food.”
Sabrina Z.: But our one son, he didn’t want to eat any vegetables for a while, and were like, “No, enough is enough.” No, you’re gonna have that. When you finish your vegetables, then you get other things. “Well, I’m not a dinner guy then.” And I’m like, “Okay, well then if you don’t eat those vegetables for a couple days, I think you’re gonna realize that you are more of a vegetable guy.”
Wendy Myers: They’re gonna taste real good.
Sabrina Z.: Real good.
Dr. Eric Z: They’re gonna be breakfast for you. They’re gonna be breakfast.
Sabrina Z.: Real good. And so he’s the first one to say now, “I finished all my vegetables.”
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah. He’s like …
Sabrina Z.: “I did really good.” And so we’ll have to do some of those things in a healthy way.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah.
Sabrina Z.: But definitely not to lick that plate clean.
Wendy Myers: Yeah, and I have a rule, I used to do it with my daughter. I have to have a vegetable or fruit at every single meal, and my daughter has that same rule also. She knows the rules. You’re going to eat this, this is what we’re having for this meal. And she can start with that first if she doesn’t want to finish the whole place, but yeah. And I have a … my adult plates are a three quarter size. I actually have smaller plates that can help me do portion control, rather than big, gigantic plate that you feel kind of compulsed to fill up.
Sabrina Z.: Right.
Dr. Eric Z: Smart.
Wendy Myers: But yeah, you really have to get in touch with that. It’s listening to your own body. When you’re full, or skipping a meal if your body isn’t hungry.
Sabrina Z.: Right.
Wendy Myers: I think so many people wake up, they’re not hungry, their body is telling them not to eat for whatever reason. Their liver is still detoxing or doing something, and it’s breakfast time, or it’s just time to eat. So, I think people really have to get in tune with their body. Like you said, really reengage with our body and pay attention to it. So, let’s talk about cravings, ’cause a lot of people are overeating or on a blood sugar rollercoaster that’s making them want to eat more food, or eating for emotional comfort. Can you talk a little bit about how to use essential oils to deal with cravings?
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah. Our healthy craving blend is equal mixtures of peppermint, cinnamon bark, and lime and grapefruit. And the cinnamon bark, again, balances the blood sugar. The peppermint actually gives you a nice boost of energy, but it can actually help reduce those cravings, too. One thing that we forget about are the hormones left in ghrelin. These are the hormones that make you feel full or give you more of a craving for food, and ghrelin is what gives you the cravings for unhealthy foods. They call it, in our endocrinology class, gremlin. Remember it as ghrelin, as a gremlin. Remember the gremlins from the ’80s, those little, whatever, dinosaur monster thing movie? You ever see the Gremlins?
Sabrina Z.: A long time ago.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah, they used to eat snacks and bad food. So, eat foods that can help balance those, and that’s why we incorporate a lot of diffusion. And for people that are really, really struggling, you can put some essential oils in a little shot glass, or a jigger glass, or a little cup with some olive oil, and you can put some toothpicks, some wooden toothpicks in there. And you let the toothpicks, the wooden toothpicks, suck up the oil in the essential oils. And a lot of people, they have an oral fixation. They always have to have something eating.
Dr. Eric Z: And I’m so glad you mentioned about not having breakfast, because we’ve also as a culture been obsessed with this. “I always have to eat, I always have to snack.” Like my mom, she has to have a meal every hour. Why? Give your body a break and let your body detox, right? So, for people that have that addiction, and it’s also just, why? In the core of who you are, what’s drawing you to these things? You’ll find that those happy essential oils, like the citrus oils, can really just replace those desire for unhealthy things. And whatever it might be, there’s all kinds of little hacks.
Dr. Eric Z: We like our sparkling water. You add a few drops of stevia to it with a drop of lime or grapefruit, that’s a great little replacement for soda pop that could satiate you, make you feel full, makes you feel happy. You’ll find that you don’t really need to eat as much as you normally do. But yeah, just stop that in its tracks. And sometimes, it just takes full fledged self control. I mean, sometimes at the end of the day, it’s like, “No, I’m not gonna do it. I’m not gonna eat that.”
Sabrina Z.: Right.
Dr. Eric Z: And those are some of the most empowering moments for anybody, which is why we always like to encourage true fasting. Eat your dinner at 7:00, and don’t eat again for at least 12 to 15 hours. Force yourself not to at times, and even go a whole day, water fast. That’s a great discipline.
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, and I actually was able to get off of … I had gotten off one of the prescription drugs before then, but I was on 10 prescription drugs.
Wendy Myers: Oh, wow.
Dr. Eric Z: How old were you? You were like, what, 24 or 23?
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, 24, 25. And I really felt called to do a water fast, and my pastor talked about the dynamics of fasting from Isaiah 58, and all of the benefits that go with that. And I didn’t know it was gonna be 10 days, but I ended up, it was 10 days. And my body in the process of detoxing, I remember seeing black stuff coming out of my pores in the third or fourth day, and just the release. And in that time, I also made right relationships that had been broken, and other stuff like that. But I got a full emotional and physical detox from that. And we still do regular detoxes in our house. We do the liver gallbladder cleanse, we do lots of different things to always be detoxing. But at that time, that really was the start to the whole body approach of a life of detox for me.
Wendy Myers: And that’s such a more fun way to do a water fast, is water fasting with essential oils in the water, just to give you a little bit of flavor and a little added benefit as well.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah, yeah. I don’t know, you’re never alone, and maybe essential oils can be your buddy. I mean, really, at the end of the day, you always have something at your side. They could be your friend. Bergamot and lime are my best friends right now as I go through somewhat of a stressful time, getting ready for another book and all kinds of fun little travel and stuff, and all of this stuff. It’s like, you know what? I got my go to. It’s like I have a good, healthy, I don’t want to call it a fixation, but having something that you know that is really good and life giving to you always by your side, it’s kind of nice. It’s somewhat comforting.
Sabrina Z.: Yeah.
Dr. Eric Z: I never thought of essential oils as my friends before, but …
Sabrina Z.: Yeah. I always-
Dr. Eric Z: I have you.
Sabrina Z.: And I have you.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah, you’re okay at times, but it’s like, essential oils, they never argue back at me.
Wendy Myers: They don’t talk back.
Dr. Eric Z: They never tell me-
Sabrina Z.: I’m definitely not a yes man, that’s for sure.
Dr. Eric Z: They never tell me to take out the garbage, they’re the perfect friend. No.
Sabrina Z.: And for me, and everybody has their own comforting essential oils.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah.
Sabrina Z.: I love the citruses blended with the vanillas and the peppermints.
Dr. Eric Z: Yes.
Sabrina Z.: And depending on the day, sometimes ylang ylang. And just those together are very comforting, and then at different times of the day, we need different things. So, when we’re doing more of a focus or waking up at 5:00 in the morning or 4:00 in the morning to workout, I love using peppermint and eucalyptus and rosemary together. Just that performance boosting, get you going kind of blend. I know if we are packing for a trip, those are the oils going in the diffuser that day because I need everybody to get ‘er done that day. And it works, it works. And it’s so funny because my helpers that are here, that help us, they’ll be like, “Wow, what’s that in the diffuser? It smells really good.” And different people will comment on different things in the household.
Sabrina Z.: The days I’ll have the focus blend, the people that need to focus will be like, “Oh, I really like what’s in that diffuser over there.” And the people that need to get ‘er done, I mean, it’s so cool how our body just intuitively knows what we need at the times that we need it. And how over time, that will change, and that’s cool because our body is evolving. And the way that we are healthy is always evolving, so being in tune with the oils that bring us comfort or the ones that we like, we obviously like them for one reason or another.
Wendy Myers: Yeah. I mean, I use them on an almost daily basis. I love essential oils. And I’m dealing right now with a lot of cravings, and I don’t know what’s going on with me with stress, or just have a lot going on. And packing for a trip, and I’m leaving on Thursday, I’m going to Cuba. And so I use essential oils to help me to kind of reduce stress. I start to feel a craving coming on, and I’ll smell one of my essential oils, do some diffusing, and drink a big glass of water. Also, it seems to really, really help to cut those cravings. So, can you talk a little bit about anything else you want us to know about your new book, The Essential Oils Diet? And any other takeaways that people can expect from the book?
Sabrina Z.: Yeah. One of the great things, and this is what I’ve found over time, is especially going through a process, a lifestyle process, of really trying to detox and change habits, and living healthier. You need support.
Dr. Eric Z: Yes.
Sabrina Z.: And it’s so crucial. And so what we’ve done is created a group for the people that are going to buy our book. They get all kinds of freebees and fun stuff, but the coolest thing is our 60 day challenge. And for our challengers, we’ve created an environment that we already kind of know what they’re going through throughout the 60 day period. And so not tackling everything all at once, but hitting all of these low hanging fruit and providing support, and then the support that they have amongst each other in the group.
Sabrina Z.: We’ve done test trials with this, and people have literally not only gained friendships and other stuff like that, but not had to feel like I’m all alone in my house doing this or that. Or, even if my spouse doesn’t support me on this, that they have won their spouses over by their lifestyle, and what they’ve done, and the results that they’ve had, the happier the people are. And just seeing people thrive within the community of people that have each other, and have us to support them, and then they can utilize the recipes and the things in our book to be able to support their lifestyle.
Wendy Myers: Yeah, that’s wonderful. It’s so important to have a supportive community around, ’cause some people, they don’t get support from their partner who’s not as interested in health as they are. And we have to lead by example.
Sabrina Z.: That’s right.
Dr. Eric Z: And a key takeaway from the book and why it was 60 days is research has shown. And it shocked me, actually, because I’ve seen for years people say, “Three weeks, 21 days it takes to form a habit.” That’s a lie. That’s 100% not proven, and what has been proven is, this is thousands and thousands of people who have been evaluated on these trials. On average, it takes 66 days. So, you gotta think of it, and it makes kind of sense. Our body is on monthly cycles, and to think that your whole world is gonna change in three weeks doesn’t even make sense to me logically.
Dr. Eric Z: So, here’s what we’re encouraging people, is most diseases, autoimmunity, cancer, diabetes, obesity, these are lifestyle diseases for the most part that takes years to develop. So, give yourself some time. Be patient with yourself. Do the behaviors that you know are right, and I’m just saying, give yourself too months, but don’t look back. And that’s the key, is we’re trying to help people understand and believe in themselves that they can create a lifestyle that’s very life giving, that’s very satisfying. That will never tempt you to go back into the things that you know caused you to get in trouble in a number of ways, and to look forward with a beautiful, sunset horizon in front of you. Because that’s really what life should be like.
Dr. Eric Z: So, it doesn’t matter how old you are. And the people that we’ve worked with have been as old as in their ’70s to as young as teenagers, and it doesn’t matter. Your body will respond in proper time, you just gotta be patient with yourself.
Wendy Myers: Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah. And eating foods rich in bioactive compounds and using essential oils are some of the simplest things that you can do to improve your health. And once you kind of get that taste of living a healthier lifestyle, you just want more and more and more and more.
Sabrina Z.: And one of the cool things, too, is that you don’t realize once you’ve obtained awesome health like that how much you appreciate it when you get into an environment that compromises it.
Dr. Eric Z: Yes.
Wendy Myers: Yes.
Sabrina Z.: When you’re in the bathroom, and one of their air fresheners just sprays over you and you’re not feeling as good, and stuff like that. So, once you have obtained just an optimal health, always trying to push forward and add something new or change something, and be evolving with it. Because your body is gonna continue evolving whether you make changes or not, and we want them to be good changes.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah.
Wendy Myers: Yes, yeah. And also, perfume, you mentioned perfume and air fresheners. I mean, these are like secondhand smoke almost.
Sabrina Z.: Oh, it’s so horrible, yes. I mean, our skin is our largest organ. We have to be so conscious, especially nowadays, of what we’re putting on it so that we can or cannot be in a state of detox. Or, if we’re gonna be actually just detoxing from what we’re putting on our skin. I’d much rather be detoxing from the things I can’t control than the things I can.
Wendy Myers: Yeah, it’s so much nicer to use essential oils for fragrance or perfume, putting it onto your body. I use a Hawaiian jasmine called [inaudible 00:51:48].
Sabrina Z.: Oh.
Wendy Myers: And it’s unbelievable, it’s amazing. And I just used to spray this perfume, and these horrible perfumes I got at the department store, I thought I was just … it was very luxurious and whatnot. But the smells now are just horrible, I can’t smell that part of the department store because they’re toxic.
Sabrina Z.: Me neither.
Wendy Myers: Petroleum based.
Sabrina Z.: They’re toxic, yes.
Dr. Eric Z: Yeah.
Sabrina Z.: Totally.
Wendy Myers: So, so many uses for essential oils, so thanks for enlightening us today on all the various uses of essential oils. There are so many out there. It’s just you have so many amazing tips on your website and in your book. Highly, highly recommend everyone learn more about essential oils and start incorporating these tips you can get from Dr. Z or Mama Z on their website. So, tell us where we can find you and your book, The Essential Oils Diet.
Dr. Eric Z: Oh, yeah. To get plugged in with the book, you go to essentialoilsdiet.com. And like Sabrina said, we have a really cool gift package for you with more than four hours of video that show you how to do the exercises that we recommend, and she actually did the exercises. And show you how to cook the foods that we recommend, and a shopping tour, so sign up for that. And there are a lot of free resources on naturallivingfamily.com, our website, as well. So, Wendy, thank you so much for having us.
Sabrina Z.: Yeah, thank you.
Dr. Eric Z: It’s been such a pleasure. Love you.
Wendy Myers: Yes, yes. Love you guys, too, and thanks for coming on the show and enlightening us on so many different aspects of essential oils. And everyone, thanks for tuning in today to the Myers Detox Podcast, where you learn everything about alternative health and detoxification protocols, and the detox lifestyle. Thanks for tuning in, and I’ll talk to you next week.
