Essential oils are the pure quintessence of the plant and their powerful aroma can be used in many ways in our daily life. Cooking with essential oils can enliven your dishes, desserts and drinks with original flavors and your creativity may just burst out the kitchen.

As a real apprentice alchemist, you will enjoy the versatility and outstanding taste it will add to your meals. Therefore, there are some cautions to be aware of before starting to use them in the kitchen: the quality should be pure, organic, and NOT compromised. It is highly recommended to use ONLY therapeutic grade essential oils because of the high purity of their quality compared to “standard” items that may contain solvents, and fats that are toxic for your health and should not be ingested!

I suggest you create your aromatherapy kitchen kit with simple, basic and well-known essential oils. The essential oils will replace your common herbs and spices and you may use them accordingly to your cooking habits.

Here are the best ones to consider: Basil, Peppermint, Cinnamon, Lavender, Neroli, Lemon, Sweet Orange, Rose, Fennel, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary.

Essential oils taste very strong and just one drop is usually enough to flavor an entire dish. Be very cautious NOT to overdo it.

You can use essential oils in the following dishes: Salad dressings and side dressings, soups, stews, gravy, marinade, desserts (cakes, cookies, and home-made ice cream), cocktails and smoothies.

There is another important matter that you should be aware of when using essential oils in the kitchen: they do NOT mix well with plastic! And some kinds of plastic can be broken down by essential oils when left for a while (for instance, when preparing in advance a large size dish to keep in the fridge). It’s therefore safer to simply use essential oils in glass or metal containers, with metal or wooden spoons, so there is no risk of plastic contamination in your food.

• Lavender: add one drop to a cake or French crepes, ice cream, smoothies, liquid honey.

• Sweet Orange: add one drop to any dessert - especially when chocolate is primary! Chocolate fondue, macaroons (keep an eye for our “Pierre Hermé ” macaroon recipe with essential oil this Friday!), any drinks and cocktails.

• Neroli (orange blossom flavor): add one drop to a cake or French crepes, ice cream or smoothies, or liquid honey.

• Peppermint: add one drop to desserts such as chocolate ice cream, summer cocktails and drinks.

• Sage, Thyme, Laurel: add one to two drops to winter stews and soups.

• Basil, fennel, : add one drop to salad dressings, side dressings, summer vegetable stews and gazpacho, fish dishes.

• Cinnamon: add one drop to desserts (cakes, cookies, apple pies and COMPOTE) and liquid honey,

• Rose: add one drop to vanilla ice cream, lemonade. Be creative!

• Lemon: add one drop to salad dressings, side dressings, summer vegetable stews and gazpacho, fish dishes, desserts and drinks.

Where to purchase trustful therapeutic grade of essential oils.

www.combedase.com

www.floracopeia.com

Françoise Rapp

Prebiotics are food-fermented ingredients (ingestible carbohydrates) which stimulate the growth and/or activity of specific microflora that promote internal health. They are the foods that our friendly probiotic bacteria, both in our gastrointestinal tract and our skin, thrive on. So really, you don’t want one without the other.

The two most common prebiotics are inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Inulin and FOS are present in over 36,000 plant foods as plant storage carbohydrates.

Some examples of foods that contain them in high percentage are: jicama (Latin American legume), tomato, banana, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, onion, asparagus, wheat and barley.

Prebiotics & the skin

Skin that is deficient in prebiotics is unable to support its friendly bacteria, which leads to dryness, hypersensitivity, irritation, inflammatory disorders such as eczema and psoriasis, hyperkeratosis (thick skin) as well as fine lines and wrinkles due to slow cell turnover.

But when prebiotics are applied to the skin, the probiotic bacteria living on the surface further ferment these nutrients releasing a mildly acidic lactic liquid that is capable of restoring normal pH balance and exfoliate all cellular debris and grime.

Prebiotics have recently started to pop up in skin care products due, mainly, to their anti-ageing properties. They help counteract the environmental and metabolic toxins (free radicals) which cause premature aging. They have also been shown to be potential skin brighteners as their mildly acidic nature breaks down dead skin cells revealing a clarified complexion.

They also have exfoliating properties, which help improve the permeability and texture of the skin, making it easier to bring in moisture and achieve a smooth complexion.

Most notably, as mentioned, prebiotics help support the friendly probiotic bacteria like Staphylococcus epidermidis that colonize the skin’s surface and stimulate its immune system, thus minimizing the proliferation of Propionibacterium acnes (P.acnes) and other harmful bacteria. A reduction of these bacteria is a good solution for acne and inflamed conditions.

This makes prebiotics a great alternative to topical conventional acne treatments which disturb the skins acid mantle and can not only kill the bad bacteria and but also the beneficial skin flora.

The composition of skin microflora is influenced by factors such as hormonal activity, age, lifestyle, diet and pH.

If we constantly strip our skin of its natural oils by using extremely/barely acidic or alkaline formulations, the microflora will not be able to survive as these micro-organisms need a mildly acid environment to thrive (4.5- 5.5).

Without a healthy microflora, there simply won’t be sufficient skin flora on the surface of the skin to break down prebiotics (reap their benefits) and ward off unfriendly bacteria. This is why it is of the utmost importance to use mildly acidic formulations that support the skin’s natural functions.

Keep your skin healthy with some good bacteria:

The very high percentage of agricultural ingredients present in Sophyto provides our formulas with hundreds of naturally occurring nutrients, including prebiotics.

Prebiotics can be found in the following Sophyto products:

• Tone & Balance Super Bioactive: organic pH-adjusting solution that finalizes the cleansing process and preconditions the skin to accept treatment-based products. It is formulated with certified organic artichoke extract which has strong prebiotic, antioxidant and dermal cleansing properties.

• Polyphenol Skin Drops: contain high concentrations of bio-fermented fruit extracts such as apple and grapes, which help reduce inflammation, tone capillaries walls, brighten the skin complexion and boost the skin’s antioxidant protection against UV radiation.

• Multivitamin Skin Drops: formulated with bio-fermented (hydrating) Hyaluronic Acid and yeast- fermented CoQ10 which help regenerate and brighten the skin as well as bind moisture thus reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

If you have any questions about prebiotics/probiotics, feel free to email me any time.

Ishtar Magally Mobarak

In the south of France, children used to have a special ‘doodoo’ as a sleep companion. This special companion was in fact a small pillow filled with aromatic herbs that assured a direct trip to the land of good dreams.

You will need:

• 1 mixed cup of: lavender flowers, hops strobiles, lemon-balm leaves, chamomile flowers, thyme, dill seeds.

How to do it:

• Fold a 5″x10″ piece of cloth in half and sew up the edges, leaving just enough room to stuff the herbs inside.
• Combine the herbs in equal parts to make 1 cup.
• Stuff the herbs into the material, then finish sewing it up.
• Place the finished ‘doodoo’ beside or under the child’s regular pillow.

And there you have it - sleeplessness gone in an instant! Which means more relaxing time in the evening just for you. Enjoy it!

Françoise Rapp

Having seen our posts about pH quoted on a site about the need for soap to be ‘drying’ in order to clean skin properly, we have since been mulling over the merits (or lack thereof) of using soap and water.

The author of TheSoapBlog.com makes a great case for using homemade skin care over chemical-laden manufactured products such as The Dove Beauty Bar. However, we differ on a couple of fundamental points when it comes to the importance of pH and so I have called upon our lovely bioesthetician Ishtar Magally to clarify her thinking…

The author says that the drying effect of soap is not a problem because, “within 20 minutes [of washing], [the acid mantle] is about 1/3 strength and within 2-3 hours, it is back up at full strength.”

However, Ishtar suggests that unfortunately this isn’t quite true. “The skin will be able to restore its stripped oils if, and only if, pH-balanced formulas were used to cleanse it. pH-disturbing formulas will simply strip almost all the natural oils of the skin making it impossible for our glands to restore the normal acid range.

As a result two things could happen here:

1. The skin is unable to replenish the stripped oils leading to dry, sensitive skin.
2. The sebaceous glands produce too much oil as a result of over-stripping, leading to overly oily, acne-prone skin.”

She adds: “The truth is that those of us who have been using pH-balanced formulas for a while know from personal experience what a great difference it makes to keep the skin working within the right pH range.”

This is why we advocate using an all-natural and organic mildly acidic cleanser and toner because soap and water are both too alkaline to promote the healthiest environment for your skin.

If you are still pH-confused (and we understand why you might be), you can read more here.

And don’t forget, if you are in the US you can fire your questions (in English or Spanish) directly to Ishtar on the live chat section of the site 11am-3pm EST Monday to Thursday. And if you are in Europe, you can speak to Francoise 11am-3pm GMT.

One of the first established makeup artists to greenify her makeup case, Christy Coleman is one smart cookie. Having deduced that her father’s untimely death a few years ago from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/ Lou Gehrig’s Disease) could perhaps have been caused, or at least exacerbated, by the toxic chemicals to which her father was readily exposed, Christy decided to take her personal passion for green living into her professional arena and has been using natural make up on her clients ever since. Clients which have included Giselle Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Emmy Rossum, Amanda Peet and Sheryl Crow, no less, and photographers such as Arthur Elgort, Irving Penn, Patrick Demarchelier and Gilles Bensimon.

But even if you aren’t likely to enter her sphere of influence professionally, Christy kindly shares everything she knows via her blog and Twitter feeds, which she updates regularly.

This week on the blog, you’ll find a piece on the ‘Top 5 Foods for Beautiful Skin’, while on the site you can see which brands Christy loves and uses. And, if you go to the skin care bit and you’ll see a certain organic skin care company on there that we know and love only too well!

That fact aside, though, we think Christy is a real champion and hope she continues to work her powers on the rich and famous as well as the not-so-rich-and-famous as she fights the good, natural, organic fight.

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients for a truly happy holiday.

Best wishes for the coming year from all at SOPHYTO. We thank you for all your interest and support and look forward to sharing some more great organic ideas with you in 2010.

Who knew one little spice could pack so much of a healthful punch? Well, apart from the Ayurvedic practitioners and a great many people in India, that is… According to the good Dr Mercola, organic, unprocessed turmeric is just about the healthiest addition you can make to your diet.

And as well as being a potent antioxidant, and therefore great for boosting your immune system and circulation, promoting good heart, blood and nervous health, turmeric is also particularly beneficial to the skin.

As well as being able to strengthen all of the body’s cells against external stressors, turmeric is considered ’skin food’ because it cleanses the skin and helps it maintain elasticity; provides nourishment; and helps balance the effects of the skin’s flora (healthy and harmful bacteria). In addition, by working to support blood and liver function and the body’s overall well-being, the Curcuminoids (the components that make Turmeric yellow), help promote radiant, supple skin.

So, basically, with turmeric, you can cleanse and nourish your insides and your outsides at the same time. Sweet. In fact, I am going to order some of Dr M’s capsules right now and see how my skin fairs… will report back in due course.

For more info, click here.

As SOPHYTO’s lovely bioesthetician Ishtar said last week, now is the time to stock up on root vegetables, gourds and other such Autumnal delights in order to prepare your skin for the harshness of winter (FYI even if you’re lucky enough to live in Florida or somewhere equally sunny, your skin will still love these nourishing veggies too!). So, I’ve come up with a very easy soup that’s nutritious, delicious and lasts for days. I’ve tested it out on several different parties and got a solid thumbs up each time so I think it’s safe to share it now… and if you don’t have all the ingredients, just use similar veg in any amounts that you wish.

Ingredients (organic and local, if possible)

1 Pumpkin - fresh is best, but if, like me, you’ve just had the flu and still have the strength of a sparrow, go with the axe-free canned puree version! (low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol and sodium; a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus; and a very good source of dietary fibre, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese)

2 Small Butternut squashes (very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and Sodium; a good source of Vitamin E, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium and Magnesium; and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese)

2 large Sweet potatoes (low in Sodium, and very low in saturated fat and cholesterol; it is also a good source of dietary fibre, Vitamin B6 and Manganese; and a very good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Also has significant anti-inflammatory properties)

8 Carrots (very low in saturated fat and cholesterol; it is also a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin and Potassium, and a very good source of dietary fibre, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6 and Manganese)

1 large Onion roughly chopped (very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and Sodium; it is also a good source of dietary fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium and Manganese. Also has very strong anti-inflammatory properties)

2-3 cloves of finely chopped Garlic (very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and Sodium; it is also a good source of Calcium, Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and Manganese. And very strong anti-inflammatory properties)

2-3 tsp of finely chopped Ginger (low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol and Sodium; it is also a good source of Vitamin C, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese, and has anti-inflammatory properties)

3-4 cubes of Vegetable Stock (I use organic gluten-free, dairy-free, yeast-free from the UK but haven’t found an equivalent in the US yet)

*Nutritional info taken from www.nutritiondata.com

Recipe

• Peel and chop - everything! As roughly or finely as you like.
• Make up the stock as per the ingredients on the packet (mine says use one cube per 500ml but I tend to make it a little neater to maximise flavour) and add to a large pan, along with the garlic, onion and ginger.

• Bring the stock mixture to the boil and then let simmer.

• As you finish chopping the other veg, add it to the pan and keep simmering until the veg goes soft. This will take at least 15 minutes, but the longer you leave the soup, the tastier it will get.

• When you’re happy with it, take it off the heat and mash it/blitz it with a hand blender as you wish. I really like soup to be thick with big chunks in it so that’s how people in my house get it too

• You can, of course, add any vegetables you like to the mix (to make it less orange, for one thing!) but I think this combination is the best I’ve tried yet. You shouldn’t need to add too much salt because of the stock, and the ginger gives it a pretty good kick, but you could add pepper or paprika for extra winter warmth.

• Serve the soup with any kind of bread… For a really tasty treat, pumpkin spice bread goes down well. I tried this gluten-free recipe, and swapped the sugar for agave and the butter for coconut oil and it was really, really good.

• I generally make a batch big enough to last 3 or 4 days. This week I could tell my boyfriend was a bit bored of getting the same soup every day for 3 days, but I discovered that it also makes a good base for a veggie stew. I just added some more green veg, heated it all up in a pan and served it over quinoa, flavoured with fennel and carraway seeds. It took 10 minutes, tasted fab and the boy didn’t even twig that he was getting the very same soup he’d had for lunch (not that I felt smug about that or anything).

And there you have it. If you’ve got a healthy meal recipe that tastes great, too, please do share it with us. My boyfriend, for one, would be very grateful for some variety!

In a fairly controversial move for the UK marketplace, natural health and beauty retail chain Holland & Barrett has finally signed up to what natural and organic pioneers, such as SOPHYTO Organics, have been saying for years: namely that parabens and Sodium Lauryl Sulphates (SLSs) present numerous potential health hazards and should not be included in any product claiming to be ‘natural’, let alone ‘organic’.

Holland & Barrett said it has spent the past year reformulating its own-label products to eliminate the use of these chemicals and will henceforth refuse to sell any other products that contain these ingredients.

Why has the company done this? Because, despite spokespeople from the cosmetics industry still maintaining their belief in the innocuousness of these ingredients, as Holland & Barrett’s trading chief, Phil Geary, said: “SLS is an industrial detergent. It strips the oil layer from the human skin causing irritation. Continued use leaves the skin fairly rough and pitted. Parabens are related to a chemical called benzoic acid. They have been linked in studies to skin cancer.”

This decision may be controversial in the eyes of the cosmetics industry at large but H&B promotes itself as being ‘natural’ and however you feel about the safety of these ingredients, they are anything but ‘natural’ so it stands to reason that they shouldn’t be included in the products sold in H&B stores - doesn’t it?

Whole Foods has been gracing the news and the gossip columns apace in the last couple of weeks and sadly not for the quality of its wares.

WF CEO John Mackey has angered a huge number of the eminent organic chain’s formerly loyal customers by expressing his ‘anti-health care reform’ views in an article in the Wall Street Journal. Given that the vast majority of WF’s supporters consider themselves to be (somewhat lefty) liberals, Mackey’s ’survival of the fittest’ capitalist stance didn’t sit too well with them, unsurprisingly. Opening the op-ed piece with a quote from notorious capitalist-conservative Margaret Thatcher wasn’t likely to go down to well, for starters! Not only does Mackey dismiss what he calls ‘ObamaCare’ but he also suggests that US citizens are no more entitled to health-care as they are to food and shelter.

The article has had a very divisive effect. In an attempt to exact some damage control the WF’s PR department has tried to insist that Mackey’s views are personal and the company will not take an official position on the topic of health reform. It has also initiated a forum on its own website for people to provide feedback and more than 17,000 responses have been posted so far. And, for every complaint and invitation to boycott the chain, there is a post from a Mackey supporter, insisting the article echoes his or her own views and has compelled them to start shopping at WF…

One particularly angry former shopper is Massachusetts-based playwright Mark Rosenthal who is calling for John Mackey to be fired and has created a Boycott Whole Foods blog and Facebook group. The Facebook group already has 28,145 members and counting.

Meanwhile, Whole Foods co-founder (and Mackey’s former girlfriend) Renee Lawson Hardy has issued her own response to his article in which she clearly distances herself from his views, saying that while she agrees with the pursuit of individual wealth and a free market economy she also believes in a publicly-funded health care option for all.

So, it remains to be seen whether Mackey’s comments have done irreversible damage in turning off former supporters who bought into Whole Foods’ convincing mantra about having a ’social conscience’.

What do you think? Have Mackey’s comments affected how you feel about Whole Foods? Or not? Will you be looking elsewhere for your organic food and other products? Should it matter what the CEO believes personally? We really want to hear from you…