Hormones are a huge piece of the wellness puzzle, and unbalanced hormones can certainly lead to a whole host of skin issues. However, there’s more and more evidence showing us the role that essential oils can play in helping to rebalance hormones. This is particularly true when it comes to stress management. That’s why I’m super excited to share today’s guest with you.
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Dr. Mariza Snyder is many things. She’s a functional practitioner and the author of six amazing books. For the past ten years, she has been giving talks and lectures at wellness centers, hospitals, conferences, and corporations on hormone health, essential oils, nutrition, and detoxification. Even more, Dr. Mariza is the host of the Essentially You podcast which helps people find empowerment in their health and wellness journey.
In this interview, we dive into some of the amazing roles that essential oils can play in your wellness journey. From helping to get stress under control to balancing hormones to help clear up your skin, essential oils are a great tool to have in your toolkit.
Are essential oils part of your wellness practice? Tell me about it in the comments!
In this episode:
- Essential oils as a key part of the hormone balancing solution
- Why getting stress under control goes a long way to a healthy hormone balance
- Methods for applying essential oils in ways that are kind to your skin
- Safely using essential oils to treat baby’s skin rashes
- A breakdown of Dr. Mariza’s new book and how it can guide you in your use of oils and hormone health
Quotes:
“So often what I find is that when we’re in the middle of these journeys, when we’re struggling with our hormones, when we’re struggling with energy issues, when we’re having mood swings or cravings, that we can utilize the power and effectiveness of these oils, and they literally produce a result in about a minute.” [3:24]
“Your body just doesn’t know what to do with stress and it causes more skin irritations.” [11:51]
“So often women are like, what is happening inside of my body that’s causing this biochemical reaction? So I really want to give women some context. If we don’t feel well and our bodies aren’t working the way that they used to, I want women to really say, ‘now I have a really clear understanding of what’s happening in my body.’”[14:26]
Links:
The Essential Oil Hormone Solution: Reset Your Hormones in 14 Days with the Power of Essential Oils
Follow Dr. Mariza on Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | Linkedin
Find all of Dr. Mariza Snyder’s books
Dr. Mariza’s hormone balance recipe cheat sheet
Essentially You podcast – Hidden Reasons Why Skin Rashes Won't Go Away — with Jennifer Fugo
012: How Essential Oils Can Help Clear Up Hormone-Related Skin Issues w/ Dr. Mariza Snyder FULL TRANSCRIPT
Jennifer: All right, let's go. Hi everyone and welcome back to the The Healthy Skin Show. Today I've got a pretty new friend to me. We met this summer and I'm going to start that over. Jeremy, I'm gonna start that over. Hi everyone. We are back The Healthy Skin Show. And today I have a friend that I met this past summer who we're going to talk, she's got a book coming out, which is really cool and I'm very excited about, her name is Dr Mariza Snyder. She has, first of all, before I even tell you about her, like her bio and all that stuff. She's just a great person. She's got amazing energy and I deeply respect her approach on the use of essential oils. So I want to say that first and foremost. So aside from that, you should also know that she's a functional practitioner and she's the author of six books guys, six huge six books.
Jennifer: And you know, this is a big deal. We'll put all of her books in the show notes for you guys. The most recent book that is coming out that we will talk about and I'm excited about is called the Essential Oils Hormone Solution. And so we definitely want to grab that. But for the past 10 years she has been doing a ton of lecturing at wellness centers, hospitals, conferences and corporations on hormone health and essential oils, nutrition and detoxification. She's also the host of the Essentially You podcast, which I was so appreciative she invited me on. So we'll see when that coordinates with this podcast. So you can definitely find out, find me on her podcast. And it's a fantastic way to learn how to feel number one, empowered about the health and life you deserve, but also to find, I would say very savvy and I'm not, not inexpensive, but I love like the hacks that you give on your podcasts. Like you're really empowering people to use tips and tricks to make their health and wellness journey easier without breaking the bank, which I think is a really big and important piece to this puzzle. So Dr Mariza, thank you for joining us.
Dr. Snyder: Thank you so much for having me. Jen. I feel that you are such an amazing light and yes, a wonderful new friend in my life too, which I'm so happy about. Girl, we are so aligned on many things and doesn't that make it fun?
Jennifer: I know it does. It really does. And you know, one of the big reasons that I wanted to talk to you and share what you're doing with everyone is because hormones are a big piece to the journey, especially when someone's got chronic skin issues. I mean, number one, you've got the thyroid, plus you've got all the sex hormone involvement, so just hormones in general. And I'm sure maybe you go even deeper into other hormones as well that might not be in those two spots. But I think the biggest question that I have for you of where to begin is like, so wait essential oils can be a part of my hormone rebalancing solution.
Dr. Snyder: Yes, absolutely. You know what I discover so often women are on these big hormone journeys, these, these wellness journeys, or we're trying to just get our bodies back on track. And one of the ways that I really love oils and what I will say, what I want to preface really quickly is oils are not hormones. So they're not estrogen, they're not progesterone, they're not insulin, they're not cortisol. So they don't, they're not, they're not acting as hormones. I want to make that really clear to everyone who's listening. But what they are really great at is they are really great at helping to navigate the lifestyles that we have. You know so often what I find is when we're in the middle of these, these journeys, when we're struggling with our hormones or we're struggling with energy issues or we're, you know, having mood swings or cravings that we can utilize the, the power of these oils, the effectiveness of these oils.
Dr. Snyder: And they, they literally produce a result within about a minute. So I love that they provide instant wins for us. So if I feel like I'm, I am in a low, like I've been staring at my computer too long, I'm feeling exhausted or like a zombie, I can use wild orange or a peppermint diluted. You know, you make a little roller and you could roll it onto your palms, breathe it in, take a moment cause you deserve that moment and you're going to feel kind of that instant energy boost that you're looking for. And I love that. So we're not, we're not relegated to sugar or to caffeine or whatever it is that we think we need to kind of give us that boost, which we know ultimately isn't really serving. So that's how I really love using oils for hormones. And yes, we can see that hormones or oils do lower cortisol levels.
Dr. Snyder: We know that it helps to support the limbic brain, which is regulating hormones. And there is definitely evidence that shows that they have ways of scrubbing hormone receptors. So with a lot of research there, so they do go in on a cellular level and cleanup shop for us. But how I really love to use them is how do we create the, how do we create the results we really want because oftentimes we are feeling exhausted, we're feeling, we feel mood swings, they were having hot flashes. How can we use oils to really support those moments where we don't feel like we have a viable solution.
Jennifer: Yeah. And for somebody who's got chronic skin rashes, that can be a big challenge. With the stress piece. Stress is so imperative to get under control. And while I love to teach clients breathing exercises, I will admit it is one of the hardest things to get them to implement.
Dr. Snyder: When you're stressed, the last thing you're thinking, oh man, you know what, let me just pause for a second and not to chew this person's this head off. Let me just breathe it out.
Dr. Snyder: Like no, that's why I love an oil. You can program yourself to be like, you know what, I have got an oil for the, for the, the lash, I'm about to give somebody, like there's an oil for that. You know, and I, that's why I love them, is when I'm about to have a moment, you know? Or if someone says something, see me acting, you know, acting sideways at me, you know, I know that there's an oil for that. I've got an oil for that moment.
Jennifer: Okay. So here's the question I have for you. So number one, we want to also, I guess we have another preface to this conversation is if you've got skin rashes where your skin is cracked open, guys, you're not gonna put essential oils on your skin in those areas. So for somebody who say, has a lot of rashes all over, is it, would a diffuser be a legitimate option in this case to help?
Dr. Snyder: Absolutely. You know, you could use a diffuser, you could, because again, oils are, they're disperse into the environment. You know, I love diffusers cause they are literally the easiest way to use essential oils. I've got one going next to me and because they are, these aromatic constituents are just pervasive in the environment. They do land on the skin and we have heard, I mean I, I, there isn't as much, I'd have to really dig into this, the research Jen for this. But I have definitely heard a lot of anecdotal where it's been really supportive because again, they're having cellular benefits and so they, by breathing those, those beautiful aromatic constituents in their going into the bloodstream, they're doing the good work. But yeah, I mean I don't ever want to recommend putting essential oils on broken sores or even someone post-surgery if they've got, they have an open sore that that's healing. You know, you can, you can put them maybe a diluted blend on the bottom of your feet or have them diffused. I mean there's always so many wonderful benefits to using oils and we just definitely don't want to put them because they're so powerful. They don't serve directly on an open wound.
Jennifer: No, not at all. And speaking of that, I think we should just mention the baby piece to this. Like young kids babies. Could you I am always a little apprehensive because I'm not trained in essential oils, but I have done some reading and I know that you have to be careful. So, and also to everybody listening when you have chronic skin issues, the way you would treat a young child or a baby is actually different than as an adult because our skin issues change, our hormones are different. There's many different things. So do you have any words of advice for somebody who maybe if their baby has chronic skin rashes and they're like, Oh I'm going to use, I read online that somebody used this essential oil right on their skin. Do you have any advice for that?
Dr. Snyder: Absolutely. So I'd really tackle this in the smart mom's guide to essential oils cause so many moms are really concerned around the usage of these oils and for good reason, we know how powerful they are and thank you that they are so effective and powerful. But when it comes to babies, I actually don't recommend using them the first three months just because babies are working out their immune system and getting things working and oils really do have an impact on the immune system often in a positive way. But I like to give babies a minute to kind of work their stuff out for those first couple months. And then we're talking about, you know, we're a 0.5 dilution of maybe, you know, as once they're one, an older, maybe a, you know, as a 1% dilution. And the beautiful thing is, is you start with a very, very low low dilution.
Dr. Snyder: I mean, I'm talking about less than 1%. You can see what happens if you find that you're not seeing any change or any results, you can maybe bump it up a tiny bit to 0.2, five more 0.5 more yeah. But you're usually playing around a 1% dilution and that is, you know, that's, that's one drop in like tablespoon of, of of oil or one drop out tablespoons. Yeah.
Jennifer: Wow. Okay. So for somebody who knows nothing like me, I admit this freely when someone says a carrier oil, cause you're supposed to, from my understanding, if you do apply this to your skin, you have to use a carrier oil. Yes. What does that mean?
Dr. Snyder: Any fatty oil? So coconut oil, grape seed oil, avocado oil. I wouldn't use, I mean you can use olive oil too. But olive oil tends to smell like olives and people oftentimes like the aroma of the oils.
Dr. Snyder: So olive oil will completely give it to that. You know, you won't smell lavender and olive oil, olive oil, so anything but honestly avocado oil, any fatty oil will do. I personally prefer fractionated coconut oil because coconut oil has so many other wonderful benefits that I like to reap the benefits of just coconut oil in general.
Jennifer: Have you ever tried anything like neem oil, just out of curiosity?
Dr. Snyder: Oh, neem oil? Absolutely. Or even jojoba oil, very similar to our sebum. So those are great oils especially for skincare.
Jennifer: Okay. Those are great. And then for for stress, so we sort of started with stress and then we've kind of gone on with all of these other little nitty gritty details. What would be maybe like your top three absolutes? That would be good. I mean lavender we know lavender, everybody knows lavender. So let's, let's, let's, we'll put three other oil oils other than lavender oil.
Dr. Snyder: Lavender, you get the bump and you're right. Lavender is a great oil. But Clary Sage. So clary Sage is one of my favorite go to hormone oils as well. But Clary Sage has been researched to reduce cortisol levels, reduce blood pressure and heart rate. So a lot of the things that were related to stress, right, when you're in that stranger danger mode or fight or flight, everything's pumping right? Cause your, your body's afraid that you're gonna you're in trouble. So I love that oil to kind of literally deregulate what's going on in the limbic brain that I wish to think of what's going on in the limbic brain. It's just cells running around with a chicken, like a chicken with their head cut off trying to figure out what to do. And clary sage is great for that. Roman chamomile is also wonderful. Any of the chamomiles.
Dr. Snyder: And then I love, I love bergamot and bergamot is the oil of self love and self-acceptance. It is such a beautiful oil. It's bergamot, a good bergamot oil has grown in Italy. I love all things Italian.
Jennifer: Me too.
Dr. Snyder: So in bergamot is just, it blends beautifully with lavender, ylang, ylang, sandalwood, clary sages. Uand it's just, it's just this beautiful essential oil, but it's also been researched to lower stress levels as well. So those would be my three Roman chamomile, clary sage and bergamot and bergamot, readily, readily available, pretty inexpensive. And it's a citrus. So there's a lot of other benefits there as well.
Jennifer: And you could again put these into a diffuser or if you're in the car, is there a way, like if you've got a horrible commute or you're really stressed about going to work or you have a rough time at work, I guess, again, stress is just such a big piece to this.
Dr. Snyder: It is, it's a triggering experience, right? It'll trigger the cascade of cytokines of inflammation. I mean, you know, your body just doesn't know what to do with stress and it will, and you guys, you know, it'll just, it causes more, you know, skinny irritations. So in the car, I mean, yes. Are you asking if we have a car diffuser ? You know, you do.
Jennifer: I just am asking. I don't know. I mean I'm really, I am as new, totally potentially somebody that's listening. So I'm soaking this up along with the listeners.
Dr. Snyder: So we have a pretty sexy car diffuser, but also I also have, I always have, so that's my little oil bag right here. I always have, I call it in case of emergency bag and I have a premade stress be gone blend. And we talked about some of those oils and it's just, it's an a roller, I don't know if I have it in here.
Dr. Snyder: I had it out a couple hours ago. Oh actually I do have it in this little fancy roller right here. This little cute roller. And what's in here is eight drops of clary sage, eight drops of lavender and eight drops of bergamot. I topped it off with fractionated oil, coconut oil and then I just keep it, it's in the console that's easy to reach. I roll it on my wrists. I probably driving with one hand, you know, so like you, you usually had a stop light or something like that but I just roll it over my wrist, I rub my wrist together and you take a couple of deep belly breaths and just, you know, and just ask myself a couple of questions. You know, why am I feeling stress? What's going on, how can I mitigate this moment? How can I use these oils to help support me and and I'm able to get out of that that moment pretty quickly.
Jennifer: And so these like a recipe like that. That's really cool. That's a, it's like a recipe.
Dr. Snyder: Yeah.
Jennifer: Are these, is this what we can find, cause I'm excited for you for your new book by the way. I'm really excited about this. Is this the type of things that we'll find in the book that different recipes and tips and strategies to be able to utilize these incredible, I mean this is, it is plant. It's like plant medicine essentially.
Dr. Snyder: It is plant medicine.
Jennifer: Yeah they're plants. They're powerful botanicals that can really help support healthy living. I love that bergamot is about self love because oftentimes when you, when you have skin rashes, you, there is this self-loathing and this self shame that comes into your being unfortunately because of the way that you view yourself and the way that other people view you. So that's so beautiful that that's also, that might be something that's really helpful for somebody that's struggling with not feeling comfortable with the way they look. But tell us a little bit about what we would find in your brand new book.
Dr. Snyder: So I and I addressed so many of the concerns that we as women are dealing with from fatigue to stress. I have a, I have a, well, everything's predicated there. So the chapter is pretty thick. The stress is a big one. So a stress chapter. And then, yeah, so I kind of lay out like, so often women are like, well, what's happening inside of my body that's causing these, this biochemical reaction. So I really want to give women some context. You know, we, we don't, we don't feel well we, our bodies aren't working the way that they used to. I want women to really say, okay, now I have a really clear understanding of what's happening in my body. Then then we lay out the plan and it's, it's a lot. It's essential oil recipes. And then what's so important to Jen to me is the self care.
Dr. Snyder: So there are rituals in their rituals that are really nourishing and loving because let's be honest, life is predicated by rituals. Everything that we do bad or good, it's all rituals in a lot of ways. Or you can call those habits. I like to call them rituals and we're really just swapping out some of those, maybe not the rituals that are not serving us for ones that really are, and they, we can combine those with oils because oils really make rituals so much more fun and, and so much more kind of those instant wins that I was talking about. So the oils have been researched. There's 40 pages of bibliography. Oh my gosh. So much research. We went in it. So we studied all of the oils for memory, all of the oils for stress, all of the oils for cravings, all the oils for sleep and mental chatter, right?
Dr. Snyder: That the worry that we have before going to bed each night, did we finish the things we were supposed to do for our kids or did we do, what do we have to do tomorrow? Like I got an oil for that to shut that down. And so that's, that's how the book's laid out. And then there's a 14 day hormone reset where I give you everything you need for 14 days to really kind of just get you get that jumpstart that you really deserve and want. That it was a lot of ease and grace because for me, I, I know that women are looking for ease and grace and they really deserve it. And that's how this book was built, was to give women what they really needed and really to make that journey a lot more pleasant, a lot more enjoyable than they thought it was going to be.
Jennifer: So someone like me who knows nothing aside from the cautionary tales, essential oils and using lavender, obviously I get myself away on that one. This would be a good book for somebody like myself who doesn't novice we'll say.
Dr. Snyder: Oh, absolutely. So it wasn't for women who already really have a good sense of oils at all. It was really built for women who are looking for a more natural way to get their hormones back on track because we oftentimes are either dismissed at the doctor's office or we're given a bunch of synthetic hormones, or we're given antidepressants. Like we just, we oftentimes aren't listened to or heard and we don't understand what's happening. So I, I really wanted to address it from a point where I've been that woman where I didn't know what was going on with my body. I wish someone would've sat me down and gave me more clarity and then gave me ways to make changes that felt really good to me. So yeah, it's definitely meant for the woman who's never even used oils before.
Jennifer: Awesome. And before you guys even, I know you're going to go like purchase Dr Mariza's book, which I have.
Jennifer: I mean, I'm so excited for her and it's a fantastic, beautiful book. But before you even have a chance to like sit there and wait and then you know, days go by and you haven't gotten your book yet, or maybe you have Amazon prime like me and you get it in like a day or two. But either way, Dr Mariza has you covered, we have her ultimate hormone recipe cheat sheet, which we'll give you, so what are we getting with this? We're getting some recipes, right?
Dr. Snyder: You are, you're, you weren't getting my favorite recipes and these, I mean these were, these are ones that I use every day. You know, the destress blend very similar to the recipe I gave you just now is, is the one I've tested. I've tested it with so many women. I've got a cravings one, I have one for mood support.
Dr. Snyder: I have another one for sleep and I even have one I think for libido, for boosting libido as well. So it's just kinda hitting the main points for women. The recipes are super easy to make. They're super easy to use. It's all in there though. So it's really easy to put to work almost instantaneously.
Jennifer: Cool, and so I am going to put the link directly to that little recipe cheat sheet guide for you guys right in the show notes. That way it'll be super easy. So anybody who's listening on the go, you can just head on over to this podcast page and grab it. But I just want to thank you. First of all, I want to thank you, Dr Mariza for joining us. And number two, I would love to have you back sometime to talk about how we can stop buying all these chemicals at the store that are really harsh and what are alternatives. Like would that be something you'd love to come back for?
Dr. Snyder: Absolutely it was a big piece for us making over our, our cleaning cabinet, our medicine cabinet, our personal care. And it's so much easier than we think. And oh my goodness, girl, we have saved so much money in making our own products, so I can't wait to come back and share some of my favorite recipes.
Jennifer: That would be great. Well, thank you so much for joining us and we look forward to our next conversation.
Dr. Snyder: Yay. Thank you so much, Jen.
