The number of individuals world-wide who struggle with some form of dementia is sobering. In the United States alone, nearly 6 million individuals arediagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, a staggering number that does not even include the multiple other forms of dementia. 

There's currently no way to reverse brain degeneration once it begins, but there are several things you can do to bolster brain health and to provide comfort for those experiencing the difficulties of cognitive degeneration.

Guest Post by Contributing Writer: Chelsea Nelson

Essential oils can play a predominate role in our natural medicine cabinets and make wonderful substitutes for common over-the-counter drugs found there. Today we're going to talk about one of my favorite oils: peppermint.

For years the herb peppermint has been used in fresh, dried, and oil form to address digestive difficulties, especially in easing nausea and cramps, and to provide refreshment for more than just your mouth, but your overall energy, too.

In Part One of our two-part series, we briefly discussed the basic, "essential" elements of an essential oil.  A pure, additive-and-pesticide-free oil is a true essential oil.  But when all six of the oils companies in our orange oil comparison claim they offer the purest, highest-quality oils available, how do we avoid just blindly picking one?

At this point, let us take a look at the hard data.  What can the cost of each oil and each company's ability to prove organic certification and gas chromatography testing tell us about their oils?

A couple weeks ago we discussed where to obtain the best dried herbs.  But what about essential oils?  It's a lot easier to make a judgment about herbs, but choosing where to purchase oils can be a daunting process.  There are so many companies out there, each making the claim that their oil is of the purest, highest quality available.  Who has the time to dig beneath the surface for the truth, or even know the right questions to ask?

For those of you who just need a place to start, below is a short comparison of six different oils companies.  Several of these may be familiar to you.  There are many more out there, and I wish it was feasible to cover them all.  In fact, I wish I had more time to completely unpack the few included here!  I have barely scratched the surface, but hopefully the information offered in this brief comparison will aid you in choosing the right essential oils for your family or, at the very least, spur you on to do further investigation for yourself.

I've enjoyed learning about all the possible ways to fight nature with nature when it comes to seasonal allergies, and I hope you have, too!

We first covered the benefits of a real food diet and the several key ingredients in our recipe for better health. Next we took a quick tour of the herb realm and discovered some key herbs that not only boost our immune-system, but ward off seasonal allergies, too. Last time we discussed the little-known world of safe and efficient homeopathic remedies that can provide great relief for those already suffering from the sniffles and sneezes. Today, we'll briefly conclude this article on alternative options for seasonal allergy relief with a quick overview of some helpful essential oils.

Here at the Nourishing Herbalist you've been introduced to our three favorite forms of alternative medicine: herbalism, aromatherapy and homeopathy. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't employ the use of at least one of these to help us on our journey to vitality. Yet can they really all exist together as one big happy family?

We've addressed the relationship between homeopathy and herbalism before, so today we'll focus on homeopathy and aromatherapy and answer the ever-popular question: Can essential oils be used alongside homeopathic remedies?