In the lead-up to International Essential Oils Day on July 11th, I’m doing a series of Gary-inspired bulletins based around notes I’ve taken at his many wonderful events. Gary Young is the late founder of Young Living, and an amazing pioneer in the world of essential oils and health.

At our 2009 Australian Convention, Gary talked about a Young Living product called MegaCal, and why he created it.

As our soils become increasingly robbed of minerals, our foods becomes mineral-depleted. In our grandparent’s era we could rely on our home-grown foods to give us all the vitamins and minerals we needed in order to stay healthy. But now, that’s no longer the case.

This is why it’s so important to select a few key supplements to fill your body’s nutritional cup. We can no longer rely on a good diet alone.

Personally I’ve always been a huge fan of Young Living’s “Mineral Essence” formula. But it’s not Young Living’s only mineral supplement. I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading all about the wonders of MegaCal, and about some of Gary’s other findings around the topic of health and longevity, and the importance of living a low-tox lifestyle. But first…..

The role pH plays in good health

Gary Young was trained in naturopathy and herbalism, and he loved to do research.

One of his areas of passion was longevity, so he travelled the world investigating the cultures who were living to be Centurians, ie. over 100 years of age. He investigated their diet, their lifestyle and their culture, and brought many gems of wisdom back from his travels.

He was fascinated by the alkaline diet that many of these cultures followed.

Gary began teaching us about nutrition, and always the focus was on ways we could keep our body in a more alkaline state. He taught us that processed foods, red meat, sugar, alcohol, commercial chocolate and coffee are all acid-forming. Over time, the consumption of these foods will tip the delicate balance of our body’s pH into a more acidic state, and this in turn paves the way for disease and degeneration.

Instead, he encouraged us to stay well hydrated, and to eat a more natural diet – one which is rich in alkaline foods.

That’s not always easy in our modern world. Avoiding processed foods is certainly helpful, but did you know that stress will also cause your body to become acidic? Diet alone is no longer enough to maintain great health, and over time we need a helping hand from a few key supplements.

One of the ways we can maintain a more alkaline state in our body is by taking magnesium citrate, one of the ingredients in Young Living’s “MegaCal” supplement.

Once magnesium citrate has passed through the stomach and mixes with our body’s enzymes, what’s left is an alkaline ash. The net result is that magnesium citrate is very alkalising to the body. It’s also an important nutrient for our heart.

Hormone Havoc

Gary’s other area of passion was helping women. Gary often spoke about the effects of modern lifestyle and toxins on a woman’s health.

He was concerned to see 13 year old girls who were already losing their bone density, and 19 year old women who were struggling with low libido due to hormonal imbalance. He was finding women aged 16 to 38 with lower oestrogen levels than their mothers and grandmothers who were 50 to 72. And he was seeing men aged 19 to 40 with lower testosterone levels than their fathers and grandfathers who were 50 to 70.

Testosterone is what maintains strong bone density in both men and women, so it’s a vital hormone for us all. It’s also the hormone that gives us the energy and drive to bounce out of bed of a morning, ready to face the day.

So what’s messing with our hormones? It’s the synthetic fragrances that have become part of our modern world. Companies know that smells evoke positive emotions within us, so virtually all household products, personal care items and cosmetics are scented – including our laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, fragrance sticks and room deodorisers. One of the most common groups of chemicals found in synthetic aromas are phthalates (pronounced “thal-ates”). These are powerful hormone disrupters, tricking our body into increasing or decreasing hormone production. Exposure to phthalates and other hormone-disrupting chemicals is part of the reason girls are entering puberty at such an early age.¹ ² ³

• In 1860, the average age for girls reaching puberty was 16.6 years
• In 2010 it was 10.5 years

And men exposed to phthalates are secreting less testosterone⁴. This is a serious problem. Not only is testosterone critical for maintaining healthy muscle mass and bone density, it’s also essential for male fertility.

We all know Gary was passionate about creating the very best quality essential oils. He always said that essential oils are the closest thing to God that exists on our Planet. But have you ever wondered why he also branched into oil-infused personal care and cleaning products, and into nutritional supplements?

It’s because his mission wasn’t just about essential oils. It was about giving us the tools to empower ourselves, so we can have the very best emotional and physical health. When we are healthy and happy, it’s much easier to live from our highest potential, and make a significant and positive impact on our world. And that’s what Gary wanted for us.

1. Could exposure to phthalates speed up or delay pubertal onset and development? A 1.5-year follow-up of a school-based population, by Y. Zhang, Y. Cao, H. Shi, X. Jiang, Y. Zhao, X. Fang and C. Xie, Environment International. 2015 Oct; 83:41-9. Doi:10. 1016/j. envint.2016.06.005. Epub 2015 Jun 12.

2. Effects of Environmental Endocrine Disruptors on Pubertal Development, by Samim Ozen and Şükran Darcan, Journal of Clinical Research into Pediatry and Endocrinology. 2011 Mar; 3(1): 1–6. Published online 2011 Feb 23. doi: 10.4274/jcrpe.v3i1.01

3. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/magazine/puberty-before-age-10-a-new-normal.html?_r=3

4. Phthalates might interfere with testicular function by reducing testosterone and insulin-like factor 3 levels, by W.H. Chang, S.S. Li, M.H. Wu, H.A. Pan and C.C. Lee, Human Reproduction. 2015 Sep 18, pii: dev225 [Epub ahead of print]

The Importance of minerals

If you’ve ever seen Gary talking about his beautiful wife Mary, his love for her would radiate from him as he spoke. In 1999, they decided they wanted to start a family. Gary began by creating a beautiful combination of essential oils for Mary called “Sclaressence”, which she used every day in order.

I’m not sure if you’re aware that Mary had their first child Jacob when she was 54 years young, and their second child Josef when she was 57?

After the birth of Jacob, Mary had started to go into menopause, so Gary focused on supporting her nutrition, and she was able to fall pregnant again – this time with twins, a boy and a girl. But this pregnancy drew strongly on her body’s minerals. Her body was literally feeding the babies and robbing itself of nutrients, so Mary became very mineral deprived and this impacted so many areas of her body, including her bone density.Sadly, their little girl didn’t make it. However, many of you will have seen Josef on stage at conventions alongside his brother Jacob. I had the absolute privilege of spending time with Gary and Mary shortly after Josef’s birth. At that time Gary was nourishing Mary’s body with many wonderful, healthy mineral-rich foods, in conjunction with a range of Young Living supplements. This healthy nutrition allowed Mary’s body to reverse the demineralisation, and by the time she was 64, Gary shared with us from stage that her bone density was that of a 35 year old woman!

MegaCal – a calcium & mineral rich formula

One of Mary’s key supplements throughout that time was MegaCal. In fact, like so many of the Young Living formulas from the early days, Gary made the MegaCal formula for Mary, as a powerful source of calcium, magnesium and other minerals.

Gary spoke about this at the 2009 Australian Convention, and he said: “I have not yet found a woman who wasn’t magnesium deficient, unless she was on MegaCal. Magnesium is such an important mineral in our body – it carries out 300 enzymatic functions! I’d advise all women to have a hormone panel run, to find out where your oestrogen and testosterone levels sit, and to have a bone density check. Nutritionally, we need to know that information.”

“MegaCal contains 1.5 more magnesium than calcium. I also put a lot of alkaline minerals of bicarbonates in there. These are small molecular chain structures, so they absorb quicker into the body.”

Gary went on to say: “The thing with taking minerals is that you won’t get a jolt of energy like you feel when you take NingXia Red or Multigreens, or when you use En-R-Gee oil blend. In fact, you won’t feel a big difference when you’re on it. But it will be working behind the scenes.”

MegaCal – a calcium & mineral rich formula

What we can say about MegaCal differs according to the region in which we live, and our various regulatory bodies. In each region the recommended daily allowance is 1 teaspoon in 240ml (1 cup) of water or juice 1 to 3 times daily, an hour after meals or medication, or an hour before bedtime. Because MegaCal contains Xylitol, it is not suitable for dogs.

In Australia we can say: MegaCal is a powerful calcium and mineral powder, and an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, manganese and vitamin C. Each serve of MegaCal contains 207mg of calcium and 188 mg of magnesium.

The Australian MegaCal formula contains: Calcium (as lactate, citrate and glycerophosphate), Magnesium (as citrate and sulphate), Manganese Sulphate, Zinc Gluconate and Copper Gluconate. It is sweetened with Xylitol and Stevia, contains Calcium Ascorbate as an antioxidant, and it’s flavoured with Young Living’s therapeutic-grade Lemon essential oil.

The European and US MegaCal formula contains: Vitamin C, Calcium (as lactate, glycerophosphate, carbonate and ascorbate), Magnesium (as citrate, sulfate and carbonate), Zinc (as zinc gluconate), Manganese (as sulfate), fractionated coconut oil, xylitol and lemon (citrus limon)† rind.

In Europe/UK we can say: “MegaCal is high in calcium to help maintain normal bones and magnesium to contribute to the normal functioning of the nervous system.”

In the US we can say: MegaCal is a wonderful source of calcium, magnesium, manganese, and vitamin C. MegaCal supports normal bone and vascular health as well as normal nerve function and contains 207 mg of calcium and 245 mg of magnesium per serving.*

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Young Living products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Gary Young on the topic of Health:

Gary was able to deliver some powerful home truths at our 2009 Australian Convention, in his wonderful no-nonsense style:

“Health doesn’t come in a silver-lined box,” he said. “It takes discipline.”

“If you want a different result, if you want to be healthy, quit doing what you’ve been doing. Every one of you can have that level of health if you desire. I’ve been around young people who can’t keep up with me, yet I feel like I’m slowing down myself! Live your life so you can have the health you desire, and not be compromised from doing the things you want to do in your life. I’d rather be a fanatic and be healthy, than be politically correct and be dead.

“He also shared some very interesting things with us about cacao. At the time that I took these notes (in 2009), Gary and Mary were living in Ecuador. Gary shared with us that Ecuador is the 6th largest exporter of chocolate. He went on to explain that chocolate is a very powerful antioxidant until it gets heated. If you take the cacao pods and eat them, you won’t like the taste but you have an awesome antioxidant. But to make healthy chocolate, you don’t want to heat the cacao over 48 degrees Celsius. Most companies will heat it over 55 degrees Celsius, and this makes it extremely acidic, whereas in its raw form it’s very alkaline. He went on to say:

“We take the cacao pods and put them into our compost, as it’s a great natural source of nitrogen. The soil on our Ecuador farm is deficient in nitrogen, so we use this compost to build up our nitrogen levels in our soil.”

Here’s how to order….

If you already have your own wholesale account with Young Living, you can order through the shopping cart on your virtual office, or via phone with your local Young Living office.

If it’s been more than 12 months since you’ve ordered, or if you’ve never set up an account, please reach out to the person who introduced you to Young Living. You will need their member number when you place your first order.

If you have lost touch with them, or need any other assistance, we are here to help. Simply contact us, and we’ll be in touch to assist you and help answer your questions.

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