Longevity is a Bowl of Berries
With a Drop of Clove
By David Stewart, Ph.D.
Executive Director Center for Aromatherapy
Research and Education

The February/March 2001 issue of Natural Medicine Alert, Published by the Young Life Research Clinic (YLRC) and Institute of Natural Medicine contained an article entitled: Fruits that Prevent Cancer and Premature Aging.* It was thoroughly documented with 80 cited references. This excellent journal is available from the YLRC for $144 and I highly recommend that all YLEO distributors subscribe.

According to that article the secret to long, disease-free life may be to eat lots of fresh berries. Here is why. The aging process is now largely understood to be the action of free oxygen radicals that arise in our bodies through normal metabolism and cell function as well as from external environmental sources. Most free radicals contain electrically unbalanced oxygen atoms.

Free radicals can be thought of as partial molecules frantically looking for their missing parts. This makes them  hungry and aggressive, ready to grab a chunk from whatever tissue is available (namely a piece of our bodies). Hence, they can cause disease by disrupting normal function at a cellular level. As long as our bodies can keep these radicals in check by dissipating them harmlessly, we stay youthful and healthy.

When we suffer an immune deficiency or experience excess stress from environmental factors such as ambient radiation, impurities in our air or water, toxins in our foods, etc., free radicals can be formed in our bodies at a rate faster than we can handle. These radicals aggressively attack our own tissues causing unhealthy mutations and irreversible damage. The consequences of this include accelerated aging, cancer, and a host of other maladies.

There are foods and substances that absorb free radicals (containing antioxidants) and the more you partake of these, the more youthful and disease-free you will remain.
Scientists at a local University have developed a scale for the U.S. Department of Agriculture called the ORAC test. (ORAC = Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity)

The higher the ORAC score, the more capable that particular food is of destroying free radicals, thus retarding the aging process and preventing cancers and other diseases.

One of the most revolutionary products from YLEO is Ningxia Red Juice. The scientists at a local University have determined that
Ningxia Red Juice has the highest ORAC score of any food on the market and guess what: It is available only to Young Living Distributors.

The top natural antioxidant foods as determined by a local University so far are as follows:

FOOD ORAC SCORE*
Carrots 210
Oranges 750
Beets 840
Raspberries 1,220
Strawberries 1,540
Blueberries 2,400
Chinese Wolfberries 25,300

* based on a 3.5 oz. sample (100 ml)

Cherries, Cranberries, Apricots, Elderberries, Pomegranates and Huckleberries also score very high, but no fruit or vegetable even comes close to wolfberries.

Wolfberries (Lyceum barbarum) is the food that keeps the people of Ningxia Province, China, living to ages of 120-150 and more. They live that long simply because they never get sick. And they never get sick because their isolated existence in the high desert is pollution free and they eat only organic, natural foods high in antioxidants every day, including wolfberries.

Ningxia Red Juice is a concentrate of the highest scoring antioxidant foods in the world. Containing 80% wolfberry juice, it also contains blueberry, pomegranate, apricot and
raspberry juices. And it’s delicious.

The power of two tablespoons of Ningxia Red Juice daily is shown in the following table:

TWO TABLESPOON'S OF Ningxia Red Juice
Have the Antioxidant Power of . . .

4 pounds of carrots
2 quarts of carrot juice
8 oranges
1 pint of orange juice
2 pounds of beets
2 cups of beet juice
3 cups of raspberries
2 cups of blueberries

Ningxia Red Juice may seem expensive since the wholesale price for two tablespoons is about a dollar. However, compare with the equivalents above and you will see that for the same antioxidant benefit, Ningxia Red Juice is actually less expensive than any of the alternatives above.

ESSENTIAL OILS HAVE THE HIGHEST ORAC SCORES

Essential oils have the highest ORAC scores of any known substance. According to the Essential Oils Desk Reference, 2nd Ed., they are as follows:

ESSENTIAL OIL BOTANICAL NAME ORAC SCORE

Sandalwood (Santalum album) 1,655
Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) 2,446
Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) 2,517
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) 3,309
Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) 3,669
Spearmint (Mentha spicata) 5,398
Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum) 17,420
Lemongrass (Cymbopogen flexuosus) 17,765
Orange (Citrus aurantium) 18,898
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) 24,157
Rose of Sharon (Cistus ladanifer) 38,648
Cinnamon Bark (Cinnamamum verum) 103,448
Mountain Savory (Satureja montana) 113,071
Oregano (Origanum compactum) 153,007
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) 159,590
Clove (Syzigium aromaticum) 10,786,875

Compare these numbers with the berries and you can see how potent essential oils really are. The last six oils on this chart are even more powerful than wolfberries. Clove is the champion of all with an ORAC score over 10 million!! That means a drop of Clove contains 400 times more antioxidant per unit volume than wolfberries, the most powerful of all known fruits.

Of course, the comparison is not quite fair since oils are concentrates while fresh fruits are not. Nevertheless, a 15 ml bottle of Clove Oil (Code #3524, $11) has the antioxidant capacity of 150 lbs of carrots, 40 quarts of blueberries or 16 gallons of beet juice.

TWO DROPS OF ESSENTIAL OIL OF CLOVE

Have the Antioxidant Power of . . .

2.5 tablespoons of Ningxia Red Juice
5 pounds of carrots
2.5 quarts of carrot juice
10 oranges
20 ounces of orange juice
2.5 pounds of beets
1 pint of beet juice
4 cups of raspberries
2.5 cups of blueberries

This means a drop of clove in your drinking water or a drop of any edible essential oil in anything you eat, is good for long, healthy living and you don't have to eat a dozen oranges or drink a quart of beet juice every day to do it. A couple of spoonfuls of Ningxia Red Juice will do it, too.

The bottom line is this: YLEO essential oils and YLEO products are 'gud fer ya.' The benefits of breathing, applying and taking essential oils internally while consuming the YLEO supplements are far greater than you can imagine.

The article is an excerpt from: Grade A Notes - Natural Health & Essential Oils. Published by Melodie & Brandon Kantner, Volume 3 Number 009 September 2001