Natural Pantry Staple - Organic Citrus

Zest has the added benefit of enhancing digestive energy, relieving intestinal gas and swelling, and decongesting the lungs. Lemon peel seasoning can also add a nice zest to your favorite meat, chicken and pasta dishes!

Natural Pantry Staple - Garlic

This superfood inhibits 72 known infectious agents, including those that cause the common cold. Garlic also protects against ulcers and may help eliminate metals, such as lead, from the body. A cornerstone of many cuisines, it's also great on its own, roasted and spread on warm bread.

Safe Travels & Happy Tummy!

As you're wandering the globe this season, steer clear of food-borne illness by getting your daily fill of garlic (in food or capsule form) and probiotics (through yogurt or acidophilus supplements). Garlic provides antibacterial action, and probiotics build up your gut's beneficial bugs to counter harmful bacteria. If you do end up with a queasy stomach, taking an activated-charcoal supplement can help absorb the toxins and restore your digestive health.

Hangover Helper

If you've partied too hard, replace the lost nutrients and restore your energy by taking 100 milligrams of a B-complex vitamin and drinking plenty of water.

Muscle Magic - Arnica to the Rescue!

Whether it's the result of an all-out workout or a long day of play, muscle soreness will subside sooner with the right rubs and balms. Choose natural muscle rubs that contain menthol and eucalyptus, shown to possess anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties in a 2003 study.

Homeopathic arnica can speed healing as well: Take five pellets of arnica (at 30C strength) three times a day to reduce pain, swelling, and bruising. Arnica works wonders - also look for arnica creams!

Treat Cuts & Scrapes Naturally

Keep a calendula-based salve or cream in your backpack to prevent infection of cuts and scrapes suffered out on the trails. Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, bee propolis spray or tincture also staves off infection when applied four times daily.

Summer Skin Savers

When sticky weather brings on a heat rash, cool off with a lavender essential oil and aloe vera fusion. Try mixing a half-ounce of aloe vera gel with five drops of oil and applying it to the skin. The mixture is anti-inflammatory, so it reduces the redness and heat of the rash. Massaging in some calendula salve can have a similar hydrating, calming effect.

Post Picnic Relief

Indulged in one too many servings of ambrosia salad? Unburden your belly by drinking a cup of chamomile tea (iced if you prefer) or chewing on fennel seeds. Both natural remedies act as carminatives to aid digestion and dispel gas from the stomach.

Sunburn Soothers

With its anti-inflammatory effects, aloe vera is your best salve for sunburn pain. Squeeze the amino-acid-rich gel directly from the plant, or apply a product containing 95 percent to 100 percent pure aloe vera, says Stengler. For a skin-cooling soak, combine a cup of powdered milk with 10 drops of lavender essential oil, says aromatherapist Constance Hart. Shake the ingredients in a jar and let sit for a day before pouring into lukewarm bath water.

Summer Skincare - Protect Your Skin

We all know we need to wear and SPF of 30 or higher - but did you know you also need to apply about a shot glass full of sunscreen to get complete coverage?

When purchasing sunscreen, check the ingredients list for zinc oxide, a shield against both UVA an UVB rays. Once you're out of the sun, rub in some borage oil, a rich source of gamma-linoeic fatty acid, to help protect against sun-related aging.

Aura Cacia Wins Award!

Aura Cacia organic lavender essential oil has won one of Organic Products Retailer’s
second annual Stellar Organic Awards. OPR conducted a survey with its organic retailer
readers, and they chose our organic lavender essential oil as their favorite.