What is the Pineal Gland?
Your pineal gland is a pea-sized pinecone-shaped endocrine gland, located at eye level in the center of the brain. Acting as the “regulator of regulators,” the pineal gland plays a role in every aspect of body functioning, including reproductive function, executive functioning, growth, body temperature, blood pressure, motor activity, sleep, mood, hormone regulation, immunity, and longevity.
The pineal gland influences the secretion of other chemical messengers, including neurotransmitters, endorphins, hormones, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a catalyst for higher states of consciousness and intuition linked to the “third eye” moniker for the pineal gland.
When your eyes’ retinas detect darkness, they signal your pineal gland to release melatonin, telling your body to prepare for sleep. Dissected pineal glands revealed the presence of a photoreceptor, a structure activated by light.
Your pineal gland is the most vulnerable part of your brain—any toxin, stressor, or electromagnetic field that is affecting you will strongly affect your pineal gland, which then compromises melatonin production and with it your health. The pineal gland is so sensitive to chemicals that it is hypothesized that exposure to modern toxins has shrunk the pineal gland. Indian masters of the Vedic period were believed to have had a pineal gland the size of a lemon. Today, the pineal gland is the size of a small pea.
Symptoms of Compromised Pineal Gland
The symptoms of a compromised pineal gland include:
- Mental health issues, particularly seasonal symptoms
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Mood disorders, including paranoia, pessimism, and anger
- Neurological disorders, including dementia, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease
- Hormonal issues, including changes in fertility, menstrual cycle, and ovulation
- Impaired circadian rhythms, including sleeping too much or too little, feeling active and restless in the middle of the night, and feeling sleepy at unusual times
- Not remembering dreams
- Tendency to over-analyze
- Headache, nausea, and vomiting
- Difficulty with sense of direction or a feeling of spaciness
- Difficulty losing weight
What Compromises the Pineal Gland?
Unlike most of the brain, the blood-brain barrier doesn’t protect your pineal gland. Instead, the pineal receives a tremendous amount of blood flow, second only to the kidneys, making it highly susceptible to the following environmental toxins that synergistically combine to damage your pineal gland:
Aluminum: Found in many foods, pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, and some vaccines, aluminum is toxic to your brain. It can damage your pineal gland and its ability to produce melatonin and contribute to degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Aluminum impairs your pineal gland’s ability to detoxify and eliminate metals, creating a vicious cycle, where metals are more easily absorbed into the brain. When melatonin levels are optimal, melatonin binds to heavy metals, reducing their toxicity by helping you dispose of them.
Fluoride: Found in drinking water and toothpaste, fluoride is a toxic chemical by-product of manufacturing. It is a fat-soluble endocrine-disrupting hormone that accumulates in the soft tissues of the pineal gland, creating a hard shell of phosphate crystals around the pineal called calcification.
This has been shown to reduce the number of pinealocytes, the main cells contained in the pineal gland, which lowers melatonin production and accelerates neurodegenerative diseases and aging. Up to 60 percent of the population may experience pineal gland calcification.
Due to the high volume of blood flow, the calcified tissues of the pineal gland contain the highest levels of fluoride in the entire body. What’s more, fluoride accumulates in the pineal more than any other part of the body. Research correlates pineal calcification with a “melatonin deficit” or a decreased capacity to produce and excrete melatonin. Additional research links pineal calcification with insomnia and other sleep challenges. Similarly, fluoride exposure in animal studies was found to decrease melatonin.
Glyphosate: This active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup is associated with low melatonin levels. Glyphosate is believed to suppress melatonin synthesis by damaging gut microbes and depleting melatonin precursors like tryptophan and serotonin. Glyphosate increases aluminum toxicity by “caging” aluminum, allowing ingested aluminum to bypass the gut barrier and make it more accessible to the body. Glyphosate increases calcium uptake, allowing aluminum to gain entry to your cells by mimicking calcium. Aluminum then promotes calcium loss from the bones, contributing to pineal gland calcification.
Electromagnetic fields (EMFs): Exposure to EMFs can negatively impact the function of the pineal gland and suppress melatonin levels. It is suspected that the pineal gland senses EMFs as light, which may therefore decrease the melatonin production. Melatonin has been shown to be protective against EMFs, helping the pineal gland create more melatonin output, which protects against EMF damage.
Research-Supported Essential Oils to Detoxify the Pineal Gland
Essential oils have been scientifically-proven to support healthy pineal gland decalcification, toxin removal, and tissue renewal. Essential oils can be efficient removers (chelators) of heavy metals, like fluoride.
As plant extracts, essential oils stimulate and support the body’s natural detoxification processes which may encourage the elimination of heavy metals. For example, the limonene found in citrus essential oils is known to stimulate glutathione production; an antioxidant known to bind to heavy metals.
The metal chelating activity of the essential oils was assessed and compared to synthetic EDTA (a medical intervention used to treat lead poisoning). The research found that essential oils, like clove, possess very high metal chelating capacities which correlated with their antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities.
Additional research showed that different plan parts yielded differences in chelating activity. For example, the highest chelating activity was found in the oils distilled from stems and the flowers at the flowering stage.
For example, Clove oil, derived from the flower buds of the clove tree, has regenerative properties that help stimulate the brain and the autonomic nervous system. Clove oil, contained in Parasympathetic®, Immune Support™, and Thymus™ also helps support immune function, reduce pain and irritation and improve blood flow. Anything that boosts oxygen and immune function should support your body in reversing pineal gland calcification.
Circadian Rhythm Blend to Detoxify the Pineal Gland
Vibrant Blue Oils Brain Balance Circadian Rhythm® proprietary formulations includes very specific ratios of the following organic and/or wild crafted therapeutic essential oils in a base of fractionated coconut oil:
Balsam of Peru
Balsam of Peru is a calming oil that helps reduce stress and promotes restful sleep. It has been shown to help calm nervous agitation and anxious thoughts to calm your output of stress hormones like cortisol that can interfere with the healthy release of the sleep hormone melatonin.
Balsam of Peru is an aromatic gum resin obtained by inflicting V-shaped wounds on the bark of Myroxylon balsamum trees native to the Amazon regions of Peru and Brazil. This triggers the release of the resin-like, aromatic fluid to heal the wound. Resins function within the plant to heal wounds and protect the plant from external pathogens. They serve a similar protective function in your body, helping to healing wounds and ward off disease and negative energy. Essential oils derived from resins can be utilized to help alleviate emotional and physical suffering and help to release deeply held beliefs that no longer serve us. They also help us to access emotions that have been deeply repressed and need to be released which helps us calm anxious thoughts that can keep us awake and prevent restful sleep.
The therapeutic effect on sleep, anxiety and depression has been attributed to the chemical constituient beta-caryophyllene, a common sesquiterpene that is a constituent of many essential oils, that has been shown to be neuroprotective and helpful in soothing anxious feelings.
Myrtle
Myrtle, a small evergreen shrub, contains the chemical constituent Pinene, a terpene that helps enhance sleep by modulating the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. Research has found Pinene to enhance sleep and reduce sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep), which it attributes to its ability to modulate GABA receptors. The research also linked the inhalation of α-pinene a reduction in anxiety.
Myrtle also contains high concentrations of the compound citral, which has been shown to increase the activity of a key phase II detoxification enzyme known as glutathione-S-transferase.
Lavender
Lavender is one of the top oils to treat insomnia. Lavender is known for its sedative, anxiety relieving and calming properties that help your body relax into restful sleep.
Research has found that lavender can help to dilate blood vessels which allows more blood flow and oxygen make its way to the pineal gland, supporting healthier function”
Similarly, its key constituent Linalool, helps activate your calming neurotransmitter Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which helps calm your mind and body. Research has found that linalool can bind to the receptors on your cells that receive GABA and help balance your brain’s level of excitation and inhibition which is vital for normal brain function and a healthy nervous system. Linalool shows sedative actions and “inhibit sympathetic nervous system activity and heighten parasympathetic nervous system activity.”
Research found that inhaling Lavender essential oil can calm the nervous system and improve brain waves appropriate to a sleep state. “Lavender oil caused significant decreases of blood pressure, heart rate, and skin temperature, which indicated a decrease of autonomic arousal. In terms of mood responses.”
The study also found that lavender oil increased the power of theta and alpha brain activities that help promote sleep – improving sleep quality, and increase time spent in deep, slow-wave sleep.
Researchers monitoring sleep cycles with brain scans found that lavender increased slow-wave sleep, which helps slow your heartbeat and relax your muscles, which allows you to sleep more soundly.
The sleep enhancing effects of Lavender are significantly enhanced when combined with other essential oils part of a blend. Research and clinical experience consistently demonstrate that blends that include Lavender essential oil in combination with other essential oils like chamomile consistently improve mood and sleep quality.
White Grapefruit
Grapefruit is incredibly high (95.12%) in the chemical constituent Limonene, a terpene found in the rind of citrus fruits that has been shown to lower anxiety and stress.
Limonene’s calming, mood-lifting effects have been attributed to limonene’s ability to elevate serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is synthesized by the pineal gland to make melatonin and help support relaxation and sleep. Similarly, low serotonin levels result in sleep disruption and sleep disorders, including insomnia.
Limonene’s serotonin-boosting effects contribute to the benefit of Grapefruit essential oil as a sleep-promoter. Further research reveals that limonene may help reduce insomnia symptoms.
Grapefruit is also known to support the organs of detoxification that help to detoxify and decalcify the pineal gland. Grapefruit is known to stimulate the liver, gallbladder and help the lymphatic system function properly.
Myrrh
Myrrh is a natural gum or resin known to support stress-related conditions. Myrcene, a chemical constituent of Myrrh, has been shown to have sedative effects. Research correlated myrcene with muscle relaxation and increased sleeping time, finding that “myrcene increased sleeping time around 2.6 times.”
Myrrh also supports the detoxification of metals from the pineal gland. Research found Myrrh to be “a potent antioxidant, enhancing the antioxidant and immune defense mechanisms.” In other words, Myrrh exhibits an antioxidant effect strong enough that it can actually protect the liver – the “detox” organ that is bombarded with toxins every day – from oxidative damage.
Myrrh essential oil also has a warming and stimulating nature that helps promote healthy blood circulation and boost energy to supports stress-related conditions and anxiety as well as relieves apathy, lack of incentive and low energy.
Geranium
Geranium essential oil supports energy through its anti-inflammatory and antidepressant properties. Geranium oil contains the chemical constituent Eugenol which helps support healthy blood flow and energy. Geranium oil also calms brain inflammation that can contribute to fatigue. Research demonstrates geranium oil’s impressive anti-neuroinflammatory effects.
Research found that geranium essential oil works as a natural chelator, bonding to metals, like fluoride, and carrying them out of the body. As stated above, essential oils distilled from flowers had the highest chelating activity. Geranium essential oil supports normal kidney function and helps discharge toxins from the liver.
Rose Geranium
Shown to reduce stress and anxiety, Rose Geranium essential oil has demonstrated natural sedative action which helps you to overcome insomnia and get to sleep.
Research published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice in 2014 found that rose essential oil “can significantly improve the sleep quality.”
The study found that patients hospitalized in coronary care unit (CCU) who received routine care plus rose oil aromatherapy for three subsequent nights had a better quality of sleep compared to those who received routine care.
A similar study found that inhalation of rose and orange essential oils “induces physiological and psychological relaxation” along with an increase in “comfortable,” “relaxed,” and “natural” feelings.
Melaleuca
Melaleuca essential oil, derived from the leaves of the tea tree, Melaleuca alternifolia, native to Australia, is high in chemical constituents that contribute to restful sleep. For example, Terpinolene, is a terpene known for its sedative effects. Animal studies found that inhaled terpinolene exerted a sedative and sleep supporting effect.
Featured Oils:
Ready to get started? Click the links below to order today:
- Circadian Rhythm® available here
- Immune Support™ available here
- Parasympathetic® available here
- Thymus™ available here
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