Our team depends on us for well-paying jobs, our clients depend on us for premium results-producing consulting + our children depend on us for well, everything! And this is why we – as parent entrepreneurs who work from home without babysitters – need to be primed for performance at all times.
We have so many people depending on us that we can’t afford to get sick like the average American family does. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), adults average 2-3 colds per year with children having even more.
Also according to the CDC, most colds require a 7-10 day recovery period, which means on just colds alone (no flus or injuries considered), if we do the math…
- Parent #1 → 2 colds
- Parent #2 → 2 colds
- Kid #1 → 3 colds
- Kid #2 → 3 colds
- Total family colds: 10 colds minimum per year
- Total family recovery time: 10 colds x 7-10 days = 70-100 minimum days of recovery!
…we’re looking at about 1/3rd of your year – 30% of your life – being spent dealing with colds (+ feeling crappy with them) + the subsequent delays or distractions from your passion + profit-filled work.
Imagine what you could do with 30% more time where you feel your best!?
We’ve written about our experiences with functional medicine, choosing a home birth + why living organically matters to us in every sense of the word… and today, we’re sharing an additional component of our family-centered CEO wellness strategy: what we keep in our medicine cabinet that holds anything but conventional lab-made medicine.
And this no-medicine medicine cabinet can be a great place to start… so, let’s dive in!
We look at our wellness responsibility as a gift → it’s something we get to do to make the world a better place through the people we’re influencing in it.
As such, we’ve spent tens of thousands of hours making our informed wellness decisions for ourselves as individuals + as a family, which impacts how we show up in the world as entrepreneurs. Over the years, we’ve become much more conscious of the damage lab-made items or over-medicalizing can do to our body’s natural ability to heal itself.
We’ve found that when we prime the body to do what it’s naturally built to do, there’s greater efficiency overall which leads to stronger immunity (fighting off illness before it starts) + shorter recovery times when something does catch.
We’re interested in moving away from medication + physical intervention being the only tools in medical practice for family wellness today.
“If you’re sleep-deprived, you can increase alertness + energy with a stimulant medication, but the “right” solution is sleep.”
Now this is important to note: We are not anti-pharmaceuticals or anti-conventional medicine. Both pharmaceutical drugs + medical interventions can be lifesaving + are incredibly useful if given the right dose/procedure, for the right person, at the right time + for the right reason.
With all that said, let’s get listing!
Arnica Montana
Kicking off this list with a big favorite of ours: Arnica Montana.
Think of Arnica Montana as your natural replacement for Ibuprofen. Arnica Montana can be used for a wide range of injuries, including joint + muscle soreness, bruising + swelling, stiffness, backache, fatigue + inflammation — either for everyday pain or an injury.
We had never heard of Arnica Montana until our first pregnancy. Our midwife encouraged Courtney to dissolve a few of these tiny pellets under her tongue to help with postpartum soreness.
Arnica Montana also helped our dog, Penny, be able to hold her body weight after she sprained her front ankle. She weighs the same as Courtney, so we gave her the lowest dose Courtney would usually take.
Upon taking Arnica Montana, Penny felt comfortable enough to limp herself outside. Before, Kevin had to carry her for every potty break. Penny was able to heal with rest + she’s back to sitting on the patio table surveying her land like Mufasa on Pride Rock in the Lion King (It’s a thing!).
We purchase our supply from In His Hands Birth Supply, but you can get the same exact kind from Amazon (if you buy in bulk).
Travel Humidifier
This is one of our favorite purchases ever because we feel like having a travel humidifier is a simple yet genius parenting hack.
How many times do you actually use a humidifier over the course of a year?
If your answer is “more than a handful”, there’s a larger issue at play. But if you’re capping out at about 5 times max per year, there’s no justification for having a big clunky, hard-to-clean item taking up storage space.
We bought a travel humidifier (on clearance from Target for $12 actually!) that uses a standard disposable water bottle as the “water tank”. This takes up significantly less space + makes cleaning significantly easier.
Even when cleaning may be impossible (humidifiers can get moldy quickly), these smaller travel humidifiers will take up less space in a landfill + that may be something we can feel slightly better about.
Electrolyte Waters
We keep a few electrolyte waters in our hall closet next to the aforementioned travel humidifier so that we simply have to hydrate to empty the bottle + then refill with tap water (or the Berkey water) to use the humidifier. We love that this setup is an added hydration accountability hack, too!
Witch Hazel
Witch hazel can be used as a base in many natural home remedies like hemorrhoid treatment, outdoor tick spray, poison ivy treatment, postpartum “padsicles” + more.
When you distill the witch hazel plant’s leaves + branches, you get the clear liquid that’s bottled in stores.
Witch hazel has a high level of tannins, which helps reduce swelling + inflammation, fight bacteria + repair broken skin. Important tip: Always buy alcohol-free witch hazel so that you can apply it to your skin without damage.
Hangover Helpers
We haven’t actually tried these yet, but we saw them at Whole Foods + found ourselves intrigued on the heels of Kevin’s 10-year NCAA Division I National Championship Hockey reunion (if you know, you know).
Since we’re still in the breastfeeding + bedsharing season, we’re not in the market for big partying (or the hangovers that follow), so we might not be trying these for a while!
What we loved about PartySmart is that this non-GMO herbal supplement speeds up the elimination of acetaldehyde from your liver, which builds up when you consume alcohol.
This reduces the magnitude of your hangover side effects. Paired with that electrolyte water, we predict this will be a future hit for all of the upcoming weddings we’ll be celebrating.
Coconut Oil
Organic, unrefined coconut oil has been our all-purpose staple for sunburns, dry skin + chapped dog paws.
Coconut oil can be used for dental hygiene by doing “oil pulling”, which is basically gargling with some coconut oil in your mouth.
Also, Courtney uses coconut oil as a cost-effective makeup remover. Just add warm water + use a washcloth!
Heating Pad
For anything sprained or postpartum/menstrual cramps, the good old-fashioned heating pad doesn’t need an introduction.
NoseFrida
This NoseFrida is for gentle suctioning out the endless boogers in kid colds + teething, which replaces the typical nasal bulb that is more aggressive. Our kids have loved “blowing their noses” + would reach for this tool when they noticed they needed it. No more chasing kids with tissues.
We’re huge fans of the Frida products overall. Our daughter loved learning to brush her teeth with the banana toothbrush. Courtney’s favorite postpartum tool was the Fridet Momwasher. We’ve also used their cradle cap solution set for the kids when nothing more natural worked + that solution worked like magic, too.
Tart Cranberry + Cherry Concentrates
We love the R.W. Knudsen “Just Cranberry” + “Just Cherry” juice concentrates.
Tart Cherry is great for improving sleep quality (study here) in both adults + children, while Tart Cranberry is great for preventing UTIs + speeding up athletic recovery.
Instead of any over-the-counter or prescription sleep medicines, we’re about to try this special sleep drink recipe from Mama Natural: Tart Cherry Sleep Drink Recipe.
Elderberry Syrup
Elderberry syrup is an organic household staple. We get MyKind Organics Elderberry Immune Syrup on Amazon Prime — this particular one has added immunity helpers of zinc + echinachea.
This syrup actually has a great taste — which is so funny to us after our childhood years of choking down that awful cherry cough syrup! Who knew this could taste GOOD!?
You would think that the man-made syrup would taste better than the natural version, but we find that with organic options, that’s not usually the case. To us, organic tastes significantly better.
Safe for most pregnant + breastfeeding women, we found elderberry syrup to also be an incredible immune system booster.
Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar contains good bacteria to help fight off infection + help with digestion, as well as alkalize the body + most illnesses can’t thrive in alkaline environments.
We love + highly prefer Bragg’s (with the mother) Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, This Apple Cider Vinegar comes in the most natural, raw form. Higher quality varieties of products such as vinegar are left unpasteurized to retain their natural, rich flavor as well as the live culture that has amazing contributions to gut health.
Epsom Salts
Epsom salts can give your body such an incredible health overhaul for a fraction of some of the most expensive therapies. Additionally, they offer that highly-coveted magnesium + help detox your body’s accumulation of both internal + external toxins.
The ones from Pursoma are more expensive than what you’ll find in a big box store, but we’ve found they are well worth the price. All of them are great. Our current favorite is the Digital Detox.
Local Honey
We choose to use local honey as a natural remedy for any devastating seasonal allergies. Nothing else besides over-the-counter medicines work for us in those times of high pollen counts + we don’t want the synthetic ingredients in our bodies.
Neither of us are in a time in our lives where we can sleep off the associated migraines + go without any intervention for a longer period of time, so using honey is our quickest + best organic solution right now.
Note: We’ve found that seasonal allergies are often indicative of something being off in our guts + with careful attention to gluten + dairy intake, we’re often able to eliminate the allergy experience by nutrition. However, we’re not 100% perfect with this + rely on honey to help us out with more expediency.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Okay, so this one isn’t technically in a cabinet, but we do stock this one in the freezer for the occasional sick day.
Here’s our favorite Speedy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup recipe that you can make in 20 minutes or less.
How about you: what do you have in your no-medicine medicine cabinet?
Share your recommendations with us in the comments below!