Essence of Akeso Clinical Aromatherapy & Nutrition

23/09/2026

My Natural Dispensary order arrived today with some new liquid hand soap, shampoo and toothpaste to try. It's annoying when you think you've got it all worked out and suddenly the product you've been using/buying for years is unavailable for some reason, out of stock, reformulated or discontinued!

For years I have avoided flouride toothpastes and have been using Gutology which I love, but it doesn't have a flouride option. Georganics has Hydroxyapatite as well as flouride and due to some dental issues for myself and my family, I've decided to add flouride back in. For now.

I've never tried bar shampoo or conditioner, so this is a trial to see how it goes. It might be a complete disaster, so I'll report how it goes. This option might be better for my husband who has very short hair - mine is curly and coarse, so may possibly be less suitable!

Alongside nutritional recommendations for my clients, I also recommend household and personal products which are low-tox and wherever possible, kinder to both our health and the environment.

I’m definitely not claiming to have it all figured out — I’m trying things, researching alternatives and sharing what works (and what doesn’t!) along the way.

Natural Dispensary now has the function of grouping products and sharing, so this is something I will be doing going forward once I've trialled these items myself.

19/09/2026

Getting early morning light as soon as you wake up, is so important for regulating your body's internal rythms and physiological processes - not just the wake/sleep cycle, but hormones, digestion, body temperature, immune function and more.

These are some of the very first interventions that I ask clients to implement. Foundational to health - this simple practice is totally free and with a circadian rhythm that is out of balance, could mean that any other interventions you try, just don't work as well if at all!

https://shorturl.at/v9EpP

As we age, our eyes naturally let in less light because the pupils become smaller and the lenses transmit less light, especially the shorter wavelengths involved in circadian signaling.

Based on an optical model, by age 75, the eyes may need about three times more ambient light than at age 45 to deliver a comparable time-of-day signal to the body clock.

Why does this matter?

A strong daytime light signal helps regulate sleep, alertness, mood, hormone rhythms, body temperature, and the timing of many physiological processes. This may make regular outdoor light exposure increasingly important as we age.

Indoor lighting may be bright enough for us to see, yet still too dim to provide the robust circadian signal our bodies need. Spending time outdoors, especially earlier in the day, is one simple way to give the brain a clearer message that daytime has begun. Of course, this does not mean staring at the Sun. It means allowing your eyes to experience safe, natural daylight as part of your daily rhythm.

Reference: Turner PL, Mainster MA. Circadian photoreception: ageing and the eye’s important role in systemic health. Br J Ophthalmol. 2008;92:1439–1444.

19/09/2026

Probably our family favourite!

Date & walnut with added molasses. Made with rye, spelt, Stoates strong white, which is not fortified and is produced to retain wheatgerm and bran to maintain the nutrients that are stripped out in mass produced roller milled white flour.

Also fortified with Dr. Vanessa Kimbell Botanical Blend flour available from Hodmedod's UK Pulses & Grains

A couple of places left for my sourdough workshop on Tuesday 22nd September from 11am-3pm.

If you would love bread like this, come and join me in my kitchen and I'll show you a method that you can easily incorporate into your busy life as it's simple and requires very little hands on! You just need to schedule it to suit your timetable.

You'll find the link to book in story, bio or pinned post. https://www.essenceakeso.co.uk/workshops/

Look forward to seeing you! 🌼

18/09/2026

A bowl of leftover red lentil cauliflower dahl cooked by my daughter in the Thermomix as a soup with some toasted sourdough, makes a tasty filling lunch.

Naked toast though as I'm trialling a no/low butter for a while as it seems that genetically, saturated fat is my kryptonite! 🦸‍♂️

Now that's been a tough pill to swallow, as I've always advocated real butter, full fat milk etc- in moderation of course and shunned anything that says ."low fat"!

But increasingly, I'm using Lifecode Gx nutrigenomics testing to personalise my own and clients' nutrition and lifestyle. I therefore couldn't ignore my own glaringly obvious lipid genes, blood test results and clinical picture when choosing dietary choices that work best for my biology.

I've also discovered something else that may explain why I've been stuck in permanent chronic low energy for over 10 years. It's taken me a while, but I think I've found the block... It's not going to be an easy path to overcome as my GP has already refused to refer me to an endocrinologist as my thyroid panel is "in range". But I've a plan which I'm starting to implement and if it works, I will be able to reignite the fire. 🔥 Watch this space! Pretty sure I've finally found an important puzzle piece. 🙌

18/09/2026

Guess what we'll be munching tomorrow! 😋

If you're free next Tuesday, there's a few spaces left on my next Sourdough workshop when I teach you how to make a basic sourdough, which you can then adapt to make a myriad of other things!

14/09/2026

When you come back from holiday, swamped with washing and as much as I like the campervan, there's always loads of sorting out!

I wondered exactly what I did today - apart from trying to find the surface of the laundry room worktop. 🤣 My camera roll told a tale.

Picked a few tomatoes that had ripened while we were away, pulled up some massive beetroot (possibly my favourite veggie) and cooked in the pressure cooker in 20 minutes, baked a seedy tin sourdough loaf, topped up the fruit bowl and the lunch ingredients (Queen chickpeas, radish, watercress, olives, cooked fish, houmous, pomegranate jewels) got spicy salad leaves growing in a window box too!

Went to the garden centre to buy some violas to make the new decking look pretty for the winter. Tomorrow's job is to pot these up with some daffodils underplanted.

Then cooked dinner and thought about the massive to do list I need to make a start on... tomorrow. It's never-ending. 🤣

Practice a bit more Beethoven and go to bed ready for another chance to repeat tomorrow.

13/09/2026

Proper jelly for pudding! Made with water, frozen cherries, frozen apple juice, Black Bee Honey honey and Ossa Organic gelatine.

Approx measurements:
300ml water
2tbsp Ossa gelatine
4 large cubes of apple juice, maybe 250ml?
I/2 bag of frozen cherries
1tbsp honey.

In a saucepan place water, juice and gelatine until dissolved. Fresh juice can be used - I just had them in my freezer! Add honey then put this liquid together with frozen cherries into blender. I blended so there were still bits of cherries which sunk.

Enjoy! Who says jelly is for kids' birthdays. 🤣

03/09/2026

Making home grown peppermint tea bags for campervan use as we're off on another little adventure!

I use a filter teapot at home, but these cute little bags are perfect for when you just want to make a cuppa in a mug without the faff of a teapot in the van. Peppermint tea is an absolute must when I'm away from home and my usual diet may be slightly different 🙃.

28/08/2026

28/08/2026

Want to make sourdough? Easy peasy method that takes you little more than 10 minutes hands-on of your time - the rest is just about thinking ahead by a day and letting the natural yeasts do their thing.

My next demonstration workshop will be Tuesday 22nd September at 10.45 am in Westbury Wiltshire.

https://www.essenceakeso.co.uk/workshops/