Nobody ever genuinely wishes to get sick. It is human nature to do whatever it takes to maintain their health state and search for a cure if one is sick. It is normal, because we want to reach and grab our goals in life, we have dreams to fulfill and a self actualization chart to climb.
Since ancient times people are continuously in search of a substance to keep their bodies healthy. It comes with various results. There are multivitamins, food supplements, fruit - meat - vegetable essence, etc. And it all comes with different kinds of forms to consume; pills, syrup, powder and oil. (article continues below)
Md. Ferdous Joy
Here, I am going to share the last form from what was mentioned above; Oil. Either for inhale or to apply on skin, oil has become one of the “to go to healers” for almost every complaint of disease or symptoms; headache, common cold, cough, fever, queasiness, all types of pains, you can add your own words here.
But how about a serious illness? Regardless the fact that the complaint of disease or symptoms above is considered serious too. Is there a healing oil made from natural ingredients? And if there are any, does it help heal any illnesses, maintain health and keep us away from sickness?
To answer that, let us have a visit to Indonesia. A country that not only has beautiful islands and tourist spots but also well known as one of the top diving destinations. Indonesia was known for its herbs and spices which made it one of many reasons the Portuguese came. I will skip the part about colonization and the war era. Fast forward to present times, where herbs and spices have grown and been managed well by local people. Both for personal use and commercial reasons.
Believed and practiced by the native that consuming these herbs either in a single remedy or mixed ones, will help the body to decrease pain, maintain good health, boost metabolism, and produce or provide what the human body needs for healing. One of the end results is oil based treatment.
There are quite a few oil based treatments that are now ready on market, for one example which now quite well known and accepted broadly in Indonesia and abroad is Minyak Kutus Kutus, produced by Tamba Waras which is located in Gianyar, Bali.
Minyak Kutus Kutus is made of 100% natural ingredients, pure vegetable based and none of the animal fat or chemical matters are added, either during the preparation or in the mixing process. The ingredients itself are taken from the root, branch, leaf, flower, and fruits elements. Regarding those elements, they then make a mixture of various herbs such as ginger, curcuma, piperis betlidis folium, myristica fragrans, nigella sativa, etc. Those mentioned herbs have been known for each use and efficacy.
Let us have a look at what are those ingredients’ benefits for health:
- Ginger: it is known to relieve or ease flu and common cold, helping in digestion issues, to relieve nausea for pregnant women (this one I experienced recently), to relieve muscle pain (in routine consumption), to reduce inflammation, to decrease blood sugar level, to relieve menstrual pain, to reduce cholesterol levels, actively fighting cancer cells (for prevention), to maintain brain function, to prevent Alzheimer, and to treat infection.
- Curcuma: this one is known as one effective element in curing arthritis and joint pain, to prevent heart disease, to prevent cancer, to support diabetes control, to prevent Alzheimer, to cure depression, to improve skin health, to reduce back pain, to prevent blood clots, to reduce the risk of allergic recurrence and asthma, to detoxify the liver and reduce migraine.
- Piperis betlidis folium (betel leaf): antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti cancer, anti cholesterol, anti inflammation, analgesic, to increase body immune system, to prevent and or to heal liver, to help lose weight, to help in curing diabetic, to maintain oral hygiene and to accelerate wound healing.
- Myristica fragrans (nutmeg): to improve brain health, to increase focus, to reduce stress and fatigue, to relieve pain, to relieve digestive problems, to kill bacteria that caused halitosis, to relieve toothache and gum issues, to treat insomnia, as detoxification, to improve good skin health and helping in maintain stable blood pressure.
- Nigella sativa (black caraway, habbatussauda): to reduce high blood pressure, to reduce high risk of cholesterol levels, to cure asthma, to reduce obesity risk, to cure stomachache and reduce digestive issues, anti infections, to prevent cancer cells growth, to maintain skin health.
Those main ingredients above with each benefit are later mixed with other natural ingredients, processed with coconut oil and essential oils. The production process itself is done manually, like cooking on a large size pan, manually stirr in a shape of number 8. Why number 8? It refers to the brand name of Kutus Kutus, which literally means double eight (88). Number eight is believed to be the most beautiful and sacred number for Balinese, where the oil is made.
The use of coconut oil and essential oils is for the ingredients to result in a beautiful blend of herbs and aromatherapy. So the herbs are for the healing purpose while the aromatherapy is used to calm the body and mind, therefore the healing process will go well and be fun. It means that the people who consume or use the oil will get both effective and holistic care from one single item.
Shahin Alam
The effectiveness of the product is a good option for nowadays people, who are searching for an alternative where they can get the best of each benefit from the herbs without having to do the extraction one by one themselves, and also no need to get a large amount of intake. The product itself is not necessarily to be used or consumed per oral intake. What a relief for those people who dislike taking oral medicine, right? And of course it is a good step also to keep our kidneys in good shape, because less medicine taken orally means less filtering job for kidneys.
Then how to use the oil to get the best effect of it to be able to reach the health stage in life we want? It is as simple as to apply it on our skin. The density of this oil is at the smallest molecular level that it will be easily absorbed through the skin pores. So we can apply this on the skin and gently massage it. We don’t have to be a professional massage therapist to be able to use this. The packaging comes with clear instructions on where and how to apply it. I will share it here.
First, we apply it along the spine, starting from the nape of the neck down to the tailbone area. Apply the oil while we gently massage it to help the oil easily absorb, do this a few times in one way from up to bottom until the oil dries out from the hands. And for the second area is where we feel uncomfortable or having issues at. For example when we got a stomach ache. We only need to apply it on the stomach and repeat it a few times. Give it some time to absorb and work. Then in a couple of minutes we will be relieved from the pain or discomfort feeling.
The founder himself, Servasius Pranoto, shared his personal experiences in many of his seminars, talk-shows and recently due to pandemic, in regular webinars. What started as a traditional recipe to keep his own family’s health, later grew large as a well known product which helps a lot of people from various health conditions. As the owner, founder and product creator, Servasius is a humble person who never stops personally motivating all the members of the business. Both users and resellers. He arranged an annual gathering for all resellers, but when pandemic hits, he shifted it to do regular webinar. This way, He keeps on his track for supporting the users, receiving advice or input about everything related to the product and conducting webinars where he can share news, information and updated innovation.
We have a belief that better to prevent than to treat. I personally prefer to have a routine time of applying the oil which also works as an aromatherapy treatment rather than to consume pills.
I would like to thank my uncle and aunty; Kopman Lakantu and Fabyana Tamboto. They introduced me to Minyak Kutus Kutus a few years ago.
Well, they did not come to me as any other sales to promote the product. They simply shared their testimonies with their families and friends through their social media accounts. Reading their posts, I proceeded to do my own research on the product by reading one by one of the testimonials, then went through the people who consume it. I needed to see if they were “real people, real time, real issues, real testimonials”. It took me quite a while to do those stuff, then finally I made a call to contact my uncle and ask for the oil. Since then, my family has become one of Minyak Kutus Kutus regular users. Later on we introduced it to our colleagues and relatives. After a while, I started to receive testimonials from those whom I introduced the oil too. It feels good to help people. By sharing the benefits of this oil and or advising ones to use this when they are in need, makes me happy. Who will ever know that someday in the future we will be the one who needs help. Pay it forward.
Meriem HAID
At present times, the oil is largely known in Indonesia and already exported through legal customs by its official resellers to other countries such as; USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands, etc. It has loyal customers which grew day by day. And no wonder it has an impostor and copycat. Some tried to sell the oil with lower prices, using the exact same packaging as the one used officially by Minyak Kutus Kutus. To counter this act, the brand is regularly changing their packaging. Completely change, from the bottle’s basic material, the bottle’s thickness to the packing box. As for the sprayer tube was changed due to adjustment so the customers can apply the oil properly and in an efficient amount per use and not easily spilled.
There are also other brands or types of oil that are offered on the market. It depends on the customers to decide for themselves. What the business owners owe to the public is mainly to be clear with what they are offering, the benefits and the composition. Being honest is not an easy thing to do, especially when it comes to dealing with profit. Even when the product in talk is related to human basic needs, money comes first for some.
And there are essential oils. If Minyak Kutus Kutus uses essential oils for blending with main ingredients and mixed with coconut oil, there are products that focus on producing essential oil. It is taken and extracted from specific plants with strong smell to use as a base product for making perfume and or for direct use to rub on the body for massage usage.
Some brands introduced essential oils both for direct use on skin and using it with a diffuser machine. The diffuser itself is designed to spread the oil’s scent in purpose that the scent will be inhaled then accepted by the brain as a stimulant to operate the limbic system, the one system that works on emotion, behavior, motivation, long term memory and olfaction.
Our body has a mysterious yet scientifically proven number of receptors, nervous system, metabolic processes, etc. that work simultaneously and in coordination with each organ inside. Therefore, when one is having issues, its work will affect the whole system and the rest of the body will react to it. It is why health treatment should not only focus on one problem.
And that’s also another reason why the health supportive products are various and optional.
Back to our topic of having Oil as one of remedy instead of taking pills. Again it is up to us to decide, whether to use traditional yet improvised kind of treatment such as herbs and spices, topical and inhale type of oil, or taking drugs. The important thing is we maintain a good and healthy life and enjoy and spend our quality time while it lasts.
Editors Pick:
Md. Ferdous Joy
References:
[1] https://www.gooddoctor.co.id/tips-kesehatan/nutrisi/manfaat-jahe-untuk-kesehatan/
[2] http://repository.uki.ac.id/1730/1/58-218-1-PB.pdf (Cendekia Journal of Pharmacy, STIKES Cendekia Utama Kudus. P-ISSN 2559 - 2163, E-ISSN 2599-2155, Vol. 3, No. 2, November 2019. http://cjp.jurnal.stikescendekiautamakudus.ac.id ) By: Marina Silalahi “Manfaat dan Bioaktivitas PIPER BETLE - L” also published in https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337905682_MANFAAT_DAN_BIOAKTIVITAS_Piper_betle_L
[4] https://hellosehat.com/hidup-sehat/nutrisi/nutrisi-manfaat-buah-pala/#gref
[5] https://id.theasianparent.com/manfaat-jintan-hitam
[6] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/essential-oil (rewrite for essential oil)
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system
[9] https://www.balihealingoil.com/product/minyak-kutus-kutus/#top rewrite in this article my own experiences as the information provided in the website mentioned here. Information about the product has granted permission directly from the founder: Mr. Servasius Pranoto
[10] Image of Kopman and Fabyana credit to Kopman. Post with permission.
