Holy Basil And Inflammation

[Diokine]

I have had great success with Holy Basil tea in reducing a number of symptoms related to high histamine, serotonin, as well as reducing anxiety and nervousness associated with high adrenaline. I've always known that it was a very powerful compound, and some research I've come across recently seems to confirm this.

Biological activities of Ocimum sanctum L. fixed oil--an overview.

Tulsi - Ocimum sanctum: A herb for all reasons
Tulsi's unique combination of antibacterial antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities also makes it useful in wound healing.[109,110] This is supported by experimental evidence that has shown that tulsi can increase wound-breaking strength and accelerate wound healing in laboratory animals.[110,111] Tulsi has also been shown to have anti-ulcer and ulcer-healing activity that has been observed in many different animal models including aspirin-, indomethacin-, alcohol-, histamine-, reserpine-, serotonin-, acetic acid-, meloxicam-, cold restraint-, pyloric ligation- and stress-induced ulceration models.[25,112,113,114] This anti-ulcer activity is attributed to multiple actions including the reduction of offensive factors such as acid-pepsin secretion and lipid peroxidation and the enhancement of gastric defensive factors such as mucin secretion, cellular mucus and longevity of mucosal cells.

Evaluation of the gastric antiulcer activity of fixed oil of Ocimum sanctum (Holy Basil).
The fixed oil of Ocimum sanctum L. (Labiatae) was found to possess significant antiulcer activity against aspirin-, indomethacin-, alcohol-, histamine-, reserpine-, serotonin- and stress-induced ulceration in experimental animal models. Significant inhibition was also observed in gastric secretion and aspirin-induced gastric ulceration in pylorus ligated rats. The lipoxygenase inhibitory, histamine antagonistic and antisecretory effects of the oil could probably have contributed towards antiulcer activity. O. sanctum fixed oil may be considered to be a drug of natural origin which possesses both anti-inflammatory and antiulcer activity.







Here is an article on another herb I use occasionally, Gotu Kola.

Evaluation of Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Chloroform and Methanol Extracts of Centella asiatica Linn
Methanol extract had significant anti-inflammatory effect against carrageenan-induced paw edema model, whereas chloroform extract had not such effect on rats. Carrageenan induced inflammation is a well-established method to detect orally active anti-inflammatory agents which shows biphasic response. The first phase is mediated through the release of histamine, serotonin, and kinins, whereas the second phase is through the release of prostaglandins [23]. Methanol extract at 200 mg/kg dose showed maximum inhibition at 2 h (Table 6); this finding signified that anti-inflammatory action might be due to inhibiting the release of histamine or kinins.

 

[tryingtoberight]

one of the few things that helps my allergies too.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

I drink Tulsi tea in the evening sometimes. I'll throw some theanine in there and a few grams of glycine...best sleep EVER and I wake up feeling refreshed instead of groggy and depressed the way cyproheptadine & benadryl make me feel.

 

[Sheila]

In this thread Benzodiazepines Are The New Wave Of Ppi Drugs about the effects of benzodiazepines as anxiolytics and reflux inhibitors, I read that bile reflux may also be involved here. This got me thinking as to whether tulsi tea might help with reflux symptoms also. In talking about taking this @Diokine, you were using the leaves for your tea, not the essential oil per se, correct? I sometimes get a bit of reflux-like pain when I increase taurine, and I know it causes some people a lot of GI problems (it is a strong bile stimulant), now I am wondering whether tulsi tea would be useful here as well, a taurine, once tolerated is awfully useful. Will experiment.
Thanks
Sheila

 

[WojciechMajda]

I've been eating tulsi in one form or another for the last week (about4-5 times) and I must say the effect is impressive so far! My libido is defiantly up, my morning wood is back and I feel my estrogen is getting lower. And the quality of holy basil I eat is not even that high. The seeds for my private, hi quality supply had been planted and they are sprouting already...

 

[LeeLemonoil]

Holy Basil. Test up, LSH and FH down




Testosterone levels go off the scale with holy basil

Holy basil, or Ocimum sanctum, is an herb that originally comes from India. In animal studies done at Sharma University of Health Sciences it sends testosterone levels so high that researchers can't measure them. And no, they weren't using high-tech extracts, but ordinary fresh leaves of the plant.

Holy basil goes by the name of tulsi in India. In Asia it is used for cooking and in Ayurvedic medicine. Ocimum sanctum contains among other things oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, rosmarinic acid, eugenol, carvacrol, linalool and beta-caryophyllene.In Ayurvedic medicine Ocimum sanctum is ascribed adaptogenic properties, capable even of protecting against radioactive radiation [Indian J Exp Biol. 1995 Mar; 33(3): 205-8.], and life extending


properties too. Text books refer to its medicinal use for treating colds, headache, stomach complaints, inflammations, cardiovascular disease [BMC Complement Altern Med. 2006 Feb 19; 6:3.], malaria and poisoning, for example through arsenic [Food Chem Toxicol. 2009 Feb; 47(2): 490-5.].

The researchers' interest in Ocimum sanctum was piqued by a less well-known use: in some villages women use the herb as a contraceptive. The researchers decided to see if they could confirm this effect in animal studies, and gave male rabbits weighing 2 kg a daily 2 g of fresh leaves for 30 days.
The extract worked. The figure below shows that Ocimum sanctum reduced the concentration of sperm in the seminal fluid by 45 percent. Even stronger though was the effect on the testosterone level: this rose by no less than factor five in the rabbits who ate the leaves.

The equipment the researchers used to measure the concentration of testosterone in the blood of the lab animals was capable of measuring up to 1500 nanograms per decilitre. Ocimum sanctum caused the level of testosterone to rise above this cut-off point.

The FSH concentration went down by a factor five as a result of the herb, and the LH concentration even dropped of the bottom of the scale.

"A possible hypothesis to explain this pattern of changes in hormone levels could be that Ocimum sanctum leaves probably contain some androgenic analogue, which increased the circulating testosterone levels sufficiently to inhibit LH but not sufficient to accumulate in the testis at the required concentration for normal spermatogenesis", the researchers write. "However, the decreased LH levels will diminish intratesticular production of testosterone by Leydig cells, which results in reduced levels of spermatogenesis."

 

[jet9]

Interesting. anybody keeps taking it?