Ocimum basilicum
Part used:
leaves
Uses
Edibility
In foods and beverages
Treatments Using Basil
- Healing: Sharpen memory, use as a nerve tonic, and remove phlegm from your bronchial tubes. Repeat up to once an hour. Leaves can strengthen the stomach and induce perfuse sweating. The seeds can be used to rid the body of excess mucus.
- Fevers: Basil leaves are used for quenching fevers, especially those related to malaria and other infectious, eruptive fevers common to tropical areas. Boiling leaves with some cardamom in about two quarts of water, then mixed with sugar and milk, brings down temperature. An extract of basil leaves in fresh water should be given every 2 to 3 hours; between doses you can give sips of cold water. This method is especially effective for reducing fevers in children.
- Coughs: Basil is an important ingredient in cough syrups and expectorants. It can also relieve mucus in asthma and bronchitis. Chewing on basil leaves can relieve colds and flu symptoms.
- Sore Throat: Water boiled with basil leaves can be taken as a tonic or used as a gargle when you have a sore throat.
- Respiratory Disorders: Boiling basil leaves with honey and ginger is useful for treating asthma, bronchitis, cough, cold, and influenza. Boiling the leaves, cloves, and sea salt in some water will give rapid relief of influenza. These combinations should be boiled in about two quarts of water until only half the water remains before they are taken.
- Kidney Stones: Basil can be used to strengthen your kidneys. In cases of stones in your kidney, the juice of basil leaves mixed with honey and taken daily for 6 months will expel them through the urinary tract.
- Heart Problems: Basil can be used to strengthen those weakened by heart disease. It can also reduce your cholesterol.
- Children’s Illnesses: Pediatric complaints like colds, coughs, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting have been know to respond to treatment with the juice of basil leaves. Also if the rash associated with chicken pox is delayed, basil leaves with saffron will bring them to the surface more quickly.
- Stress: Basil leaves can be used as an anti-stress agent. Chewing 12 basil leaves twice a day can prevent stress. It will purify the blood and help prevent many other common ailments.
- Mouth Infections: Chewing a few leaves twice daily can cure infections and ulcerations of the mouth.
- Insect Bites: Basil can be used preventatively and as a curative. A teaspoonful of the basil leaf juice taken every few hours is preventative. Rubbing the bites with juice can relieve the itching and swelling. Also a paste of the root is effective for treating the bites of insects and leeches.
- Tooth Problems: Dry basil leaves in the sun and grind into powder for a tooth cleansing powder. You can also mix with mustard oil to make herbal toothpaste. Both of these methods will counter bad breath and can be used to massage the gums, treat pyorrhea, and other dental health problems.
- Headaches: Basil is a good headache remedy. Boil leaves in half a quart of water, cooking until half the liquid remains. Take a couple of teaspoons an hour with water to relieve your pain and swelling. You can also make a paste of basil leaves pounded with sandalwood to apply to your forehead to relieve headache and provide coolness in general.
- Digestive Tract Health
The enzyme-inhibiting effect of the eugenol in basil certifies basil as an anti-inflammatory food providing important healing benefits as well as relief from inflammatory bowel conditions.
It can also provide immediate relief from the gas in your stomach and intestines, treat constipation, stomach cramps, indigestion and flatulence. - Skin and Hair Health
When used as a skin and hair moisturizer, the essential oils of basil enhance the luster of dull looking skin and hair. Basil is also effective in treating acne and psoriasis. - Bone and Connective Tissue
The essential oil of basil contains a liquid called eugenol, which can inhibit the activity of cyclooxygenase, an enzyme which causes swelling in joints and bones among other places. Aspirin and ibuprofen work by blocking the same enzyme. This enzyme-inhibiting power makes basil an anti-inflammatory food that can heal and give relief for people with rheumatoid arthritis. - Anti-Bacterial
The essential oil of basil has been shown to provide impressive protection against unwanted bacterial growth of many types, including the ability to inhibit several species that have become resistant to commonly used antibiotic drugs. Studies have shown that washing produce in a solution containing just 1% essential oil of basil resulted in killing such bacteria, so it makes good sense to include basil in salads. - Immune System
Evidence shows that the antioxidants and volatile oils in basil make it of great assistance to the immune system. The leaves and oil both have antibacterial properties, and can even be used to eliminate infectious diseases from surfaces. Applied topically to wounds, basil leaves may eliminate bacterial infections, while enjoying basil in food can help combat viral infections, including colds, flu, and herpes. - Cancer Prevention
The natural antioxidants found in basil can protect the body against damage from free radicals, thereby combating most forms of cancer.
Basil also contains flavonoids, which protect cell structures from radiation and oxygen-based damage.
Basil is a rich source of beta-carotene, which helps protect cells from free radical damage - Eye Disorders: Basil juice is a good for night-blindness and sore eyes. Two drops of black basil juice in each eye at bedtimes each day is soothing.
- Skin Disorders: Basil juice applied directly to the effected area is good for ringworm and other common skin ailments. Some naturopaths have used it successfully in the treatment of leucoderma (patches of white or light-colored skin).
Botany
Make a cup of Basil Tea;
