By Marc Cohen, PhD

In today’s often toxic environment, tulsi, an ancient plant ally, is a wonderful companion to support your health and well-being. For example, do you enjoy the anticipation of travel, and yet seek ways to reduce the stress and anxiety that inevitably accompanies a journey? Are you concerned about the physical demands on your body, and the unavoidable exposure to a wide range of stresses and toxins? There’s a simple herbal remedy that can help with most stress and travel related ills—and it’s as easy as enjoying a soothing cup of tea!

Travel has opened the world to a range of new business, leisure, and living options. Yet, traveling can have its drawbacks. Despite all efforts by the those in related industries to make journeying as comfortable as possible, travelers are unavoidably subject to a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional stressors. This can happen from the time they leave home until arriving at their desired destination. A review of the hundreds of scientific studies of Ocimum Sanctum, commonly known as Tulsi, or Holy Basil, reveals that Tulsi is an ideal solution for these challenges.

Tulsi: The “Incomparable One”

Tulsi is revered within India as being without equal for its medicinal and spiritual properties. The tulsi plant is regarded as a holy plant by Indians, and within Ayurveda, tulsi is known as “The Incomparable One,” “The Queen of Herbs,” and an “elixir of life.” It’s also a potent adaptogen that promotes longevity.

It may seem strange that tulsi, which is considered the most potent medicinal herb in India, is relatively unknown outside the East. The reason for this may be tulsi’s greatest use is in prevention of ills as an “adaptogen,” yet this is a concept not widely used in the West.

Adapting to Stress: Treatment in a Teacup

Adaptogens are agents that help the body cope with stress, enhance physical and mental health, and promote longevity. Adaptogens are therefore primarily used by healthy people to improve defenses and increase resistance to a broad spectrum of harmful physical, chemical, and biological stressors.

As the pre-eminent adaptogen, tulsi has a unique combination of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial actions that combine to help the body and mind refine to cope with a wide range of physical, emotional, chemical, and infectious stressors. Tulsi’s unique pharmacological activity particularly helps address many issues faced by modern travelers such as infection, fatigue, thrombosis (air travel), anxiety, and dealing with restraint, noise, hypoxia, (from oxygen reduction), radiation, industrial chemicals, and poor sleep again from air travel.

The beneficial effects of tulsi have been demonstrated in numerous animal experiments. Human trials have shown that tulsi can soften general anxiety and stress scores, relieve symptoms such as forgetfulness and feelings of exhaustion, and assist with sexual and sleep problems.

Taking the Pressure off Air Travel

Despite being pressurized, an aircraft flying at cruising altitude has cabin air with approximately 20-25 percent less oxygen than at sea level. At a height of around 10km, aircraft are also less protected from radiation passing through the earth’s atmosphere, with even greater radiation exposure occurring on flight paths further away from the equator.

Ionizing radiation causes harmful biological effects by directly damaging living tissues, cells, and disrupting molecules such as DNA. Tulsi has been shown in multiple experiments to protect against such damage. The herb has also been shown to protect against radioactive iodine, which is a significant hazard from nuclear accidents, as well man-made chemicals and a range of other environmental toxins.

Protecting the Taj Mahal 

While regular consumption of tulsi tea has been shown to assist in the detoxification from environmental chemicals, tulsi plants have also been shown to detoxify the environment and reduce air pollution. Indians have set out thousands of tulsi plants around the Taj Mahal in Agra to help protect the iconic marble building from environmental pollution damage.

Kicking the Travel Bugs

The Centre for Disease Control in the US currently list over 60 infectious diseases related to travel. (wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/diseases). Travelers are more prone to infections due to greater exposure to different pathogens and the immune suppressant effects of travel stress. Yet, recent research suggests that tulsi may support the human immune system to fight off infections while at the same time suppressing many bugs. Interestingly, as a mouth wash, tulsi tea can treat bad breath, mouth ulcers, and prevent dental plaque. Thus, it appears that travelers may benefit from swishing and gargling their tulsi tea before swallowing it.

Treatment as a Treat

While herbal therapies are often bitter-tasting concoctions, tulsi tea is a flavorful, caffeine-free, herbal tonic that is a treat either hot or cold. The pleasant taste and aroma of tulsi is attributed, at least in part, to its eugenol content, which also confers medicinal anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These properties confer a host of beneficial protective effects.

When considering that the potent health benefits of tulsi come in a form that is extremely pleasant and easy to take, it seems little wonder that tulsi is a most valued herb by people in India. Now that science has begun to unravel some of its mystery, it seems likely that tulsi will start traveling the globe as the first aid discerning users can take—before they get sick.

How to Use Tulsi

Consider incorporating Tulsi into your daily regime, especially if you are going to be traveling. Keep some Tulsi tea bags handy, and ask for hot water whenever tea service is offered while traveling. Recommended every 4-6 hours. Preferably start the day before you travel, until the day after. Alternatively, you could also take organic Tulsi capsules, 1 gram per day as a preventative measure, 2 grams per day if you are already feeling unwell. This translates into 1-2 x 400mg Tulsi capsules twice a day with food and water, or as directed by your health care practitioner. ?

This article is reprinted from https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/ultimate-herbal-traveling-companion-tulsi by permission of Green Med Info.

Marc Cohen, MD, is one of Australia’s pioneers of integrative and holistic medicine and holds doctorates in Chinese medicine and biomedical engineering. He is the author of multiple literature reviews on drug-herb interactions and complementary medicine. He is co-author of Herbs & Natural Supplements: An Evidence Based Guide, and is currently president of the Australasian Wellness Association and professor of Health Sciences at RMIT University.

There he leads postgraduate Wellness Programs and supervises research into wellness and holistic health including yoga, meditation, nutrition, herbal medicine, saunas, lifestyle, elite athletic performance, and the health impact of pesticides, organic food, and detoxification. In addition to major textbooks on herbs and natural supplements, Cohen has published more than 80 academic papers and written multiple books and articles on holistic health. More at www.profmarccohen.com 

Selected References

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