Originally published September 20 2009
Basil is a Natural Anti-Inflammatory Herb
by Kim Evans, citizen journalist
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(NaturalNews) Basil was recently shown to reduce swelling and inflammation in arthritic patients by about 73 percent, which is on par with commonly used drugs for arthritis. The researcher who presented the results at The British Pharmacology Conference said they were going to begin studying the properties of basil to determine the active compounds which could be made into drugs. This is in contrast to just encouraging people to eat more fresh, organic basil. Many people however, see the logic in simply consuming more basil on a regular basis, while forgoing toxic drugs.
Basil actively inhibits the same enzyme that anti-inflammatory drugs do, including Ibuprofen and Tylenol. Except you won't fall over dead from eating too much basil, as was recently publicized is what often happens from consuming too much Tylenol. And really, if taking a bit more than the recommended amount of Tylenol is causing liver damage and killing people, wouldn't you say that taking any is too much?
Arthritic or not, basil contains many valuable properties, as most herbs do. The problem is, most people just don't eat enough herbs or make them a key component of at least one meal each day.
Basil is anti-bacterial and protects against pathogens, even those that have become resistant to antibiotics. Basil also guards against free radical damage, while protecting your cells and chromosomes from radiation damage. Of course, anyone who uses a cell phone or computer is regularly exposed to radiation.
Basil can be easy to add to your diet. Making your own fresh tomato basil soup or pasta sauce is easy and can be done in just minutes. Actually, the recipe for the soup and pasta sauce are the same, but for the pasta sauce, just pour the thick soup over whole wheat pasta.
This recipe is for one; for more just double or quadruple it, and cook a little longer, if needed.
In a stainless steel or glass pot, add a teaspoon of coconut or olive oil (coconut oil is preferred). Then cut up and add 2 large tomatoes, a medium red onion and a couple cloves of garlic. Saute for a minute; then, add a fourth cup of water and let simmer over medium heat for about nine minutes, while occasionally mashing the tomatoes with a fork. When it's done, toss in a medium-sized handful of fresh basil leaves (add parsley too, if you like) and stir. Then add sea salt to flavor, a little more coconut or olive oil, and squeeze in the juice of a lime. It's simple, delicious, nutrient dense, and beats food from a jar or can any day of the week.
More:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/art...
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?...
http://www.webmd.com/pain-managemen...
About the author
Kim Evans is a natural health writer and author of Cleaning Up! The Ultimate Body Cleanse. Deep cleansing has helped her, personally, eliminate over a dozen problems in her own body - including several that medical professionals had said there were no solutions for, except long-term drugs.
Cleaning Up! outlines a powerful, easy to do, body cleanse. It's easy, at-home cleansing and includes colon cleansing, liver cleansing, candida cleansing and much more. It's designed to address the root causes of most all disease and offers deep detoxification that will remove more toxicity than most people think is possible... Learn more at www.cleaningupcleanse.com.
Kim also recently launched a natural health photo project. It's designed to help you easily spread messages of health and consciousness around the globe. Have a look here.
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