Basil, The Stress Buster
The herb, Basil, is a great stress-buster. We are all under stress today, from major stress like loss of income to a viral infection.
Stress affects the adrenal glands which put out more cortisol and adrenaline hormones in response to your stress level, and this is good in the short term because it charges you up and helps you cope.
But, if it is long-term stress, such as what a daily caregiver has or a death in the family, it can weaken your body over time. This increases your chances of health problems and could even bring on life-threatening heart attacks.
The special compounds in Basil assists in normalizing high-stress levels of cortisol and even lowers blood sugar; which usually spikes during stress.
Basil To Bust the Stress
- Try using fresh basil leaves in a sandwich with slices of tomato and Mozzarella cheese, sprinkle with ground Black pepper, and a dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), a lunchtime stress buster.
- You can use fresh basil or dried basil (if dried, sauté first in some olive oil), and add it to hot Pasta, after it’s boiled, drained, and off the heat. Gently mix your chopped basil with EVOO into the pasta and serve.
- Or simply, make a tea, use hot water, not boiling, and crush or muddle your basil leaves in the water, drain and sip to de-stress.
Cindy Burrows
7-25-22
