Tulsi, also known as tulasi, holy basil and Ocimum sanctum, is a fragrant shrub with purplish flowers native to the tropics. It's been used for thousands of years in South Asia and by Ayurvedic medicine as a medicinal plant, with scientists today verifying tulsi's various health benefits in laboratory studies.
Anticonvulsant
Tulsi was tested at India's University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences for its anticonvulsant properties against a standard drug used for that purpose. Researchers found that tulsi extracts were effective at preventing convulsions induced by transcorneal electroshock in vitro.
Antifungal
A study in New Delhi, India, found that tulsi was the most effective of five medicinal plants traditionally used for antimicrobial activities at killing the two most prevalent Candida species causing candidiasis: C. albicans and C. tropicalis. These properties were reported in an April 2010 issue of Phytomedicine.
Anti-Inflammatory
Tulsi contains high levels of alpha-linolenic acid, a fatty acid essential to the body for the development and synthesis of immunological and inflammatory responses. Research at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences tested tulsi oil on paw edema and inflammation in laboratory animals and found that the oil produced the maximum percentage of anti-inflammatory effects. Further studies in New Delhi showed that the existence of anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antibacterial activities in one single entity of a fixed oil--that of Ocimum sanctum--appears to be unusual among plants.
Antioxidant
The November 2004 issue of Life Sciences reported that Ocimum sanctum has a significant ability to scavenge highly reactive free radicals. A later study published in 2007 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that tulsi's rosmarinic acid content concentrated in plant cell tissue cultures was the most effective form of the plant in functioning as an antioxidant.
Diabetes
Tulsi showed promise in the treatment of diabetes, according to research published in the September 1996 issue of the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacological Therapy. That report showed a significant decrease in fasting (17.6 percent) and post-meal (7.3 percent) blood glucose levels during treatment with holy basil leaves compared to those treated with placebo leaves. The mean total cholesterol levels also showed a mild reduction from the basil treatments.
Ulcers
Tulsi oil extracts were shown to prevent peptic ulcers caused by aspirin, indomethacin, alcohol, histamine, reserpine, serotonin and stress in laboratory animals. A April 1999 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology also reported significant inhibition of gastric secretion and existing aspirin-induced gastric ulceration.
References
- National Institutes of Health: Improved Shelf Life of Tofu Using Tulsi
- National Institutes of Health: Antifungal Activities of Ocimum Sanctum Essential Oil
- National Institutes of Health: Inhibition of Lipid Peroxidation by Ocimum Sanctum
- National Institutes of Health: Evaluation of the Gastric Antiulcer Activity of Ocimum Sanctum (Holy Basil)
- International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics: Holy Basil Leaves and Noninsulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus
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