
Get 15% Off
Stay up-to-date on how to improve daily wellness by supporting calm mood, jitter-free energy, better sleep, & more!
Perhaps the only adaptogen more integral to Indian Ayurveda than ashwagandha is holy basil. With a probable history spanning 6000 years of Ayurvedic medicine, the adaptogen holy basil is actually embedded in Hinduism itself, where it was originally named Tulsi.
Tulsi, in the Vedic Bhagavata Purana, a 9th century sacred Hindu text, is referred to as the “queen of herbs,” and is perceived as the plant incarnation of Vishnu’s wife, Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, love and prosperity. Holy basil was seen as a gateway between the mortal and the divine, and was utilized across many cultures for thousands of years, representing purity and treating a variety maladies. When the Christians got ahold of it, they started using it in rituals and renamed it holy basil… because it smells like basil. Brilliant work, guys.
This adaptogenic subshrub native to India and Nepal is one of those rare bioactive plants where all parts can be used to reap its benefits, and more importantly, are safe to consume in all forms. Like castor, where the pressed oil is awesome for a bunch of things but the raw seeds will kill you, many other medicinal plants are equal parts useful and poisonous.
For instance, another plant used for medicinal purposes in Ayurvedic and Central American folk medicine is Agave sisalana. The heart and seeds of this plant are edible and highly-nutritious. The sap is used as a binder for herbal tonics and poultices and used to treat GI issues, as it has remarkable antiseptic and disinfectant properties. However, when not prepared or applied just so, the sap can cause skin, mouth and throat sores just through contact, and can even cause bone granulomas if a leaf punctures the skin near a bone.
Hate to have been the guy who figured that out.
But back to holy basil, which will not give you a weird form of leprosy if you touch it. Traditional uses include:
In Hinduism, tulsi is cultivated at many temples and incorporated into several aspects of religious life. Simply taking care of holy basil plants at home is considered an act of worship. It is also incorporated in yearly festivals, in cuisine and, of course, in all those (plus more) traditional medicines. So – what is so cool about holy basil that it’s actually considered holy?
Dialed-In Focus
Mood Support
Boosted Recovery
Calm Energy
A daily wellness companion providing comprehensive system support for energy, mood, focus, stress response, and sleep at night.
Get ready for this, because it’s pretty cool. Unlike other adaptogen tonics with ashwagandha and Siberian ginseng, we actually understand many of the mechanisms by which holy basil teas and poultices acts on the body. You’ll hear other adaptogens’ abilities referred to as occurring by a “non-specific mechanism,” but thankfully the phytochemicals in holy basil aren’t playing hard to get:
On top of all that, holy basil is also considered a superfood, because it’s jam-packed with nutrients that are often hard to get enough of in our daily diets:
Kind of starting to wonder what drinking a little holy basil tonic every day can’t do for your health…
Okay, so it all looks good on paper, but where’s the proof? We need some meat to support the bones of all these claims. Unlike most other adaptogens, there’s a pretty decent body of clinical data on holy basil’s abilities… probably because it has so many. Most of the clinical data we have on holy basil as an adaptogen comes from rat, rabbit and in vitro studies, which aren’t always easy to talk about, especially when purposefully-applied stressors are involved. Don’t worry; we’ve got some human trials in there, too. Here are some highlights that explore holy basil’s adaptogenic and pharmaceutical uses in humans:
Okay, so we’re obviously excited about holy basil because, well – did you read the article? But we’ve gotta touch the ground at some point. The reality is, we live in a society where anecdotes and organic real-life use doesn’t add up to safety and validity; for Western medicine to truly incorporate (and finally take full advantage of!) holy basil and all its other adaptogen friends, it wants receipts. We get it; it’s about safety.
Cautions we need to remember as we move forward with research on holy basil include:
Like any bioactive medicine, plant, chemical – literally anything that can affect your body in any way, it’s always a good idea to do your research first. Traditional folk medicines are sure about this crazy-useful superfood-adaptogen chimera; that’s for sure. Unfortunately, clinical use just isn’t there yet. But since holy basil does have such potential, it wouldn’t hurt to incorporate it into your daily morning superfood drink in the meantime. Just saying.