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Author Topic: Holy Basil  (Read 2078 times)

Nymree

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Holy Basil
« on: September 17, 2017, 11:15:26 am »
Hey all,

I have a good idea of the spiritual uses of tulsi, but I have some practical questions.

I've read that the oil of holy basil is dangerous to ingest, and can irritate the skin if not diluted. But are the leaves safe for cooking and skin contact? I didn't want to assume too much - I'm growing a plant in my dorm room at uni for protection, healing and such. I can't burn candles or incense there, so I'm having to get creative.

Thanks for any and all replies made.

Jenett

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Re: Holy Basil
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2017, 11:41:20 am »
I've read that the oil of holy basil is dangerous to ingest, and can irritate the skin if not diluted. But are the leaves safe for cooking and skin contact? I didn't want to assume too much - I'm growing a plant in my dorm room at uni for protection, healing and such. I can't burn candles or incense there, so I'm having to get creative.

A good place to start for general safety info about herbs is Mountain Rose Herbs (they sell a bunch - good quality, reasonable prices) but they also have good general info on their site about what they sell. Here's the entry for Holy Basil. (You can search on their site, or browse from the 'bulk herbs' index.)

Other sites note it's used in cooking, so you should be able to find some recipes that would let you use it, and that would give you an idea about amounts and proportions.

In terms of herbal safety in general:

- Essential oils are highly concentrated, and that's why you use them in small amounts, well diluted.

- As that page notes, herbs can interact with medications (and also with chronic conditions) so if you're taking meds or have ongoing health concerns, you need to do a bunch more research about countraindications.

One really good example here is St. John's Wort, which some people use medicinally for depression, but which affects how well hormonal birth control pills work, and can also interact in weird ways with other medications. There's a whole range here from 'might be an issue, but it'd be small' to 'potentially lethal', so no site is going to cover everything necessary.

Searching on the herb name plus the word contraindications will usually get useful hits to start with.

- Even if an herb is otherwise safe, that doesn't mean you personally might not have a reaction to it. So it's good to learn a bit, and compare to other allergies you know about, or reactions. And then try a small amount first, without adding other new things in, before you try more.

As an example, chamomile and ragweed are fairly closely related plants: if you have a ragweed allergy (like I do), you might well react to chamomile (like I do.) My reactions aren't horrible, but they are unpleasant (I sneeze and sneeze and sneeze.)
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MamaThistle

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Re: Holy Basil
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2017, 02:39:22 pm »
Hey all,

I have a good idea of the spiritual uses of tulsi, but I have some practical questions.

I've read that the oil of holy basil is dangerous to ingest, and can irritate the skin if not diluted. But are the leaves safe for cooking and skin contact? I didn't want to assume too much - I'm growing a plant in my dorm room at uni for protection, healing and such. I can't burn candles or incense there, so I'm having to get creative.

Thanks for any and all replies made.

I have used holy basil for years. I stopped when I got pregnant because there is some evidence that it's not safe, but I usually use it in tea for anxiety and stress. I'm not sure about the skin contact personally, but tea should be good. Assuming you can make tea in your dorm. :)


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Noctua

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Re: Holy Basil
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2017, 07:45:34 pm »
Hey all,

I have a good idea of the spiritual uses of tulsi, but I have some practical questions.

I've read that the oil of holy basil is dangerous to ingest, and can irritate the skin if not diluted. But are the leaves safe for cooking and skin contact? I didn't want to assume too much - I'm growing a plant in my dorm room at uni for protection, healing and such. I can't burn candles or incense there, so I'm having to get creative.

Thanks for any and all replies made.

I've been growing holy basil (tulsi) in my garden the past 2 years and haven't had any issues re: skin contact. However there are a small % of the population that have sensitivity to certain plants, and I don't know if tulsi is one of those (I only know that rue is the big one that usually gets mentioned for photodermatitis and I handle rue all the time with no problems, so I'm just naturally not sensitive).

I have thrown the leaves into food on a regular basis and never had any issues. I've also made tea with the leaves, again with no issues.

Jainarayan

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Re: Holy Basil
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2017, 01:34:20 pm »
Hey all,

I have a good idea of the spiritual uses of tulsi, but I have some practical questions.

I've read that the oil of holy basil is dangerous to ingest, and can irritate the skin if not diluted. But are the leaves safe for cooking and skin contact? I didn't want to assume too much - I'm growing a plant in my dorm room at uni for protection, healing and such. I can't burn candles or incense there, so I'm having to get creative.

Thanks for any and all replies made.

I finally have a tulsi plant that is growing into a small tree. They can be difficult to grow. Tulsi is an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and is very dear to Lord Vishnu. That said, I handle the leaves quite frequently, pinching off shoots to make it bushy, and plucking leaves for my puja. I haven't had any ill effects. I also buy an organic tulsi tea.

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