Have you tried healthy tulsi or holy basil tea?

The queen of herbs, tulsi or holy basil is a sacred herb widely found and worshipped for its health benefits in Indian homes. Tea made with tulsi or holy basil is quite popular in India and can be made with fresh or dried tulsi leaves.

How to prepare tulsi tea:

1. Boil a few tulsi leaves in water and let them infuse for a while. Strain the extract and drink to reap all its benefits.
2. Another way of utilizing all the benefits of tulsi is, boiling fresh tulsi leaves with some tea powder, sugar and milk. Strain and drink for an ideal chai.
3. Also, you can boil fresh tulsi leaves with certain spices like cardamom, ginger, black pepper and  cloves to make a concoction. Drink daily or when you want some relief from cough and cold.

Health benefits of tulsi tea:

1. Relieves stress: Tulsi tea is devoid of any calories and is an ideal health drink like the green tea. Tulsi leaves are a store house of antioxidants which can destroy free radicals (which damage cells) in the body , it controls the levels of anti-stress hormone cortisol and also  regulates blood circulation which helps in relieving stress.
2. Relieves cold and cough: Tulsi helps reduce cough, and is an expectorant which helps to expel phlegm from your chest making it ideal to relieve cough and cold. Tulsi also helps to relieve symptoms of sinusitis.
3. Helps reduce fever: Tulsi leaves have anti fungal, anti bacterial and antibiotic properties and hence help in  fighting  infections and reducing  fever.
4. Controls diabetes: Tulsi has hypoglycaemic properties, which means that it reduces blood sugar levels and helps control diabetes.¹
5. Lowers  cholesterol levels:  Tulsi leaves also have hypolipideamic properties  which means that it controls blood cholesterol which helps in maintaining a healthy heart and a controlled blood pressure.²
6. Has anti cancer properties: Tulsi has many phytochemicals like eugenol, rosemarinic acid, apigenin etc., which destroy  cancer cells preventing various cancers like skin, oral, liver and lung cancers.³
7. Protects against radiation effects: Tulsi leaves are loaded flavonoids which protect against radiation induced sickness and DNA damage and hence are ideal for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.³
8. Has anti inflammatory properties:  The phytochemical  eugenol present in tulsi leaves imparts anti-inflammatory properties to the plant. Eugenol promotes the release of chemicals that inhibit the reactions that may cause inflammation.⁴

References:

1-      Giri J, Suganthi B, Meera G. Effect of Tulasi (Ocimum Sanctum) on diabetes mellitus. Indian J Nutr Dietet. 1987;24:193–8.

2-       Rai V, Fien U, Mani V, Iyer UM. Effect of Ocimum Sanctum leaf powder on blood lipoproteins, glycated proteins and total amino acids in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. J Nutr Environ Med.1997;7:113–8.

3-  Baliga MS, Jimmy R, Thilakchand KR, Sunitha V, Bhat NR, Saldanha E, Rao S, Rao P, Arora R, Palatty PL. Ocimum sanctum L (Holy Basil or Tulsi) and its phytochemicals in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Nutr Cancer. 2013;65 Suppl 1:26-35. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2013.785010. Review. PubMed PMID: 23682780.

4-      Kalabharathi H L*, Suresha R N, Pragathi B , Pushpa V H, Satish A M. Anti inflammatory activity of fresh tulsi leaves (ocimum sanctum) in albino rats. International Journal Of Pharma And Bio Sciences.2011; ISSN0975-6299.

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