Know your Food as Medicine - Sweet Basil

Sweet Basil (Common Basil, Culinary Basil, Basil)- Ocimum basilicum (Lamiaceae family).
"the smell thereof is so excellent that it is fit for a king's house"-James Parkinson (1755-1824)

Sweet Basil is a well known, highly perfumed culinary herb. There are over 150 varieties that are grown around the world for their wonderful flavor and essential oil.
~ First description of Sweet Basil goes back to the 1-st century AD, when the Greek physician Dioscorides gave an account to Sweet Basil, as a help to check the pain of a scorpion's sting.
Later on, Nicholas Culpeper, the 17th century herbalist, says: "Being applied to the place bitten by venomous beasts, or stung by a wasp or hornet, it speedily draws the poison to it."
Ancient Romans used  Sweet Basil to neutralize poisoning, to stimulate breast-milk production, to relive gas and to increase passing of urine.
**Whole aerial part of the herb, leaves and flowering tops are used for culinary and medicinal purposes.
Culinary=> It works well with tomatoes and eggplants, spinach and cheese, pasta and soup, gives lift to salads and cucumbers, just named a few.
Medicinally => What the science knows so far:
~~ Constituents of Sweet Basil:
> Highly aromatic herb-> contains a volatile oils as linalool, methylchavicol, cinnamate, cineole and other terpens.
Actions:
Sweet Basil is a primarily Digestive system aid -> Good for indigestion, flatulence, stomach cramps, colic. It helps to releive nausea and vomiting. It is a great help to kill intestinal worm.
Also, Sweet Basil has a very mild Sedative action with recognized antibacterial qualities as well and good for anxiety, nervousness,  irritability and fatigue, migraine.
Traditionally Sweet Basil helps to increase milk production in nursing moms.
Externally, fresh juice from the leaves brings a comfort to insects bites.
So, our Ancient Romans were right about Sweet Basil.
~Enjoy Sweet Basil as a food and take benefits of this wonderful aromatic herb as the medicine:)