Is your Basil HOLY?

Holy Basil (Ocimum Sanctum) in Ayurveda is considered a Rasayana (a sanskrit word for juice or elixir).
Rasayanas are herbs used to rejuvenate or change degenerative processes that lead to disease.
Native to India, “Holy Basil”, is also known as “Tulsi”, or “the incomparable one”.
The presence of Tulsi is a highly sacred symbol in Hindu religious tradition.
Tulsi is so Sacred, so Holy that a Hindu household is considered incomplete if it doesn’t have a Tulsi plant in the courtyard.
Places that tend to inspire concentration and places ideal for worship, according to the 'Gandharv Tantra,' include "grounds overgrown with Tulsi plants".
The Tulsi Manas Mandir at Varanasi is one such famous temple, where Tulsi is worshipped along with other Hindu gods and goddesses.
Vaishnavites or believers of Lord Vishnu, worship the Tulsi leaf because it's the one that pleases Lord Vishnu the most.
They also wear beaded necklaces made of Tulsi stems. The manufacture of these Tulsi necklaces is a cottage industry in pilgrimage and temple towns.
Tulsi As An Elixir :
Apart from its religious significance Tulsi is a kind of "the elixir of life" as it promotes longevity.
The plant's extracts can be used to prevent and cure many illnesses and ailments like the common cold, headaches, stomach disorders, inflammation, heart disease, various forms of poisoning and malaria.
Most of all however is the amazing power known as “adaptogenics” that it empowers to the body.
This is the highest level of medicine in both India and China and indeed in all of the East.
It means that it literally re-programs the body and the mind (and spirit) to “adapt” to the situation around it and remain in control, in full power of all abilities.
You can’t control the jackhammer outside your bedroom window, but you can give your body something that will “adapt” it to the situation, rendering the trauma invisible and insignificant.
In fighting something like cancer, this is an extraordinary adjunct to any treatment and totally unknown to modern day oncologists who can only grapple with clumsy chemotherapy drugs and radiation. It is health in another dimension.
Studies have shown that Tulsi (Holy Basil) has “Cox-2 Inhibitor” qualities, acting like a herbal Celebrex to dramatically reduce cellular inflammation.
Which in turn leads to a reduction in Fibromyalgia and everyday aches and pains, normalizing your blood glucose, and imparting a highly positive benefit to your mental outlook.
Some of the benefits listed on PubMed (National Institute of Health databases) are:

* a significant cardioprotective effect
* antimicrobial
* antiidiabetic
* hepato(liver)- protective
* anti-inflammatory
* anti-carcinogenic
* immunodulatory
* neuro-protective