Placebo Controlled Study On Holy Basil (Tulsi) And Stress

To some, holy basil (tulsi) seems like a paradoxical plant when used in the body. It's considered powerful and subtle. Herbalism is full of this kind of plant! Working with herbs takes a shift in thinking from the standard symptom-focused medicine of the West to one that emphasizes plants, food, and practices that can work with the body to enhance natural healing and vitality.

Tulsi Canva.png
A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of an extract of holy basil in the symptomatic control of general stress. After six weeks of intervention, scores of symptoms such as forgetfulness, sexual problems of recent origin, frequent feeling of exhaustion, and frequent sleep problems of recent origin, as well as total symptom scores decreased significantly in the holy basil group as compared with placebo group. Holy basil group was found to improve symptoms of general stress by 39% when compared to placebo.
— Saxena RC, Singh R, Kumar P, et al. Efficacy of an extract of Ocimum tenuiflorum (holy basil) in the management of general stress: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2012;2012:894509.