Frankincense lowers anxiety in mice
Marilyn Terrell says:
LinkIn a new study appearing online in The FASEB Journal, an international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses.
In spite of information stemming from ancient texts, constituents of Bosweilla had not been investigated for psychoactivity," said Raphael Mechoulam, one of the research study's co-authors. "We found that incensole acetate, a Boswellia resin constituent, when tested in mice lowers anxiety and causes antidepressive-like behavior."
the latest
latest episodes
Making baby Jesus serene since 4 B.C.
Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Prayer and praising
All men raising
Worship Him God on high.
Perhaps also used by Catholic priests to lull altar boys into a false sense of security before they pounced.
Didn't I hear something about hallucinogens being present on Mt. Sinai?
That is fascinating. Thank you for the post.
Not many people realize that myrhh is both a dessert topping AND a floor wax.
I had a walk through the "Boswellia Sacra " Frankincense areas http://blog.omanholiday.co.uk in Oman - they are also great at reducing anxiety or depression
I grew up in an Armenian Orthidox home, and Frankincense is used for religious services, especially at funerals (if you ever see smoke coming from a funeral at Forest Lawn in Burbank), we even burn some in the house for easter, and I realized a long time ago that it was always a relaxing feeling and that it more then likely calmed people. A plume of Frankincense hitting you at a funeral honestly puts you at ease for a little while.
gimme gimme!!
Something I suspected having been in churches with F-cense. And I could never find it in any incense stores. Gotta hit up the good padre for a dime bag I guess.
Oddly enough, when I hit a very bad patch, frankincense was one of the three things I burned in large quantities. The other two were cedar and sage. All three together worked best.
Isn't this idea the basis for aroma-therapy? I think there's something to it. The brain has all sorts of chemical locks, and the keys can turn up in the strangest places. Cat's love catnip, and is seems to make them feel good. And it has to be all about the aroma: complex molecules that fit right into a special cell receptor. As if designed that way. Frankincense gives me a headache. The smell of fresh-mown grass seems to make me feel very good.
Okay, this thread made me have to go dig out the raw myrrh and frankincense, charcoal and burner. It's burning now and smells wonderful. I bought this stuff decades ago on the advice that it would help me stop smoking. I don't remember if it did but I reclaimed one amazing fragrance from my upbringing in the Catholic church.
"So these Roman dudes will nail you to a cross in 33 years, this will calm you until then."
Frankincense really brings out the cat claws in people with Catholic Baggage. People who enjoy the scent-effect should seek out copal resin~ even better, IMO.
...or hashish, the resin from the cannabis plant...
The softer, milder white frankincense is chewed like gum in areas where it grows. I've also used frankincense as a spice in mulled wine.
#11 - Jeff:
Check out this for your fresh cut grass smell:
http://www.hotwicks.com/The_Grass_Candle_p/GRASS.htm
They also have some other hilarious scents, like urinal cake candles.
And Myrrh makes them Murder!!!
I think you should be summarily executed for that pun, Dan. I'll get to it as soon as I stop laughing.