Are you getting headaches with the change of season? Is your digestion upset? The answer might be waiting for you in your garden like mine is!  Chinese medicine has a long history of using food as medicine. It is thought to be the most important aspect of treating disease.
Foods are thought to have an inherent nature that can be either hot or cold. As Westerners we understand that foods you eat can have therapeutic properties. We drink lemon and honey for colds,  and chicken soup cures everything! Foods having energetic properties is a little harder to grasp.
Let break down basil in this context. Imagine you left your window open during the night and the air got unexpectedly cold. The next day your head feels tight and achy. The warm nature of the basil plant can relax and warm the body to relieve the discomfort. It’s also great for indigestion. Perhaps you were eating on the run and then felt your food just sat in your belly. The effects of the herbs will encourage normal digestion and ease your symptoms.
It’s warming, removes toxicity, actives the blood, encourages the qi to flow and dispels wind. In western terms it is an antioxidant, anticancer, antiviral and anti-microbial. It is useful to treat diarrhea, indigestion, excema, headaches, colds and flus. So go make that pesto and enjoy the healing effects of basil.
Lindsey Lawson MS EAMP is an Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist and Clinic Director at Glow Natural Health and Seattle Fertility Acupuncture. She is passionate about healthy, happy living. For an appointment call Glow at 206 568 7545