Frankincense Can Help Alleviate Symptoms Of Anxiety & Depression
In Brief
- The Facts:Studies have proven the psychoactive effects the scent of frankincense has on the brain, alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- Reflect On:With all the man-made chemical pharmaceutical drugs out there, perhaps solutions to what ails us are more simple than we may realize.
Gold
and frankincense and myrrh… sound familiar? These were the gifts that
were allegedly brought by the three kings when Jesus Christ was born. We
all know that gold is valuable, but what about the others? Frankincense
has long been touted as a magical, mystical medicine and has been
regarded as such for millennia within many ancient cultures of the
world. The same goes for myrrh, but for the purpose of this article we
are going to stick to the medicinal properties of frankincense.
Frankincense starts out as a type of resinous sap that is found inside a special family of trees called Boswellia, which
grow almost exclusively in the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula.
When it is
harvested at specific times of the year, the trees are cut
carefully with special knives and the sap seeps out. This special sap is
then dried in the sun until it is ready for use. More commonly,
frankincense is burned simply as sweet smelling incense, but it has many
other uses as well including the following…
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Historical Uses Of Frankincense
- As a part of ritual or religious ceremonies
- Was used extensively during burial rituals as an embalming material to help mask the odor of the deceased body
- Smoke from burnt incense can effectively drive away mosquitoes and other pests
Frankincense has also been used medicinally, treating various ailments such as arthritis (it has strong anti-inflammatory properties), gut disorders (like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), asthma, and maintenance of oral health.
And perhaps the most intriguing quality
for our westernized modern culture is the psychoactive effects of this
special resin, as studies have shown that burning frankincense can
trigger an effect that can aid and even alleviate symptoms of anxiety
and depression.
The Research
One study
in particular, conducted by a team of researchers form John Hopkins
University and Hebrew University in Jerusalem, explains how burning the
resin from the Boswellia plant (frankincense) activates certain
previously misunderstood ion channels in the brain in order to alleviate
symptoms of anxiety and depression. This might explain why Roman
emperor Nero once burned an entire year’s harvest of frankincense at his
favorite mistress’ funeral.
“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. Apparently,
most present day worshipers assume that incense burning has only a
symbolic meaning.”
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The researchers administered incensole
acetate to mice in order to determine its psychoactive effects. This
compound they found drastically impacted the parts of the brain that
generate emotions and the nerve circuits that have responded positively
to current drugs used for depression and anxiety. The incensole that was
administered activated a protein called TRPV3, which is connected to
the ability to perceive warmth of the skin.
“Perhaps Marx wasn’t too wrong when he
called religion the opium of the people: morphine comes from poppies,
cannabinoids from marijuana, and LSD from mushrooms; each of these has
been used in one or another religious ceremony,” said
Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “Studies
of how those psychoactive drugs work have helped us understand modern
neurobiology. The discovery of how incensole acetate, purified from
frankincense, works on specific targets in the brain should also help us
understand diseases of the nervous system. This study also provides a
biological explanation for millennia-old spiritual practices that have
persisted across time, distance, culture, language, and religion–burning
incense really does make you feel warm and tingly all over!”
Can This Work For You?
Sure, this study was conducted using
mice, which certainly aren’t the same as humans. However, many religious
texts claim that this special resin had uplifting effects on the brain.
So, the good thing is that if used appropriately, it really can’t hurt
to try. You can typically buy the resin at health food stores and more
commonly at stores that sell incense, crystals, sage and those sorts of
spiritual ceremonial tools. It can also be found as an essential oil. I
like to diffuse it in a diffuser, and sometimes I’ll burn the resin on
charcoal pucks as well.
At the very least, you’ll get a nice and
pleasant smelling aroma, and at best it can help turn that frown upside
down, increase your mood, reduce your anxiety and maybe even put a
smile on your face. Perhaps those three wise men were as wise as they’ve
been made out to be, and frankincense really is as special as it’s been
believed to be for millennia.
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