Benefits of Chamomile | Anti-Anxiety Supplement
Chamomile is an incredibly popular herb often used for medicinal purposes. There are two main different types of the plant species. These are German chamomile and English chamomile. Whereas they both are used in stress and anxiety relieving, German chamomile is the one commonly used medicinally. It is used to calm down nerves, relieve stomach issues, help with inflammation, and treat skin conditions. It is normally processed into cosmetics, aromatherapy, and even beverages.
Its usage dates back thousands of years since the ancient Egyptian times. It comes from the Asteraceae family and is mostly dried before use since the dried chamomile flowers contain many terpenoids and flavonoids, which contribute to its medicinal properties.
Benefits of Chamomile
Chamomile is commonly used to treat many human ailments such as hay fever, menstrual disorders, insomnia, muscle spasms, ulcers, wounds, gastrointestinal disorders, inflammation, rheumatic pain, and hemorrhoids. It contains several volatile oils like; azulenes, Bisabolol, farnesene, pinene, anthem, spiroether, and angelic acid all which work within the body to boost functioning. It also contains alpha bisabolol, matricin, apigenin, sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoids, cyanogenic glycosides, bitter glycosides, coumarins, valerianic acids, and tannins.
Far from that, the herb helps with many human problems as well as boosting bodily functions. These include:
- Relaxing muscles and have a calming influence on nervous irritability and anxiety.
- Promoting the proper functioning of the stomach, improve digestion and dispel accumulated gas.
- Prescribing on babies suffering from colic spasms or teething irritability.
- Promoting the healing of wounds.
- Promoting perspiration and have a beneficial influence on fevers, colds, and flu.
- Reducing nervous headaches, insomnia, and irritable bowel syndrome.
- Supporting refreshing and relaxing sleep.
- For nervousness due to common everyday overwork and fatigue.
- Calming sedative effect on the central nervous system.
- And easing the impact of stress.
Whoa, that is a lot of benefits from a single tiny herb, right?
The herb can be used in various ways. The most popular method of usage is the form of herbal tea, prepackaged, or self-made, with about a million users every day. Doctors recommend using three to four tablespoons of dried chamomile, pour hot water on top of it, then cover for five to ten minutes. If fresh chamomile is desired, a hot water will be needed to boil the chamomile for three minutes.
Another way of taking the medication is by using it as a supplement in foods.
Benefits of chamomile on Stress
Chamomile tea is a gentle relaxant and sedative that reducing stress. This is the greatest benefit of chamomile. It is not comforting to lack sleep at night due to stress. Therefore, most people are recommended to take this herb and ease bodily and mental stress.
According to research, chamomile provides clinically meaningful anti-depressant activity and anxiolytic activity. The active ingredient, aromatherapy, vapors derived from the chamomile extract, functions as a mild sedative. It mainly treats the olfactory part of the brain by easing tension and lowers the body response and thereby relieving stress. In animal studies, low doses of chamomile have been shown to relieve anxiety, with high doses helping with sleep
Also, the flavonoid apigenin found in chamomile compels benzodiazepine receptors in the brain to relax and, therefore, help to promote sleep. Chamomile tea is also well known for treating digestive issues such as the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS.) It also helps prevent cramping of the inner stomach lining and, therefore, help release unnecessary gas and bloating in the digestive tract. Therefore, by reducing gastric problems, it helps ease the mind off bodily problems and therefore reduce stress.
Benefits of Chamomile on Anxiety
Anxiety is tough to deal with. People who are anxious tend to be overwhelmed by tiny situations. Doctors often prescribe this herb to patients looking for non-pharmacological treatments. Of course, since it is a herb, it does not have strong and immediate effects such as drugs.
According to research, long-term usage of chamomile significantly reduces moderate-to-severe symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. It is pretty effective in aiding with relaxation, anxiety, depression, and even insomnia. Although, there is still room for research and test for chamomile to find out exactly how the drug works.
Other scientists suggest that the main cause of the healing is due to the placebo effect, where the patient relax by slowly sipping tea from their cups and reducing thoughts. However, according to research, although the effects help to boost the effects of the medication, it goes beyond the placebo effect. Several placebo-controlled studies were performed on the benefits of chamomile and doctors say that the chamomile is the first recommendation to be prescribed.
Chamomile can act gently on many systems in the body due to its ability to modulate a healthy inflammatory response in the body and provide a sense of calm for the nervous system. It can be used for occasional irritation in the digestive system to calm and sooth. It is also beneficial for those with restlessness, irritability, and sensitivity.
Far from that, chamomile is also often used topically in a cream or ointment to soothe irritated skin, especially in Europe. It can help soften skin, may reduce skin rashes and inflammation, and may also provide sunburn relief.
Side Effects of Chamomile
Even though this is just a mere herb, it does not have any after effects after usage. It is okay to take a few cups per day. This is very healthy in boosting faster results.
However, it is not recommended for the following people:
- Anyone taking anti-coagulant medications.
- Anyone about to have a surgery,
- Anyone with asthma
- People who are allergic to sunflower products.
- And any pregnant woman.
However, cosmetic products that contain chamomile can cause irritation to the eyes if they come to direct contact with them. This may lead to conjunctivitis, which is inflammation of the lining of your eye. Safety of drinking chamomile tea among young children, nursing women and people with liver or kidney disease, is still yet to be established.
Anyway, there has not been any report of life-threatening situations recorded from the use of the herb. Therefore, it can be generally categorized as safe for society.
If you’re looking for an excellent anxiety supplement, we highly encourage you to check out Calm. Calm contains chamomile as well as many other all-natural ingredients that help with reducing your incidents of anxiety.
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