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Can You Smoke Catnip

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Health Benefits – Effect On The Body – Alternative Ways – Safety Tips – Conclusion

The catnip might seem interesting to start getting closer to and see whether it’s worth all the hype your cat is giving it. The catnip is a part of the mint family and has a very pungent and strong odor and also flavor. Which is why your cat is so interested in it.

The catnip can be grown at home without a lot of work. Like a lot of mints this one is pretty hardy and will be able to survive through a lot of tough times and come out unschaved. So is it worth growing it to then start smoking it? To burst your bubble, the catnip will not give you any psychoactive effect.

But the catnip has other properties that will provide a healthy benefit for your body. Smoking might not be one of them, there’s better ways that won’t harm your lungs at all.

Flowering Catnip
Flowering Catnip

Health Benefits Of Smoking Catnip

It is still to be decided whether smoking catnip has any form of health benefit for the body. Most likely the negatives outweigh the positives quite frankly.

Like with most things that are burned, they will produce carbon monoxide, which will damage your lungs quite harshly. This is the same effect that smoking cigarettes has. 

This means that smoking catnip will also increase the risk of lung cancer and mouth cancer, but also respiratory issues. For most people this is plenty of reasons why smoking catnip should be avoided altogether.

How Does Catnip Effect The Body

Catnip will affect the body in a few different ways. It should be noted that the catnip can’t be taken in too many quantities. There is a limit as with most things. But to list of a few of the good things the plant will help with:

  • It calms you and will make you sleepy
  • Can help with headaches
  • It will help treat certain infections
  • Might be aphrodisiac

Catnip Can Help With Sleep

It might show off that the catnip can make you sleepy and help calm you, as it seems to do the opposite to your cat. It’s said that the catnip has a sedative and calming effect, but the impact seems to be slightly disputed.

To be fair there hasn’t been a lot of research about the effect catnip has on the body. It has been more researched about the relationship between cats and catnip.

What has been established however is that catnip contains a compound called nepetalactone. This compound has been found to have properties like valerian, which is a very popular herbal sedative.

Common reasons why people use catnip in teas or other drinks is for the following reasons:

  • anxiety
  • restlessness
  • insomnia

The evidence for these however are not that clear. It’s still under debate and new research is always coming out. But to not scare you, there hasn’t been anything to say consuming catnip can be deadly or poisonous. Only when smoked as it releases a toxic compound called carbon monoxide.

Catnip Can Help With Headaches

One drum that seems to be beaten a lot around the health benefits of catnip is the effect it can have on headaches. There are some really old reports that suggested that catnip can help relieve headaches.

But it has been disputed quite a lot. In fact there are even arguments that using catnip can be a cause for headaches. But for people who devote a lot of time to home remedies seem to swear by that catnip will help with headaches.

A Remedy For Infections

Using the dried leaves from catnip has been used for many years to help with toothaches. It is in fact still used for that to this day. Back in the day the health of peoples teeths weren’t really that great. So infections were pretty common.

Therefore people would make tea from the catnip leaves. It has been discovered that the leaves of catnip contain antibacterial and antifungal properties. These will help stop the progression of infections, which often was a cause for toothaches.

A last mention about the antimicrobial properties that’s in catnip. These have recently been found to be a great home remedy for oral infections. It even seems to have a pretty great effect.

It Might Help With Issues In The Bedroom

The catnip has for a long time been believed to help with erectile issues. The catnip was believed to contain an aphrodisiac. When fed to rats they showed an increase in sexual behaviour. 

If there’s something to take from this, it’s still a little bit undecided.

Other Ways Of Enjoying Catnip

There are plenty of ways that you could be enjoying catnip instead of trying to smoke it or roll on it like a cat would. Like we mentioned before, the catnip is a part of the mint family which means it’s pretty aromatic and rich in essential oils.

Here’s a quick list of some of the popular ways people are using catnip:

  • Making tea with catnip leaves
  • Buying and consuming prepackaged catnip tea blends
  • Adding catnip extract to drinks

If you have catnip growing at home then you might want to go out and pick some of those leaves and flowers. Dry them and then pour boiling water over them. That will make you a very potent tea without a lot of effort. 

Some other ways instead of consuming the catnip is to dilute essential oils from the catnip with some carrier oil. Apply this to your forehead, that will help relieve you from a headache if you have one.

Catnip Leaves
Catnip Leaves

Safety Tips To Consume It The Right Way

Catnip is like we have discussed a pretty common ingredient for a lot of house remedies, but with that said the science tells us also there are possible side effects to using it as well. Below is a list:

  • Headaches
  • Upset Stomach
  • Drowsiness and Sleepiness
  • Uterine Contractions
  • Skin and Eye Irritation

Some quick safety tips before you use catnip at home.

  • Don’t consume if you are pregnant or breastfeeding
  • Infants and children should not get near it
  • If you are allergic to mint, avoid catnip
  • If you are applying it to your skin you need to dilute it with carrier oil
  • Don’t use it before driving or let it get close to your eyes.

The effect that catnip can have on your body can be all from nothing at all to quite severe. Because of this it’s always recommended that you discuss this with a professional before taking a decision. This might just save you from a world of hurt.

Conclusion

The amount of research and reports surrounding using catnip is still very small. One thing that can be said for sure is that smoking the catnip might not be the greatest idea. The toxic carbon monoxide which is created when something is ignited is incredibly harmful to your body if consumed too much.

But the catnip also contains a lot of antibacterial properties which seems to outweigh the argument of completely avoiding catnip altogether.

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Smoking Lavender, The Pros And Cons

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Smoking Lavender – Health Benefits – Effects On The Body – Risks – Pets And Children – Other Ways To Use It – Summary And Conclusion

There is no evidence or research pointing to that smoking lavender carries any form of health benefits to it. But there seems to be claims it does, below we find out the truth.

In recent times there seems to be a larger increase in pushing people to replace or try to smoke herbs or flowers. This seems however to be a push by companies in order to market their priced-up cigarettes containng the flavouring of whatever they have recently found.

Lavender is a plant which is very common to grow at home. Its very decorative and easy to care for. It has awonderfull smell which perhaps is the reason companies want to push this precise flower.

The lavender contains a lot of essential oils, which plays a very importnat role in some aromatherapy and herbal medicine. The oils are extracted in labs and then used to blend these medicines, which can help some people immensly with their sickeness. Smoking the plant howerve produces smokes and toxins which can have just as bad of a effect as smoking cigarettes can. Increasing the risk for lung cancer and respiratoy issues.

It should be mentioned as well that the esstenial oils in the lavender are the main attraction. But there is no way of checking and ensuring the quality of that when used to smoke. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in no way responsible of qulaity control here. Talking to a professional before consuming or smoking lavender should be advised.  

Could You Smoke The Lavender Flower

Fresh And Dried Lavender
Fresh And Dried Lavender

The flower of the plant is perhaps the only thing you should be using for smoking. If you have ever been close to lavender you would know that the flowers are where all the fragrance is. Because of that the flowers are the best things to use from the lavender when smoking.

Either you can harvest and dry your own lavender flowers or get them online. Once you have the flowers you will want to grind them down slightly in order to sort of get the oils going in there. Do it by hand or use a grinder. Roll them into a joint and light it up. The flavour will be very strong but also carries a lot of sweetness to it aswell. It might remind you of an inceses almost, as the aroma is also quite concentrated.

Health Benefits Of Smoking Lavender

There is no scientific evidence that smoking lavender has any form of health benefits. The argument is that smoking the lavender provides you with the essential oils which is present in the lavender. But there hasnt been any documented evidence that you are able to inhale these oils.

There are other ways of getting these oils, without inhaling the toxic fumes which smoking the lavender produces. 

As you might have noticed, the whole talk about smoking lavender is about the essential oils. As there are no health benefits to smoking lavender, there has been positive evidence for making use of the essential oils in the lavender.

The essential oils in lavender seem to be able to help with sleep, anxiety, headaches and even wound healing. The impact to these issues the essential oils has seems to be slightly disputed.

There was a study in 2017 that revealed that the lavender essential oils can help with infections and kill some of the dangerous species that appear in wounds or infections, namely Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. These tests were however not done on human participants which makes it still uncertain whether or not the essential oils can provide a very important role in our healthcare.

What Does Smoking Lavender Do To Your Body

When smoking regular cigarettes your body is exposed to a lot of harmful chemicals which in a way is benefiting your health. The risk that smoking lavender cigarettes carries is that you are exposed to carcinogens.

The lavender cigarettes don’t contain any harmful additives found in regular cigarettes. But they still produce similar levels of carbon monoxide when ignited.

Smoke is a form of air pollution which contains harmful particles and fumes when inhaled will damage your lungs. Be that smoke from lavender cigarettes or when throwing a barbeque.

The Risk Of Smoking Lavender

The risks that smoking lavender provides seems to currently outweigh the positives with it. The lavender is known to contain essential oils. These oils are still undergoing a lot of experiments to determine whether they are a good replacement or ingredient for healthcare.

Just like smoking cigarettes it will make you inhale toxic fumes which has been proven to increase the risk of both lung cancer and mouth cancer, but also respiratory issues. These same fumes are produced when smoking lavender. So on one side you might be getting essential oils which might be incredibly good for the body, but you are also shortening your life expectancy and increasing your risk for cancer.

Smoking Lavender Around Pets And Children

There hasn’t been any concrete studies that proclaim positives about  smoking lavender cigarettes, but inhaling any form of smoke will have a negative effect on your body. This is especially important if you have pets or children in your household. The effects this could have is very serious.

  • It increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in babies
  • Damages the lungs of children and babies still developing
  • The risk and frequency of ear infections gets higher, along with bronchitis and other infections among children
  • Asthma attacks can be a common occurrence
  • The risk of your pets getting cancer is also elevated severely

As there hasn’t been any studies produced yet we are left with making educated guesses from studies that look at regular tobacco smoking. Where it is now widely affected, second hand smoking also carries risks.

Fresh Lavender Outdoors
Fresh Lavender

Better Ways Of Enjoying Lavender

Lavender has been used for many many years already. It’s only recently that there has been a shift to smoking lavender instead, perhaps because of a new generation looking for other flavors as opposed to the regular cigarettes.

Some of the best ways of enjoying the lavender is by adding it dried to teas or drinks. But it can also be used for baking. Buying fresh lavender and using a scent in your home is also a great option.

For therapeutic use, the essential oils have been seen as a good substitute sometimes. But don’t use it without consulting with a professional first as the oils can interact negatively with other medicines. Instead of consuming you can use the essential oils in these ways:

  • Aromatherapy diffuser
  • Carrier oil to help the skin feel better
  • Bath oils, salts, soaps or even scrubs
  • Using it as pillow spray, great way of perfuming the bedroom

Summary And Conclusion

If you have come this far then you will have learned that smoking lavender cigarettes is perhaps not the best idea. The toxic perfumes produced when smoking the lavender seems to produce similar levels of harmful carbon monoxide.

Any website claiming there to be great health benefits is most likely pushing a product, as there has been no evidence yet that proved the so-called health benefits to smoking lavender.

Ways of enjoying the lavender are many and much safer. Flavouring drinks and foods with the dried flowers are some great options. To finish of this article we want to highlight the importance of discussing with a doctor before consuming essential oils from lavender, as there is evidence it can negatively impact other medicines or prescriptions.

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How To Tell Age Of Cactus

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Welcome to this article that will be talking about how you can tell the age of a cactus plant. There is unfortunately no easy way of determining the age of a cactus plant.

We need to look at a few different things that will determine it. We can’t look at annual rings that would otherwise be very easy to see the age. Instead, we watch the size of the plant and especially how tall it is.

We often measure the whole plant in inches and then divide that by 10. Then we will have the age of our plant within a pretty reasonable range.

Cactus Plant Growing Indoors

How To Tell Age Of Cactus

Just like we mentioned at the beginning of the article, it’s pretty impossible to perfectly say the age of a cactus plant. But there are some techniques that will help us limit the range.

The cactus plant does not have any annual rings like most trees will develop over the years. This would otherwise be a very easy way to almost perfectly spot the age of a cactus.

Instead, we have found that looking at the size of the plant will be what nails down the age of a cactus plant. We measure the height of the planet in inches and afterward, we will divide that number by 10. This will be the age of the plant. It’s not a perfect system but it does make a pretty good estimate actually.

Most people will want to have a cactus plant that lives for a long time. But to have a cactus that both thrives and continues to grow each year we need to treat it right.

This includes making sure the soil is relatively watered at all times. Even though the cactus plant can manage a lot of times without barely any water. We find that you can basically forget about them for over a month and the plant will still be fine.

Another factor that helps maintain a healthy cactus plant is a lot of sun during the day. This might actually be the most important if we are completely honest. We will most likely keep the plant indoors and then we aim for it to get between 8 – 10 hours of sunlight every day. 

Are you growing a moon cactus at home and it’s starting to develop some brown spots? In this article we will be talking more in-depth and about the topic, Moon Cactus Brown Spots.

Cactus Plant Indoors In A Pot

How Old Is A 20 Foot Cactus

We have already talked about the model to determine the age of a cactus plant here before. It really comes down to looking at the height of the plant and then dividing that by 10. We masseur it in inches of course for this.

But for a cactus plant that is 20 feet tall, it will be about 83 years old. This is pretty rare to find and most cactus plants won’t live this long but if they are left to their own devices in a place they can thrive then they are able to.

Some of these places where cacti do very well are in our dry areas where the sun can lighten up throughout the whole day. A cactus plant will want about 10 hours of light every day to continue having this growth and eventually grow to the 20-foot mark.

The spot does not need to be very rich in water as the plant is very efficient with using what’s in the ground, that goes for nutrition too. It can store water to be able to survive for long times.

An older cactus plant will also have deeper root systems that will drain water from deeper underground. This way it can survive through hard times.

Is your cactus plant starting to develop some black spots on the plant? In this article, we will be discussing some solutions to this issue, Black Spots On Cactus.

Cactus Plant Growing Indoors

How Big Is A Cactus When It Is 10 Years Old

It’s hard to say exactly how tall a cactus plant will be at the 10-year mark because it will often depend on the variety of cactus.

Some varieties might only be 1,5 inches tall at this point. These are most likely very slow-growing plant that is meant as decoration indoors. But the saguaro cactus plant can grow about 3 – 4 feet tall at the 10-year mark.

Cactus Plant Growing Indoors