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.
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.
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.
Additional Information
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