The lavender herb is thought to provide a variety of medicinal and therapeutic benefits, including the ability to reduce stress and treat parasite infections, burns, insect stings, and spasms.
Furthermore lavender as a plant has a lot of therapeutic benefits that make it a versatile option for certain conditions.
However, rolling lavender spliffs is a new trend in town, where cannabis is mixed with lavender petals and rolled in different sizes of blunts! to create new intoxicating experiences.
Arguably opting to infuse lavender petals in either of your preferred choice of drugs is that lavender does not contain nicotine, therefore you cannot become addicted to it or experience any form of withdrawal symptoms, unlike with tobacco cigarettes.
Others cite the relaxation properties that come with herbs to help them manage their insomnia, anxiety, and restlessness. It is, however, extremely crucial that people know that there is currently not enough evidence to confirm that it works reliably as a medicine for any condition.
A study on lavender and the nervous system by the National Library of Medicine states that four main types of lavender exist:
- Angustifolia, commonly known as English Lavender.
- Stoechas also referred to as French lavender, is a big shrub with greenish-grey leaves that blooms late.
- Latifolia, a lavender: resembles Mediterranean grass.
- Intermedia, is a sterile hybrid of Latifolia and Angustifolia.
And of course, you may be wondering which of the lavender plants you can smoke.
The lavender herb also known as Lavandula angustifolia belongs to the mint family of plants, and with its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties is popular among herbalists.
There is no evidence that smoking lavender offers any health benefits; various lavenders share similar ethnobotanical characteristics and a key chemical component: linalool (pain relieving and healing properties.)
The lavender plant primarily contains these terpenes: linalool, pinene, limonene, geraniol, and cineole. The new trend of infused lavender may be a result of the healing properties found in the herb, primarily linalool, which can provide pain relief when used as part of lavender aromatherapy.
A medically reviewed journal by Eloise Theisen, RN, MSN, AGPCNP-BC explains terpenes as compounds responsible for the way most plants smell. In nature, these terpenes protect plants from animal grazing or infectious germs.
All of these components work together to make lavender a beneficial plant for many reasons
Besides lavender's numerous therapeutic properties, its use in aromatherapy also has psychological effects, due to its inhaled volatile compounds' physiological effects.
Inhaled lavender is believed to affect the limbic system, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus.
An analysis of Structure to Behavior in Basolateral Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuits explains that the amygdala is a sensory organ devoted to processing emotion, while the hippocampus plays an important role in declarative or episodic memory formation. Both of these brain regions interact during emotional reactions to produce particular effects.
In contrast to overwhelming your bud's properties, lavender combines several terpenes commonly found in your smokable herb, providing interesting flavour and aroma combinations and calming effect.
Even though lavender cannot treat mental health problems, it has been established that lavender has an impact on the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates heart rate, respiration, hormone release, and anxiety-inducing processes.
Read the latest issue of IOL Health digital magazine here.
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