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Lamiaceae: queens of the Mediterranean Diet

The family of Lamia ceae Ragg rup pa in many plants erb and cee Arbu holds that thrive n and the countries bordering the Mediterranean .

propose to learn to better understand why these plants are very important for our health.

They know no a valuable source of substances that help our body to maintain its internal balance.

The Lami ACEA (also called Labiatae) in general possess these three properties:

- antiseptic / bactericide: they help the immune system to control bacteria in the mouth, intestinal tract air, urinary tract and skin.

- antispasmodic and sedative: releasing the smooth muscle, melt spasms and calm the nervous system.

- digestive / antidyspeptic: stimulates the secretion of digestive juices.

What are these plants?

The most common : basil (green, violet, lemon), lavender, mint (peppermint, Roman, pulleys), thyme (vulgaris, lemonade, wild thyme / thyme), marjoram, l ' oregano, summer savory (home, montana), rosemary, sage, lemon balm (also known as citronella or lemon grass), hyssop, the nepetella (also called mint), the horehound.

less common ones: the heart, the camedrio the monarda, the perilla (Shiro red), Clary (grass muscatel), yerba buena, Beton, the cimiciotta, the ivy land, Brunello, the skullcap.

All these plants have one thing in common: they rub their leaves and their flowers, or just enough closer to your nose, smell and feel a very intense course different from plant to plant. This odor is mainly due to aromatic compounds in Lamiaceae that are present in large quantities. To absorb this precious substance is sufficient to simply inhale the scent of the plant (fresh and dried). Alternatively, if the smell is particularly attractive and stimulates salivation, it can be put some leaves in his mouth and munched long to allow the saliva to extract the aromas contained in the plant. Care must be taken to swallow only if the flavor is very nice, otherwise you need to spit.

The lamiaceae can be found in natural vegetation, or they can be grown anywhere, even in a small vessel, which can be used to scent your home. Alternatively, a much more comfortable, you buy them dried in herbal medicine, or dry them in the house (I recommend strictly shade), and then put them in an airtight glass jar. At that point, when you feel like it, just open the jar to fill their nostrils of the smell intoxicating. The dried leaves can also be used to make a pot pourri, along with other flowers.

For lovers of gardening, know that lamiaceae are among the plants that are propagated by cuttings more easily: you just need to cut a twig from the mother plant and plant it immediately in the ground to get a new map. And do not worry if you have little space, are all plants that do not exceed the dimension of a bush. In addition, planting of these plants will help to feed the bees, which are particularly attracted to the Lamiaceae, and we all know that hard times are passing these poor animals. But if you do not want to bees, do it for yourself, because these essences of honey (eg thyme, rosemary or lavender) is really delicious!

My favorites are the fresh sage Lamiaceae (bad breath when I rub a leaf on the teeth and gums) and dried mint (I crunch a few leaves when I have an upset stomach). Besides, a friend of mine in the early months of pregnancy, has solved the problem of nausea with the mind: as soon as he felt that he was going to throw up, sniffing a jar of dried mint in her purse that she always kept on hand and the nausea disappeared immediately.

also belong to the Lamiaceae:

- the tuberin (of Japanese origin, called "crosnes in France and" Chinese artichoke "in the world), are small potatoes lumpy consistency and flavor similar to topinabur, delicious to eat raw (see photo).

- patchouli, although the leaves give off a smell of the famous only after fermentation

- coleus and salvia splendens
ornamental plants that are - the key, also known as salvia hispanica, with the seeds ( Similar amaranth) is made of flour used by the ancient peoples and Mexican bakery that is now becoming fashionable due to the fact that it is rich in omega 3 and does not contain gluten. I must stress, however, that the seeds of chia raw and unprocessed state are inedible, unless you do not "tweet tweet" or "cluck"!

- catnip (Nepeta Cathars) who love cats, not to be confused with the grass barley and oats, also very popular with cats.

In fact, I invite you to reflect on the behavior of these carnivores (cat is a "true" carnivores, unlike the dog) who literally become crazy when they smell this insignificant little plant, whose appearance resembles mint. Fill your lungs with that smell, rub the hair on the leaves and flowers, they chew with delight and then leave with a euphoric and contented expression. Sometimes catnip the cat is sick and it seems that the effect is sought after because it seems to be better than before. Have you ever wondered how does he know that the cat catnip is effective in the case of indigestion, and to expel hairballs? Well, I do not know! It is not the intellect that causes him to eat this plant, or memory, but the sense of smell. Surely, in those moments, the smell of cat the cat gets the upper hand on any other odor, and is so attractive that it can not help but look for it and devour it. About
cat grass, is proper to make another observation: the cats seem to fall into a hallucinatory state in all respects comparable to that induced in the human from another plant, salvia divinorum , also belonging to Lamiaceae. Should we believe that the visions provoked by prolonged chewing of the leaves of this plant (note: it is illegal) are "natural"? We must also add that salvia does not exist in nature, that man is the result of artificial selection. Should we then consider it "unnatural" for this? On the other hand is not the only plant that would not exist if man had not grown: for example, are also banana, maize, cabbage, pumpkin, ginger, bean and wheat, of course. I invite you to reflect on these questions and help me to answer.