At the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester, new research was presented regarding holy basil as a method of preventing the effects of unwanted aging. This herb, which is related to what we know to be the basil used in cooking, has been used for many years in Ayurvedic medicine in India. Traditionally, it was seen as a way of bottling youth and maintaining physical and mental health.

Only recently was this ancient healing formally studied by researchers at Poona College of Pharmacy in Maharashtra, India. The team was searching for any compound in holy basil that qualified as containing anti-oxidant or anti-aging properties. The results were very positive. Through their detailed study, the researchers were able to determine that holy basil extract is capable of doing its own ‘search and destroy’ of any harmful molecules. Furthermore, the herb can effectively protect the body against any damage that free radicals are known for, especially in the heart, liver and brain.

Regarding these amazing results, Dr Vaibhav Shinde, the study’s lead researcher said, "The study validates the traditional use of herb as a youth-promoting substance in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. It also helps describe how the herb acts at a cellular level."

The work Shinde and his colleagues did not only promotes an ancient and valued method of healing, but gives people a better option to retain youth. We live in a society that is always frantically searching for that new method that will keep them appearing young and viable. Recently, surgical procedures have been all the rage, with everyone and their mother lining up to be injected with Botox, or have the fat literally sucked right out of them.

Holy basil provides a safer and more natural route for anyone to take, particularly for those still waiting for the Fountain of Youth to be discovered. Before you make that appointment with your cosmetic surgeon, perhaps it would do you good to first consider hundreds of years worth of tradition, and the recent research brought to us by Shinde and company.