| Pizza-lovers from Boise to Brooklyn dust their slices | | | | researchers speculate. While it's too soon to say |
| with dried basil. Pasta mavens inhale plates of pasta al | | | | whether basil will have the same beneficial effects in |
| pesto, redolent with garlic and basil. Gardeners live for | | | | humans, it's certainly not too soon to put more of |
| the first tomato of the season, drizzled with olive oil | | | | this flavorful herb on your menu. |
| and garnished with homegrown, fresh-snipped basil. | | | | A Digestive Aid |
| Whether it's used dried or fresh, basil's sharp aroma | | | | The next time your stomach sends out a |
| and spicy flavor pleasures the nose as well as the | | | | postprandial SOS, try sipping a cup of basil tea. This |
| palate. When you treat yourself to basil, you may | | | | herb has a reputation for easing a variety of |
| also be treating yourself to important health benefits. | | | | digestive disorders, especially gas. |
| There arc substances in this herb that can help calm | | | | No one is sure exactly why basil appears to |
| your stomach and even, researchers believe, play a | | | | soothe stomach upsets. One possible explanation is a |
| role in preventing cancer. | | | | compound called eugenol. This compound, which is |
| Keeping Cells Healthy Against Cancer | | | | found in basil, has been shown to help ease muscle |
| The research is still preliminary, but laboratory | | | | spasms. This could explain why basil appears to help |
| studies suggest that compounds found in basil may | | | | ease gas and stomach cramps. |
| help disrupt the dangerous chain of events that can | | | | To make a soothing basil tea, pour 4 cup of |
| lead to the development of cancer. | | | | boiling water over 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried basil. Let |
| In one study, researchers in India spiked the | | | | the brew steep for 15 minutes, then strain and serve. |
| food of a group of laboratory animals with basil | | | | People who frequently have gas may benefit by |
| extract, while animals in a second group were given | | | | drinking 2 to 3 cups a day between meals. |
| only their usual diet. After 15 days, animals given the | | | | Exposing dried basil to heat, light, or air for long |
| extract had higher levels of enzymes that are known | | | | periods will cause many of the protective compounds |
| to deactivate cancer-causing substances in the body. | | | | to break down. To extract the most healing power, |
| Basil's ability to prevent cancerous changes was | | | | it's important to store basil in a cool, dark place, |
| linked not to one particular compound in the herb but | | | | preferably in a glass or metal container. |
| instead to several compounds working together, the | | | | |