Holy Basil: Phyto-TESTOSTERONE, Progesterone and thyro-mimetic ?

Mauritio

@lobotomize-me Interesting. Hard to say.
I wouldnt take it right before a game tbh. Its too anti-cortisol. The serotonergic state you describe could simply be that : no energy due to lack of cortisol. That can make you pretty fatigued when T3 isnt there to pick you up.

Maybe try the night before the game.

Luke

After reading the reports in this thread I bought a box with some dried basil powder, the one you can find in every grocery store among the spices. I'm not sure if it's as potent as fresh basil or concentrated powder, but I notice that I'm more relaxed and less stressed afterwards. I just take about a teaspoon and chew on it for two or three minutes before I swallow it (I find the taste quite pleasant and could imagine that the ingredients are good for the teeth, although that's speculation). Basil definitely peaked my interest.

I also bought the tulsi extract from Sunday Naturals that @Mauritio mentioned in this thread. The results are more mixed. The first day I took an entire capsule around noon and didn't notice much. Felt stressed beforehand and felt stressed afterwards. With smaller doses it gives me a relaxing effect. I wonder why the tea gives me better results. Maybe it's just the dose and the dose of a full capsule is just too high. Last Sunday I made a camomile tea and poured the content of a tulsi capsule into the cup as well. I slept pretty well that night (by my standards). There seems to be something about tea that agrees more with me than a concentrated powder. Maybe I was an Englishman in a former life.

lobotomize-me

@Mauritio but wouldnt me being/feeling as if i am a sheep in a cage indicate that i have too much cortisol/stress?

Plus i just realised the active compound in basil is rosmarinic acid which i saw you mentikned in another thread is Immunosuppressive

Mauritio

@lobotomize-me yeah it would . But maybe it's from something else.

Why is rosmarinic acid the main active component ?

Kvirion

Just a field report...
I tried Holy Basil today. I didn't notice much effect.
Probably, some anti-inflammatory (maybe TSH lowering one?) and a bit cortisol/adrenaline lowering one, but since I have my cortisol pretty under control this wasn't any significant change.
No change in body temperature or libido.

Mauritio

@Kvirion thanks for sharing. Maybe sweet basil will work better.

Kvirion

@Mauritio said in Holy Basil: Phyto-TESTOSTERONE, Progesterone and thyro-mimetic ?:

sweet basil

Sweet basil seems to be a galactagogue, i.e., it promotes lactation in humans and other animals, i.e., increases prolactin—therefore, I wouldn't touch it with a proverbial stick.

lobotomize-me

@Mauritio any assumptions which other Moa it may use to increase testosterone?

lobotomize-me

@Mauritio alt text A study screening Thai plants for 5α-reductase inhibitory activity found that Ocimum basilicum had a finasteride equivalent activity (FEA) value of 63.12 ± 0.57, indicating significant inhibition compared to other plants like Centella asiatica (32.00 ± 0.91)
Opinions?

Mauritio

@Kvirion do you have any reference for it increasing prolactin in vivo ?
Some of the studies I posted above used sweet basil and it drastically increased testosterone which is unlikely if it increases prolactin...

Mauritio

@lobotomize-me i wouldn't care too much about in vitro studies . But if you send the link I'll take a look at it.

lobotomize-me

@Mauritio http://pejouhesh.sbmu.ac.ir/article-1-2084-en.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9210833/

lobotomize-me

@Mauritio https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228750879_Screening_of_steroid_5a-reductase_inhibitory_activity_and_total_phenolic_content_of_Thai_plants Quick tip: If you're on a PC using Chrome, right click and select Search with Google Lens. Then highlight the text, and it will easily help you find the sources

Kvirion

@Mauritio said in Holy Basil: Phyto-TESTOSTERONE, Progesterone and thyro-mimetic ?:

@Kvirion do you have any reference for it increasing prolactin in vivo ?

Sweeti basil is a galactagogue and galactagogues increase prolactin...

Some of the studies I posted above used sweet basil and it drastically increased testosterone which is unlikely if it increases prolactin...

Maybe an increase in progesterone overcomes prolactin, or maybe the antiinflammatory actions of basil help with the production of testosterone.

This is too complicated and unreliable mode of action for me. Therefore not worth trying - at least for me..

Mauritio

@lobotomize-me Like I said in-vitro . But still worrying. So definitely something to keep in mind.

Mauritio

@Kvirion you do you . For me it certainly didn't feel like it raised prolactin , quite the opposite.

lobotomize-me

@Mauritio yep

Kvirion

@Mauritio said in Holy Basil: Phyto-TESTOSTERONE, Progesterone and thyro-mimetic ?:

@Kvirion you do you . For me it certainly didn't feel like it raised prolactin , quite the opposite.

Yep, right. Context matters
Therefore Perceive. Think. Act. is a bit different for everyone.

Mauritio

@lobotomize-me saw you also posted some prolactin studies ... I'm always a bit cautious when they're in a very (gender) specific context, like pregnancy or PCOS they often have weird results. And some amounts of estrogen and prolactin are needed for pregnancies , that's probably why you can induce abortions with bromocriptine.

lobotomize-me

@Mauritio @Kvirion I’ve looked a bit more into which compounds may be responsible for DHT inhibition in basil, and I found that it’s probably linalool and/or 1,8-cineole. Some ways to reduce these compounds are:

Drying the basil at 40°C – This can reduce linalool content by up to 59%, according to studies.
Hot water infusion – Both linalool and 1,8-cineole are oils and therefore hydrophobic, meaning they tend to remain in the leaves. Meanwhile, water-soluble compounds like rosmarinic acid dissolve into the infusion.
Use Ocimum basilicum var. purpureum – This variety contains only up to 0.2% linalool and no significant presence of 1,8-cineole. Instead, methyl chavicol dominates, making up about 57.3%.
Add baking soda to the solution – This can make the phytoestrogens in basil less stable