Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf Review
Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf is a dietary supplement that claims to be effective at relieving stress and improving your emotional well-being by maintaining the body’s cortisol levels. According to its label, it can also be used to fight inflammations.
It is sold as vegetable capsules which contain extracts from the Holy Basil plant, also known as Tulasi or Tulsi. In Hindu culture, Tulsi is considered a sacred plant. It has also been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years to help balance different processes in the body and reducing stress. The medicinal plant has also been used to treat cough, colds and bacterial growth.
Recent clinical studies have successfully proven that Holy Basil Leaf or Ocimum tenuiflorum extract actually can actually help reduce stress and its associated symptoms such as forgetfulness, lowered libido, exhaustion and lack of sleep.
Let’s take a look at what Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf actually offers by analysing the facts. The manufacturer claims to use two different extraction methods to properly separate the most important fat-soluble and water-soluble herbal ingredients.
Ingredients
With so many companies offering Holy Basil Leaf supplements, it can be hard to tell them apart. A quick and easy way to weed out the good ones from the bad is to simply look at its list of ingredients. If you’re really concerned about your health, you should be aware of what you are actually consuming.
Each Gaia Herbs Holy Basil vegetable capsule contains:
- 584mg Holy Basil Leaf Hydro-ethanol Extract
- 380mg Holy Basil Leaf Supercritical CO2 Extract
- Vegetable glycerine
- Soy lecithin
- Olive oil
- Vegetable cellulose
According to the label, the combination of hydroethanol and supercritical CO2 extracts should yield a total of 17mg eugenols and 7.6mg Rosmarinic acid in every capsule. Eugenol is an effective antiseptic and anaesthetic, while Rosmarinic acid is a good antioxidant.
It does not list how much Ursolic acid each capsule contains. Ursolic acid is considered to be the most important anti-stress compound present in Holy Basil leaves.
Gaia Herbs packs its Holy Basil Leaf capsules with several additives in the form of vegetable glycerine, olive oil and soy lecithin. These ingredients serve no real purpose or health benefit.
Dosage
According to the Gaia Herbs web site, you should take one Holy Basil Leaf capsule two times a day, in between your regular meals. Considering that each capsule contains close 1000mg of Holy Basil Leaf extract, taking two capsules will translate to a total dose of almost 2000mg a day.
Side Effects
Holy Basil Leaf extract is generally considered to be safe. No adverse side effects are associated with the use of any Holy Basil Leaf supplement. Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf capsules also don’t come with any warning of possible side effects. The Gaia Herbs website does warn pregnant and nursing mothers, as well as people diagnosed with a medical condition to consult their doctor first before trying out the product. This is a standard warning that all supplements and medicines come with.
Price
A bottle of Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Extract which contains 60 capsules costs $29.99 when bought directly from the manufacturer’s online store. You can also take advantage of a small discount when you order a 3-Pack which only costs $83.77 or only $27.99 per bottle.
Using the manufacturer’s maximum recommended dose, one bottle should last up to one month.
Guarantee
The Gaia Herbs web site offers a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee for all its products. It simply states that you can return any product you are not satisfied with for a refund. No exact details about how long the guarantee lasts could be found.
Conclusion of Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf Review
While Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf may look like an effective product with its high extract content and use dual extraction methods to harness all the medicinal power of the Holy Basil Leaf, it doesn’t indicate how much Ursolic acid each capsule contains. Many experts believe that Ursolic acid is the key component required in reducing stress. Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf also contains a few unnecessary additives like olive oil and vegetable glycerine which are basically just fillers.
