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Essential oils have recently become very popular due to their amazing therapeutic effects.
They are a natural way to, for example, manage stress, relieve pain, improve mood, or suppress various types of infections.
Therapeutic essential oils are produced by distilling the bark, flowers, or leaves of plants.
As early as Hippocrates around 400 BC, who is today known as the father of modern medicine, mentioned that thyme has beneficial effects in treating respiratory diseases.
Health effects of thyme essential oil
Thyme essential oil is among the most powerful antioxidants known to mankind. It supports the immune, respiratory, nervous, and other bodily systems.
It contains a large amount of the substance thymol.
Thymol belongs to a group of substances called “biocides”. These are substances that can kill a large number of harmful organisms and pathogens.
In addition to general health effects, essential oils, including thyme oil, have an excellent ability to kill cancer cells.
Thyme essential oil neutralized up to 98% of breast cancer cells
Thyme originates from the Mediterranean region and was widely used by the ancient Greeks. It is still a major component of Mediterranean cuisine today.
This may also be a reason why Greek women have up to half the incidence of breast cancer compared to other nations.
Oncological researchers at Celal Bayar University in Turkey undertook a study to find out what effects wild thyme has on the activity of breast cancer cells.
They published their findings in the journal Nutrition and Cancer. They discovered that thyme triggers cell death in breast cancer cells.
Specifically, it was shown that thyme oil killed 98% of human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) in a test tube at a concentration of only 0.05%.
Even at a concentration as small as 0.01% it still killed 40% of the cells.
With these results, thyme oil proved to be, so far, the most potent anticancer substance known.
Further studies confirmed the effects of thyme on oral cavity cancer and ovarian cancer as well.
Use of thyme
In Ayurvedic medicine, thyme has long been used for its strong antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.
It can be used, for example, to get rid of Candida and yeast infections.
Thyme can therefore be a very suitable supplement to a healthy diet focused on organic fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed foods.
It is usually used as a spice in cooking. However, you can also very easily make tea from it.
Other health effects of thyme
In addition to those already mentioned, thyme has the following additional health effects:
- reduces symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome
- regulates menstruation, relieves cramps
- increases blood circulation and raises blood pressure (people with high blood pressure should be cautious)
- prevents cellulite
- helps with insomnia
Moreover, thyme can remove bad breath, treat pain from rheumatism and arthritis, stimulate digestion, strengthen the heart, and it also has diuretic effects.
