If you experience frequent bouts of anxiety or unusual amounts of stress, it’s likely you find it hard to wind down at the end of the day. That same stress and anxiety hindering your ability to calm down leads to zero relaxation and often sleepless nights.
It’s no wonder that two of the leading causes of insomnia are anxiety and stress.
There’s truly nothing worse than a night riddled with a brain that just won’t stay quiet. Sleepless nights spent tossing and turning take a major toll on our overall physical and mental well-being. Studies have found that keeping a jasmine plant in your room could be the solution! The scent produced by Jasmine plants has been linked to a reduction of anxiety levels.
What is the Jasmine Plant?
Jasmine is a night-blooming flower known for it’s romantic and sweet fragrance. It’s often used to make teas, incense, essential oils, and perfumes. But aside from its floral notes, Jasmine flower is also used to make medicine. It’s proven to have health benefits expanding beyond being used as a fragrance. Jasmine also boasts aiding in illnesses such as hepatitis and cancer, used as a relaxation sedative, and even as an aphrodisiac. (2)
Jasmine for Stress and Anxiety
Affecting approximately 40 million adults, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. (1) Stress and anxiety are known inhibitors of sleep. When there’s a lack of sleep, there is a lack of productivity, poor mood, low energy levels, and overall poor quality of life. For those who have ever suffered sleeplessness due to anxiety and stress, you understand that no sleep only makes stressors more prominent. It’s believed that high levels of toxins in the air increase stress and anxiety. Additionally, it’s been found that there is a correlation between stress and oxygen levels. Therefore, health concerns such as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks have less room to breed when air quality is improved.
Studying Jasmine
One way to combat a high level of toxins in the air may be to keep a Jasmine plant nearby. Preliminary laboratory research demonstrates the potential for the chemicals contained in the jasmine plant to serve as relief for sleeplessness, anxiety, and stress, among other illnesses. German researchers reported the discovery of a new structural class of the chemical known as GABA that is found in the jasmine plant. They indicated this new class plays a central role in the control of wakefulness. (3)
Additional Benefits of Jasmine
Aside from sleep, stress, and anxiety, there are endless benefits to the jasmine plant. Other benefits of jasmine include:
- Reduced tension
- Mood Booster
- Improved alertness and cognitive performance
- Hormone balance
- Treatment of hot flashes and mood swings
- Increased libido
The Bottom Line
Keeping a jasmine plant in your home isn’t the only way to reap the benefits of jasmine. Other great ways to enjoy the medical benefits of jasmine are through jasmine teas and essential oils.
Sources
- “Anxiety in the West: Is it on the rise?” Medical News Today. Tim Newman. September 5, 2018.
- “Jasmine – Uses, Side Effects, and More.” WebMD
- “Fragrant Dioxane Derivatives Identify β1-Subunit-containing GABAA Receptors*.” NCBI. Olga A. Sergeeva, et al. July 2010.