Don’t think that catnip is only for our feline friends. While it’s true that it can leave Whiskers, Tiger and Missy feeling blissful, which makes them even more adorable, catnip in the form of essential oil is also beneficial for humans.
Catnip essential oil is derived from a plant having the same name, although it is also popularly known as cat mint. The product offers numerous perks — from lowering body temperature, driving out toxins and improving the mood — and it doesn’t really come as a shock because the plant it comes from is traditionally used as a healing herb.
The smell of catnip essential oil is minty, and that’s something to be expected because catnip is a part of the mint family just like basil and oregano. Naturally, it is very good at easing muscle cramps, excess gas, stress, anxiety and many others. Below are some of the well-known health benefits that catnip essential oil brings:
It Relieves Excess Gas
Other than being embarrassing, having excess gas is also downright uncomfortable. That’s because it usually comes with abdominal distention and cramping. One of the most effective all-natural remedies for excess gas is massaging a little catnip essential oil on your belly with the palm of your hands.
It Makes Anxiety Go Away
Having a small bottle of catnip essential oil in the pocket of your backpack or purse is a wonderful idea if you’re suffering from anxiety disorder. Whenever you feel like you cannot breathe and your heart is pounding, simply reach for that bottle and take a whiff of its content because catnip essential oil is very good at calming the mind.
It Encourages a Good Night’s Sleep
Your mind is not the only thing that can be calmed by the characteristic smell of catnip essential oil, but your body as well. This is the reason exactly why you may try filling the air in your bedroom with the fragrance of catnip if you have insomnia. Getting a good night’s sleep is trouble-free if both your mind and body are relaxed.
It Puts an End to Loose Teeth
Catnip essential oil is capable of tightening various tissues of the body. In other words, the minty-smelling product possesses astringent properties. And that’s why rubbing it on your gums or adding a few drops of it to your mouthwash can help put an end to that wobbling tooth of yours.
It Helps Tighten Skin
The astringent properties of catnip essential oil is not only good for warding off lose teeth, but also in improving the appearance of sagging skin. With regular topical use of catnip essential oil, it is said that your skin may tighten — it’s just like getting a face lift but without the associated steep cost and frightening risks.
It Lowers One’s Body Temperature
One of the traditional uses of catnip essential oil is for regulating the body’s temperature, which means that is used for people who have fever. Catnip essential oil helps ward off high body temperature by promoting profuse sweating, which can cool down the body when sweat evaporates on the skin.
It Flushes Out Toxins Within
Since catnip essential oil encourages sweating, it is sometimes used for sweeping toxins out of the body. You see, you sweat not only to have your body regulated temperature-wise, but also purified. The use of catnip essential oil can accelerate the removal of impurities within by encouraging your body to sweat profusely.
It Increases Production of Urine
Catnip essential oil has diuretic properties, which means that it encourages increased production of urine by the kidneys. Due to this, catnip essential oil is made even more effective in detoxifying you. Traditional healers also employ catnip in flushing out excess water in the body, thus helping to lower high blood pressure or hypertension.
