The Tradition of Holy BasilHoly Basil, known as Ocimum sanctum in Latin, has for thousands of years been revered as "Tulsi" in Ayurvedic medicine. "Tulsi" means "The Incomparable One," which is the reality of this majestic herb. When in New Delhi, we visited with the leader of India's Ayurvedic Medical Association. We asked that "vaidya," or Ayurvedic master, why Holy Basil is considered the Mother Medicine of Nature in his tradition. He replied that Holy Basil is "anti-mutagenic and anti-inflammatory." It is, he said, a "rasayana," or an herb that on its own nourishes a person's growth to perfect health and enlightenment. We asked why people in the West find that Holy Basil promotes a positive stress response and elevates their spirit, and he replied that "Holy Basil delivers nutrients to the mind necessary for the experience of enlightenment.

We therefore are proud to deliver the finest Holy Basil in the world, grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers in pristine meadows bordering the Himalayas, and extracted with supercritical potency and purity in our laboratory in Germany. To Enlightenment!

Scientific Confirmation of Traditional WisdomPhytonutrients within Holy Basil are some of the most prized molecules in the plant pharmacy. To make a drug from Holy Basil, pharmaceutical companies could deliver those molecules in an isolated form, but that would no longer be the infinitely complex Holy Basil treasured by traditional medicine. At New Chapter, therefore, we deliver the wisdom of Holy Basil in its most complete herbal form. We are, of course, also respectful of those "prized molecules," and Supercritical Holy Basil delivers in Potency Assured levels the five best known "active" molecules: Caryophyllene, Ursolic Acid, Rosemarinic Acid, Eugenol, and Oleanolic Acid.

The scientific world is giving heed to these molecules. In the United States, researchers have determined that Holy Basil's "active" molecules include potent COX-2 inhibiting anti-inflammatories. These "active" molecules' cell protective properties have been studied with respect to cells of the breast and oral cavity (United States), colon (China), prostate (Korea), skin (Hungary), and liver (Korea). They have also been studied worldwide for their effects on apoptosis and proliferation.

The whole is more than the sum of its parts, but the whole must contain the parts. That is why New Chapter's Supercritical Holy Basil is the only source of this herb that provides both supercritical and post-supercritical extracts to capture the fullness of this herb in its purest and most concentrated form.