A reader pointed this out to me:
Bethesda, MD—Religious leaders have contended for millennia that burning incense is good for the soul. Now, biologists have learned that it is good for our brains too. In a new study appearing online in The FASEB Journal (https://www.fasebj.org), an international team of scientists, including researchers from the United States and Israel, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses.
Breaking News–The FASEB Journal (07-101865)
I will have to digest this a little bit, but it does make a lot of sense to me. Â Incense or sulfur. Â I know which I would choose…
My only question is, should this be categorized under “natural remedies” or “divine remedies” or something else?
-DMR
So, does that mean that only burning it with charcoal works? Will essential oils help too? I am reminded of this blog post https://pastoralmeanderings.blogspot.com/2010/10/i… and the comment by "Joe" at 5:30pm. I would like to burn incense at home, but I don't know how to tell if what I am getting is the real thing, and I'm not sure I want to invest in all the extra paraphernalia. My daughter might set the house on fire. She once set a roll of toilet paper on fire while she was using the toilet.
This study was published around May of 2008. The link provided did not work for me. Try this one: https://www.fasebj.org/content/22/8/3024.full
Hello.
Yes, I totally agree burning incense does indeed alter my mood and lift my spirits a bit. Whcih reminds me, I'm all out of both, lifted spirits and incense. I should go get some. I particularly like the 2 foot long ones you can find in most convenience stores, 3 for a dollar. They last 4 or 5 hours. I have a brass, Indian incense holder which works perfectly so it stands straight up and is secure.
Interesting side line – the three nativity gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh have traditional healing qualities. Gold for arthritis, myrrh for its pain killing effects and as a treatment for golden staph. As well, when combined with honey it was used as a treatment of various wounds. Frankincense was also used in ancient times as a treatment for asthma and even skin cancer.