Thyme - You Must Know 5 Benefits About It!

Thyme is one of the most famous herbs from the mint family. It is a common herb present in every spice set for garnishing and flavouring of the dish. In fact, apart from its modern-day use, it had been used by Egyptians in the process of mummification as well as by the Greeks as a form of incense. However, apart from its culinary uses, it is gaining a reputation as one of the most useful ingredients with several medicinal properties. Some of these medicinal properties are highlighted below.

1. Regulates Blood Pressure: When it comes to blood pressure, consumption of salt and maintaining a balanced level of cholesterol are the two important things to keep a lookout for. Thyme itself can be used as a substitute for salt. Though the taste would not be quite the same without a trace of salt in the dish, but at least it would benefit your health and keep a balanced level of salt and cholesterol in your body. This would help you in maintaining a balanced blood pressure and also prevent you from falling prey to any kind of heart disease or even diabetes for that matter.
2. Controls cough and cold: If you feel that you are about to experience an attack of a cough and cold due to seasonal changes or whatever reason, do not forget to keep some thyme at hand. You can make thyme paste and rub it onto your chest. The vapours coming out of it would help in curing cough. Further, thyme oils can always be used for a chest massage or can be rubbed onto the sides of your nostrils. Moreover, drinking warm thyme infused tea helps you in recovering faster.
3. Boosts immunity: To maintain a proper immune system the body needs, vitamins, minerals, water and various other elements. With thyme being a rich source of vitamin C and Vitamin A apart from having the benefits of iron, manganese, copper and fibre, it is not unusual to know that it boosts the immune system in an individual. Thus, thyme is often consumed in a small quantity with at least one or two dishes of the day. This makes sure that the quantity of thyme entering your body is regulated and is just enough to provide you with all the necessary elements.
4. Acts as a disinfectant: Mould is an element present in the air which not only causes air pollution but can be fatal to human health. In fact, it hurts those with asthma even more than regular people. One of the easiest ways to get rid of moulds in the air is to regularly use thyme oil in your house. Thyme oil acts as a disinfectant and helps in reducing the concentration of moulds in the air.
5. Used for therapeutic purposes: Carvacrol is a substance present in thyme which helps it in making a mark as an important compound in aromatherapy. Many essential oils are made of thyme essence. These essential oils are not only used on the skin for massages but also used as incense and de-stressors.

Thus, these are some of the most important uses of thyme apart from adding flavouring to some of your favourite dishes.