Is cola a health beverage?

Coca-Cola was first developed by Dr. Pemberton and was marketed in 1885 as "French Wine Coca", which is a blend of cocaine and cola extracts in wine, as a medicinal liquor that is effective in boosting energy and relieving headaches, but eventually cocaine addiction became a problem, and instead of wine, "Coca-Cola" was used as a syrup to flavor carbonated water. It was launched in 1886. Today, cola is positioned as a soft drink, but when it was first developed, it was a health beverage.

Recently, craft cola (handmade cola) has become popular, and many products that reproduce the taste of cola using spices and herbs are now on sale, and there are many products that are sold exclusively as local cola. In addition, there are many recipes that make it easy to make cola syrup at home on the website.

Some of the spices that are almost always used in craft cola include:

All these spices are also used in herbal medicine, and contain essential oil components (aromatic components), improve digestive function, increase appetite, and prevent food poisoning by antibacterial action. Cola is a drink that is often drunk in the summer, but cola handmade with these spices can be an effective drink when your appetite is low or your digestive system is weakened due to summer heat. In addition, handmade cola made without the cola tree (cola nut) is caffeine-free, so it is recommended for those who do not like caffeine. In addition to the above, you can also add spices such as nutmeg, black pepper, coriander seeds, cayenne pepper, star anise, and anise seeds if you like. It's also fun to add citrus fruits and your favorite things such as lime and orange to make your own cola.

The scent of herbs as an insect repellent

In order to avoid being eaten by insects, plants produce scents (essential oil components) that insects dislike. Therefore, you can use essential oils to make insect repellent sprays and insect repellent candles, or plant herbs that have an insect repellent effect in your garden or balcony to prevent insects from entering.

Herbs that are well known for their insect repellent properties include lemongrass, lemon eucalyptus, and geranium. What ingredients do these herbs contain?
Citral* (geranial + neral) contained in lemongrass and citronellal contained in lemon eucalyptus are well-known ingredients that have an insect repellent effect. In terms of chemical structure, all of them belong to the terpene aldehyde class and have a strong scent like lemon.
There is an essential oil component called citronellol contained in geranium with a similar name, but this is also an ingredient that has a high insect repellent effect, and in terms of chemical structure, the aldehyde part of citronellal is replaced by alcohol. The scent is milder and sweeter than the aforementioned citral and citronellal. Geranium essential oil as a whole has a gorgeous floral scent that is very similar to rose otto essential oil.
If you don't like the scent of so-called herbal insect repellent, you probably have an image of the strong scent of citral and citronellal, but the scent of geranium, which contains citronellol, is a gentle scent while having an insect repellent effect, so please try it once.

∗Citral: Geranial (trans) and neral (cis) are geometric isomers that are usually mixed, and together they are called citral. It is not an ingredient called citral.

Measures against hay fever with herbs and aromas

Male cedar flowers with plenty of pollen

In Germany, nettle and elderflower are often used as spring remedies to combat allergies in spring. Both have a diuretic effect and are used to improve allergies because they have a high detoxifying effect. In addition, by excreting excess water, it relieves catarrhal symptoms such as nasal congestion. You can also blend herbs with a refreshing scent, such as peppermint, or rosehips for vitamin C supplementation.

Koalas and eucalyptus

As a countermeasure against hay fever using essential oils, we recommend eucalyptus radiata and rosemary cineol, which contain a lot of 1,8-cineole, which is a soothing scent component. It has immunomodulatory, anti-catarrhal, and expectorant effects, and is very effective in relieving the symptoms of hay fever. If you mix it with a gel or cream base and apply it to the chest area, it will improve the passage of the nose and make breathing easier. These essential oils are also recommended for masks, sprays, etc.

Conquering hay fever with the scent of the forest?
Among the essential oils for the prevention of hay fever, the essential oil of Todo pine (fir) has recently attracted attention, and it has been reported that the effect is particularly high on Hokkaido fir.
The essential oil of fir contains a component called β-phellandrene, which has been shown to have the effect of removing nitrogen dioxide. Since pollen binds to nitrogen dioxide contained in polluted air and increases its antigenicity, purifying the air with β-phellandrene is expected to lead to the prevention of hay fever. It is also recommended to incorporate the scent of fir to purify the air.

Beware of phototoxicity

Electromagnetic waves with a wavelength of 200-400 nm among the sun's rays are called ultraviolet rays (near-ultraviolet rays)

There is a "phototoxicity test" as a toxicity test at the research and development stage of pharmaceuticals. Phototoxicity is a type of toxicity in which a compound is activated under ultraviolet radiation to cause an inflammatory response or pigmentation in the skin. There are many medicines that cause phototoxicity, but especially ketoprofen, which is often used as a poultice, is phototoxic, so care must be taken not to expose skin to sunlight when using it as a poultice or ointment, or for several hours after peeling off. Be especially careful in spring and summer, when ultraviolet rays become stronger.

Some medical herbs and aromas also contain phototoxic ingredients.
In medical herbs, the components of St. John's wort, which is often used to improve mild to moderate depressive symptoms, have a phototoxic effect. Hypericin, a red pigment, is oil-soluble and has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, so St. John's wort infused oil may be used topically to reduce inflammation. It is OK if you drink herbal tea with the expectation of antidepressant effects, but you need to be careful about phototoxicity when applying infused oil to the skin.

Essential oils known to be phototoxic include citrus essential oils such as bergamot, lemon, and grapefruit, as well as some Apiaceae essential oils, such as angelica. It is said that it is a component of furocoumarins (furanocoumarins) that exhibits phototoxic effects, and bergaptene is known to exhibit a very strong phototoxic effect. When diluting these essential oils with vegetable oil and applying them to the skin, or using them in handmade cosmetics, be careful not to expose skin to ultraviolet rays for 4~5 hours after application. Furocoumarin-free products that reduce furocoumarin (bergapten) by methods such as vacuum steam distillation are also on the market, but they are not completely removed, so those with sensitive skin should be careful just in case.

By the way, have you ever heard the saying, "Don't drink grapefruit juice with your blood pressure medication"? This is because the ingredients contained in grapefruit juice inhibit CYP3A4, which is a type of drug-metabolizing enzyme, so the blood levels of calcium antagonists (hypertension drugs) such as nifedipine, which are metabolized by this enzyme, are high, and the drugs are too effective. At this time, the component that inhibits CYP3A4 is said to be bergamotin, which is a type of furocoumarin, and grapefruit juice has a very high content of this component.

Stress care with aroma

Our body is adjusted so that the internal environment always remains constant even if the external environment changes, and this function is called homeostasis. The autonomic nervous system (sympathetic nerves, parasympathetic nerves), endocrine system, and immune system play an important role in maintaining this homeostasis. At the turn of the season, there is a lot of stress due to environmental changes such as temperature and atmospheric pressure, and the autonomic nervous system is at full speed to respond to environmental changes. In addition, life events such as enrollment, graduation, employment, and job change often overlap in spring, and it is a season of great social and psychological stress. Such stress information is caught in a part of the brain called the limbic system, and the stress information is transmitted to the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system, affecting the body. In addition, when you are stressed, the adrenal glands secrete an anti-stress hormone (cortisol), which affects the function of the immune system in addition to raising blood sugar levels.

Since olfactory stimulation acts directly on the limbic system and affects the hypothalamus, which is the center of the autonomic nervous system, the effect of scent on the regulation of the autonomic nervous system is attracting attention. Let's regulate the autonomic nervous system with the good scent of essential oils and use it for stress care.

This time, I will introduce essential oils that balance the autonomic nervous system.
A scent that you don't like or that is too strong can be stressful, so it is important to choose a scent that you feel comfortable with.