Catnip (nepeta) - uses and benefits discussion...
 

Hi, I recently bought a catnip plant for my cats and was interested by the strong smell, I love herbs but had never really considered catnip as anything but a toy for cats.

I've read a lot about it today and there seem to be some a lot of agreement of health benefits for humans that would be especially good for CRPS. Thought it would be good to have a discussion about it and see if anyone has experience of using it and in what ways it is effective...

Here is some info I copied from various sites: there is quite a lot of it! I was trying to get a balanced view :) I've underlined some words, and just want to stress that all the sites I looked at agreed that pregnant women should NOT use Nepeta. They also all agreed that the herb was safe to use generally. Obviously if you have any concerns then check with your doctor before trying anything.

I am not saying that any of this is medically advisable or will work, or that I've tried it (I haven't yet!), but if it can help at all, even just as a calming agent in times of stress, it might be worth a look.

Any comments, suggestions, ideas or more information welcome!

Bram.

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How To Use Catnip (Nepeta cataria)



www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/
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Does catnip work on humans?



http://www.cat-world.com.au/all-about-catnip
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http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail94.php#mrads
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Catnip and Human Medicine*


http://ic.steadyhealth.com/catnip_ef...on_humans.html
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Catnip, Household Herbal Remedy



http://www.diet-and-health.net/Naturopathy/Catnip.html

although we as human beings tend to ingest alot of unhealthy items. such as steriod or antiobiotic driven meat, I don't believe I would try catnip. I find the research you found quite interesting, but it would seem to me that this would be (could be) toxic to those who have no clue how to use it.\


Thanks.

Having seen how high my cats get off it, it might save me turning to weed lol. What on earth is an emmenogogue though or had the author already hit the cat toy aisle?:p

Ps. If my two neutered male cats are anything to go by, it'll do wonders for the sex drive too. They're constantly humping each other and inanimate objects after a nip-sesh.

:D Kathy you do make me laugh! My cats are just the same...

I took out any references to it being good to smoke, but I read a lot of mentions of people using it as a mild 'pot' type of joint. Obviously tobacco is bad for you, but there seem to be several folk using it as a legal and less harmful alternative to marijuana.

I completely missed the emmemagogue (?!) mention, I'll have to look for that now!

Bram.

Hi Brambledog
you have not provided any link as to where you copy/pasted from in your first post, and so this may be a copyright violation. Please provide the link so that we can check. We cannot risk being in violation of copyright.

Whoops sorry, it was cut and pasted from so many different sites. I'll get onto it now.

Bram.

Hey Bram, catnip is clearly the path to enlightenment as I looked up emmanogogue or however you spell it and learned its meaning. Pot would just make me look up the local takeaway menu haha!

What does it mean?!?!?!?? I haven't looked it up!

By way of a teensy update, after much discussion (my mum is very knowledgeable about herbs, but she's never really looked at catnip) my sister, mum and myself all ate a leaf of Nepeta. It had quite a pleasant taste considering how strong the smell is. My sister has some insomnia, so she is going to try it for that, and my mum has had regular gastric grumbles for years (she's been checked out by docs) and is going to try it as well, just as a tea. I'll let you know if they think it is doing anything or if it has any negative effects.

Bram.

I am sorry, but I had to edit your first post as those were from sites that have All Rights Reserved (C) which means you are not allowed to copy anything other than for your personal use ie cannot paste it on a public forum like ours
One site had copyright but allowed a "very short snip" with link and what you copied was far more than that.

We get legal letters when members copy from sites that do not allow it so we have to err on the side of caution.

I left all your links on so others can click through and read for themselves there.

Bram, it sounds like you come from a family of brave women. Let us know if it has the same effect on you, your mum and sis as it does on Kathy's cats. :p

My neighbour's cat already comes running to me whenever she sees me and rubs against me purring like a maniac. I can't imagine what she would do if I smelled of nip!