The nepenthe for the nervous
Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
The Herbaria is written for your reading pleasure by Christine Maxa and not meant as a prescription or counsel. Christine was the remote content editor for the value-based health care platform Equality Health for three years and wrote health articles for the Flagstaff daily newspaper for four years. She’s been researching and gathering herbs for over two decades.
You don’t have to be a cat to love, love, love catnip, but it helps. The Mint Family member’s heart-shaped leaves contain a chemical called nepetalactone that, when connected with a kitty’s sense of smell, can cause euphoric behavior that includes rolling, rubbing, drooling and jumping.
This does not happen to us humans. We don’t have the olfactory apparatus to process nepetalactone the way felines do.
A European homesteader
The European native with the minty taste that leans on the gamey side was used in ancient Roman kitchens and was a staple in European gardens. Catnip crossed the Atlantic with European homesteaders, and plants still grow wild in the temperature-friendly northern half of the U.S. and around high-country cities in the West.
Catnip’s diaphoretic properties and ability to calm inflamed tissue and tempers landed the herb in Old Country remedies for fevers and indigestion. Its gentle action made Catnip a go-to for colic. The combination of Catnip and Fennel is still sold today for digestion and nerve health.
However, Mints are movers, and Catnip moves heat and congestion as well as stubborn menses just like its cousin Mints. Catnip was once an herb of choice for heavy-hitter diseases like smallpox, measles and flus.
Nepenthe for the nervous
Dr. Thomas Sydenham, called the English Hippocrates due to his eagle-eye observations, favored Catnip for maladies stemming from nervous tension. The 17th century physician differed from the doctors of his age because he garnered information by observing each patient and their symptoms and associating possible causes, including living and atmospheric conditions, to come up with the proper diagnosis and treatment.
Sydenham, of course, experienced steep resistance from his colleagues, who tended only to follow the texts from previous generations of physicians to make their diagnoses. Sydenham penned his observations in a book, “Observationes Medicae,” that ended up a medical textbook for the next two centuries. His mode of operation became the doorway to today’s clinical observations and evidence-based medicine.
Sydenham poetically claimed Catnip’s “strong and noisome smell” and soothing effect “recall[s] the exorbitant and deserting Spirits to their proper Stations.” A nepenthe for the nervous.
A curious plant
Catnip is a curious plant. Researchers found Catnip originally produced iridoids for protection, phased out iridoid production, then recreated a type of iridoid called nepetalactone. This iridoid is a bit different than Catnip’s cousins’ iridoids. It has a unique chemical structure, and its properties are a bit different. (To wit, Mints like Lemon Balm, Spearmint and Peppermint don’t make cats crazy.)
Typical of iridoids, nepetalactone exists to protect Catnip plants from predators. Its insect-repelling prowess matches that of DEET. In humans, iridoids show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, antitumor, antiviral and liver-protective effects.
Better living through (Catnip) chemistry
When we delve deeper into Catnip’s chemistry, we can see all the actions traditionally attributed to Catnip make sense.
Catnip’s chemical mix, besides nepetalactone, includes terpenes (anti-everything—exaggeration, but not by much), Acetic acid (antimicrobial), Butyric acid (strengthens the gut barrier, anti-inflammatory, anticancer) , Citronella (antimicrobial), Geraniol, (antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory), Limonene (anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, neuroprotective), Nerol (anti-anxiety, liver protective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory) and Valeric acid (anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anticancer).
And this list does not contain the chemistry produced in Catnip’s essential oil, which includes thymol, rosmarinic acid (see earlier monographs on Thyme and Rosemary) and carvacrol (strongly antimicrobial).
Valeric acid is the same substance that appears in Valerian Root and imparts the “noisome smell” that the good Dr. Sydenham referred to. Valeric acid boosts GABA, which calms our brains and relaxes us. The Butyric acid helps relieve pain, especially that of irritable bowel syndrome. Both acids are produced in our colon, and the best way to maintain a healthy biome is to eat a well-balanced diet that includes probiotics, prebiotics and fiber.
Instead of causing rollicking romps, like it does for 70% of the felines in the world, Catnip produces a delightful calm to us humans, all the while fighting harmful microbes, relieving pain and soothing inflammation. What’s not to love?
Notes:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1480656/
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/sydenham-advocates-clinical-observation
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12056409/#:~:text=Iridoids%20demonstrate%20potent%20antioxidant%2C%20anti,nutraceuticals%2C%20pharmaceuticals%2C%20and%20cosmetics.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200513143758.htm
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/catnip-twist-on-old-family-tradition/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370659744_Catnip_a_Magical_Herb_An_Approach_towards_the_Prevention_of_Several_Diseases
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30019646/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7397177/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7120914/
https://becker.wustl.edu/news/thomsonian-medicine-herbalism-home-remedies-and-popular-distrust-of-professional-medical-training-in-19th-century-america/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4027835/#:~:text=Butyrates%20represent%20a%20potential%20new,treated%20with%20butyrate%20%5B11%5D.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10215463/