Stress-Busting Rutaceae and Lauraceae

How to handle stress effectively is the subject of so many self-help books. Read a hundred of them and you'll come away with a hundred different suggestions, but trying each and every one to find the method that will work for you may take a little more time and organized approach than most of us have. That's why learning about stress-busters tested in controlled studies can give you a leg-up on the whole conundrum. Here's one that has been scrutinized by folks in white lab coats.
It comes in the form of aromatherapy, specifically the compound linalol, also spelled linalool. Where to find it? Well, you're either going to be buying a synthetic form of the compound, or you can head out into nature where you will find "over 200 species of plants produce (linalol) mainly from the families Lamiaceae (mints, scented herbs), Lauraceae (laurels, cinnamon, rosewood) and Rutaceae (citrus fruits), but also birch trees and other plants, from tropical to boreal climate zones. It (is) also found in some fungi." UNEP Publications The substance is already added to many perfumes, cosmetics and soaps as well as many household detergents and waxes for its fragrance.
Recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry was the study "Stress Repression in Restrained Rats", by Akio Nakamura, Satoshi Fujiwara,(both of the Technical Research Center, Japan) and Ichiro Matsumoto and Keiko Abe, (both of the Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science, The University of Tokyo). In this study, rats under stress were exposed to linalol. The study's findings indicate that the physiopsychological effects of stopping to smell the roses, or more specifically the linalol, really do help to ease stress, so the next time you're stressed, go stick your nose in a citrus fruit. You'll feel better.