Burning herbs and plants for medicinal and spiritual purposes is an ancient practice among indigenous people around the world. ‘Smudging’ is believed to unlock the ‘spirits’ of various plant allies to restore balance and ease to the individual or group.
The three main methods for administering smoke are inhalation, smoke directed at a specific organ or body part, or ambient smoke. The advantages of smoke-based remedies are rapid delivery to the brain, more efficient absorption by the body and lower costs of production. Other uses of smoke are not exactly medical but beneficial to health, and include smoke as a preservative or a repellent and the social use of smoke.
Nautiyal, et al. (2007), discovered that after 1 hour of treatment utilizing havan samagri — a blend of herbal roots, leaves, grains, butter, milk, incense and seeds — as medicinal smoke, there was a 94% reduction in aerial bacterial counts and that the smoke purified or disinfected the air up to 24 hours later in a closed room; this could have profound implications for combating the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Considering the chemicals which constitute conventional methods of air and surface sterilization and odor neutralization, the use of herbs and plants might constitute a far safer and more effective approach.
It has been found that anbarnesa smoke has antimicrobial effects on resistant microbes such as Staphylococcus aureus. The constituents of anbarnesa smoke mainly possess antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and growth inhibition effects on cancer cells (Shafiee, et al., 2015). However, according to Pourazizi, et al. (2022), anbarnesa contains spores of the fungi Mucorales and can be a risk for spore inhalation.
Research
Braithwaite, M., Van Vuuren, S., & Viljoen, A. (2008). Validation of smoke inhalation therapy to treat microbial infections. Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
Kim, S., Kang, M., Park, J., Nam, S., et al. (2012). Rice hull smoke extract inactivates Salmonella Typhimurium in laboratory media and protects infected mice against mortality. Journal of Food Science.
Moghadam, S., Charati, F., Akbari, R., Alamdari, E., et al. (2020). Consideration antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of anbarnesa smoke ointment. Journal of Medicinal and Chemical Sciences.
Mohagheghzadeh, A., Faridi, P., Shams-Ardakani, M., & Ghasemi, Y. (2006). Medicinal smokes. Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
Nautiyal, C., Chauhan, P., & Nene, Y. (2007). Medicinal smoke reduces airborne bacteria. Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
Pourazizi, M., Mohammadi, R., & Abtahi-Naeini, B. (2022). COVID-19 associated mucormycosis and anbarnesa: Concerning about important source of spores. Iranian Journal of Public Health.
Samanth, T., Jha, S., Sinha, V., Patel, S., et al. (2018). Effect of smoke from medicinal herbs on the nosocomial infections in ENT outpatient department. Indian Journal of Otology.
Shafiee, H., & Moravej-Salehi, E. (2015). Anbarnesa: The past tradition, the future medicine. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal.
Surboyo, M., Baroutian, S., Puspitasari, W., Zubaidah, U., et al. (2024). Health benefits of liquid smoke from various biomass sources: a systematic review. BIO Integration.
Additional Information
How burning sage actually kills bacteria and raises your energy | Liz Roberta
“Killer germs” obliterated by medicinal smoke, study reveals | Green Med Info
Sage is scientifically proven to get rid of bacteria in the air | Village Rock Shop
Science behind the smoke | Pressreader
Smoke of medicinal plants can kill harmful bacteria | Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
Smudging: The benefits of sage | Sage Health Group
