1. Helps Repair Muscles
[pullquote]The antioxidant properties of lemon verbena might help protect to neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, against oxidative damage. In doing so, they may help boost immune function.1[/pullquote]
If you exercise regularly, you’re bound to be familiar with post-workout soreness that makes it hard to move around without feeling your muscles ache and complain. Lemon verbena can help with that. One study looked at the effects of moderate antioxidant supplementation, in the form of a lemon verbena extract, on healthy male volunteers who followed a 90-minute running protocol for 3 weeks. As a part of the research, the subjects’ antioxidant enzyme activity, oxidative stress markers, inflammatory cytokines, and muscular damage was noted down. Researchers found that lemon verbena’s antioxidant properties lowered the signs of muscular damage in chronic running exercise, in turn relieving any muscle soreness. It’s important to note that the extract was found to do this, without blocking the body’s cellular adaptation to exercise. Hence, it relieves muscle soreness without affecting the body’s ability to adapt to workouts and get stronger.2
