An antioxidant powerhouse that's ha...

An antioxidant powerhouse that's hard to forget.

Rosemary, or Rosemarinus officinalis, was included in herbal prescriptions recorded in sepia ink as an appendix to a prayer volume published in the year 1747 according to a priest, Mihail Plamenac. And its medicinal use goe back long further than that.

Gabriele Ferrara (b 1543) was a pioneer in early peripheral nervous method surgery, who sutured with a special needle that had been soaked in a decoction of rosemary, r wine, and roses

In fact, "[rosemary] had a prominent part in several holy rituals, including Christian nuptials and burials," said Gaea Weiss and Shandor Weiss in their now-classic Growing and Using the Healing Herbs (1985) "Steep in herbal lore, the fragrant herb was also a favorite of gypsies who valued it for its beneficial tenor on their skin and hair."

Rosemary's many uses

Different preparations of rosemary have traditionally been made, including teas, spirits (alcohol solution), and baths. It is known for the following effects: tonic; astringent; diaphoretic (increasing perspiration); stomachic (helping digestion), and more.

The physiological, or medicinal, forces all seem to originate in the leaves' volatile oil, which also includes camphor. In addition to rosemary oil being used in many applications (including soap), extracts of rosemary's carnosic and labiatic acids are being effectively used as aliment preservatives in place of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)

A search by the agency of the National Library of Medicine MEDLINE database, looking at rosemary research from 1994 by the and of 1999, reveals a number of studies forward cancer-protection and antioxidant benefits.

Cancer challenger

In 1994 N Tawfiq, and colleagues, at England's Norwich Laboratory, examined through 145 extracts of vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, and beverages which are regularly consum in a general "European" diet. The researchers measured indicators of anti-cancer activity in animal solitary abode; squalids challenged with potential cancer-causing agents. The results? Extracts of rosemary, basil, and tarragon all stimulated anti-carcinogenic activity.

Another European contemplation in this case out of Lausanne, Switzerland, examined whole rosemary extract, and individual mixs (such as carnosic acid), and cultur human bronchial cells

outlook to the extracts reduced indicators of tumor initiation and promotion from 50-90 percent These proceeds led the authors to bring to an end that: "rosemary components have the potential to decrease activation and increase detoxification of an important human carcinogen, identifying them as promising candidates for chemopreventive programs."

Other anti-cancer benefits have been studied since then: preventing the production of cancer-causing nitrites in mice (Chan, 1995); blocking the formation of mammary cancer in rats (Singletary, 1996); protecting mouse liver and stomach from cancerous chemicals (Singletary, 1997) to name just a few

An herb to remember

In light of all of rosemary's powerful medicinal virtues, it might be easy for us to forget to what degree well rosemary fits into our daily cooking. However we make use of this herb, remembering rosemary will be easy.

REFERENCES

Artico, M et al. "Birthday of peripheral nervous regularity surgery: the contribution of Gabriele Ferrara (1543-1627)" Neurosurgery 39(2):380-382 1996

Chan, MM et al. "Effect of three dietary phytochemicals from tea, rosemary and turmeric upon inflammation-induced nitrite production," Cancer Lett 96(1):23-29 1995

nourish Steven, and Tyler, Varro E PhD Tyler's just Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies. 4th edition. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Herbal Pres 1999

Milovic, I. "Medical manuscript of Mihail Plamenac, a priest," Srp Arh Celok Lek 126(1-2):63-67 1998

Offord, E.A., et al. "Rosemary component parts inhibit benzo[a]pyrene-induced genotoxicity in human bronchial cells" Carcinogenesis 16(9):2057-2062 1995

Singletary, K et al. "Inhibition by way of rosemary and carnosol of 7,12-dimethylbenz [a] anthracene (DMBA)-induced rat mammary tumorigenesis and in vivo DMBA-DNA adduct formation," Cancer Lett 104(1):43-48 1996

Singletary, KW and Rokusek, JT "Tissue-specific enhancement of xenobiotic detoxification enzyme in mice from dietary rosemary extract," Plant regimens Hum Nutr 50(1):47-53, 1997.

Tawfiq, N et al. "Induction of the anticarcinogenic enzyme quinone reductase by way of food extracts using murine hepatoma cells" Eur J Cancer rapine 3(3):285-292, 1994.

Weiss, Gaea, and Weiss, Shandor. Growing and Using the Healing Herbs. Emmaus, Penn: Rodale Pres 1985

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