Rosemary is a perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves, the genus Rosmarinus, belonging to the family Lamiaceae. Its fresh and dried leaves has been used frequently in traditional Mediterranean cuisine and as flavor foods while barbecuing. Rosnary has been used in traditional medicine as an antiseptic, antioxidant, and antispasmodic agent to treat circulatory problem, eczema, rheumatism, muscle pain, etc.
Health benefits
A. Health benefits according to studies
1. Anti-angiogenic properties
In the investigation of Carnosol and carnosic acid extracted from rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) leaves as a source of dietary antioxidants and flavoring agents found that the anti-angiogenic activity of carnosol and carnosic acid could contribute to the chemopreventive, antitumoral and antimetastatic activities of rosemary extracts and suggests their potential in the treatment of other angiogenesis-related malignancies, according to "Anti-angiogenic properties of carnosol and carnosic acid, two major dietary compounds from rosemary" by López-Jiménez A, García-Caballero M, Medina MA, Quesada AR.(1)
2. Antibacterial activity
In the assessment of the volatile compounds obtained by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts of Rosmarinus tournefortii De Noé and its antibacteria effect found that the essential oil exhibited strong antibacterial activity against E. coli and P. aeruginosa, and was also active against Staphylococcus aureus, according to "Essential oil analysis and antibacterial activity of Rosmarinus tournefortii from Algeria" by Bendeddouche MS, Benhassaini H, Hazem Z, Romane A.(2)
3. Anti-colitic activity
In the observation of the effects of rosemary leaves hydroalcoholic extract (RHE) and essential oil (REO) and their effect on inflammatory bowel diseases found that RHE and REO are both effective to possess anti-colitic activity, and reinforce the use of this plant as a remedy for inflammatory bowel diseases in traditional medicine, according to "Effects of extract and essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis L. on TNBS-induced colitis in rats" by
Minaiyan M, Ghannadi AR, Afsharipour M, Mahzouni P.(3)
4. Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects
In the evaluation of the effects of rosemary essential oil (REO) on experimental models of nociception and inflammation in animals found that REO administration (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg) showed unremarkable effects on response latency, whereas control injection of meperidine induced significant antinociceptive effects. REO at doses of 70, 125, and 250 mg/kg had a significant antinociceptive effect in the acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing test compared with control animals. These data suggest that REO possesses anti-inflammatory and peripheral antinociceptive activity, according to "Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects of Rosmarinus officinalis L. essential oil in experimental animal models" by
Takaki I, Bersani-Amado LE, Vendruscolo A, Sartoretto SM, Diniz SP, Bersani-Amado CA, Cuman RK.(4)
5. Cancer prevention
In the research of intake of vegetables and certain plant components and their major role in cancer risk reduction indicated that literature evidence from animal and cell culture studies demonstrates the anticancer potential of rosemary extract, carnosol, carnosic acid, ursolic acid, and rosmarinic acid and concluded the different molecular targets modulated by rosemary and its active constituents are useful indicators of success in clinical cancer chemo-prevention trials, according to "Rosemary and cancer prevention: preclinical perspectives" by
Ngo SN, Williams DB, Head RJ.(5)
6. Free radicals
Rosemary contains high amount of carnosic acid, a natural benzenediol diterpene which has found to reduce the risk of free radical cause of cancers, according to "Inhibitory effects of rosemary extracts, carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid on the growth of various human cancer cell lines" by Yesil-Celiktas O, Sevimli C, Bedir E, Vardar-Sukan F.(6)
7. Immune system
Since it also contains high amount of vitamin A, C and E, the team of common antioxidant scavengers that help to promote the immune function in fighting against irregular cell growth and virus cause of inflammation due to counter reaction in the attack of free radicals, Part C. Common antioxidants (scavengers) -Antioxidants - Cancers and Diseases (7)
8. Prostate Cancer
In scientific studies, carnosol, a phenolic antioxidant extracted from the herb rosemary found have antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic activity against prostate cancer, according to "Carnosol, a dietary diterpene, displays growth inhibitory effects in human prostate cancer PC3 cells leading to G2-phase cell cycle arrest and targets the 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway" by Johnson JJ, Syed DN, Heren CR, Suh Y, Adhami VM, Mukhtar H.(8)
9. Antimicrobial activity
Carnosic acid and carnosol, natural phenol antioxidant acid found in rosemary have an antiviral, antibacterial, antiinflammatory properties, according to "Antimicrobial activity of Rosmarinus officinalis against oral pathogens: relevance of carnosic acid and carnosol" by Bernardes WA, Lucarini R, Tozatti MG, Souza MG, Silva ML, Filho AA, Martins CH, Crotti AE, Pauletti PM, Groppo M, Cunha WR.(9)
10. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester
Caffeic acid found in rosemary is a hydroxycinnamic acid that has been shown to have the immunoregulatory effects on cytokine secretion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from asthmatic children, according to "The immunoregulatory effects of caffeic Acid phenethyl ester on the cytokine secretion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from asthmatic children" by Sy LB, Yang LK, Chiu CJ, Wu WM.(10)
11. Etc.
Side effects
1. Rosemary essential oil is potentially toxic if ingested
2. May cause allergic effect to certain people
3.Overdose of rosemary leaves can cause adverse reactions
4. Etc.
Healthy Happy Herbs
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For the world most popular herbs list, visit http://theworldmostpopularherbs.blogspot.com/2011/10/world-most-popular-herbs-health.html
other health articles, please visit http://medicaladvisorjournals.blogspot.com
Sources
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22173778
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22164796
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22049274
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19053868
(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21955093
(6) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20449663
(7) http://the-anti-aging-guide.blogspot.com/2011/03/anti-aging-guide.html
(8) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18286356
(9) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20658673
(10) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22192260
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