Rosemary - Improves Neurological and Brain Function

[Wayne]

"Neurological protection - scientists have found that rosemary is also good for your brain. Rosemary contains an ingredient, carnosic acid, that is able to fight off free radical damage in the brain."

What are the health benefits of rosemary?

I picked up about 2-3 pounds of Rosemary leaves at a garage sale recently from a guy who works at the local CO-OP. He said a special order was made for it, but then not picked up. Got it for $3. lol -- I just did a quick search, and found an initial article on the benefits of Rosemary. I immediately noticed and liked the fact that it's purported to improve neurological and brain function.

I just started drinking some today, and my body (and brain perhaps) seems to like it. I would be interested if anybody has experienced benefits from Rosemary, and if so, what they were. I'd also be interested in any other good online information somebody may run across. Thanks.
..........................................

EDIT: -- I just noticed the neuroprotective aspects of Rosemary are so well known, serious consideration is being given to creating drugs based on its chemical structure.

Satoh and Lipton have filed a United States patent application for a whole series of novel compounds that show increased benefits over rosemary itself. This is not to say that Rosemary chicken is not good for you," said Dr. Satoh, "but it means that we can do even better in protecting the brain from terrible disorders such as Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's disease."

 

[Tammy]

Hi Wayne...............I was just reading about Rosemary yesterday when I was at the local health food store. It is growing in groves at the apartment complex where I live. Think I'll trial some since it's right here and handy. You said you started drinking some.............did you boil the leaves?

 

[Seven7]

Careful this herb crashed me for a few days. Fell fast and hard. All I did was to have rosemery tea.

 

[Tammy]

Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Wayne]

You said you started drinking some.............did you boil the leaves?

Hi @Tammy,

Yeah, boiled the leaves and strained it--real easy. I have a half gallon in the frig right now so I just heat some up when I want some. Steven, thanks for the heads up on crashing. I do feel a bit out of it this morning, but that could easily be for any number of reasons.

I'm drinking this right now as my morning tea [on an empty stomach], which is usually the best way for me to get a sense of how something is going to affect me. I'll be sure to post back here when I get a bit more experience with it. -- BTW, I'm doing fairly well with the taste. The taste of some teas just don't cut it for me.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Rosemary is one of the best anti-inflammatory herbs... along with turmeric, ginger, boswellia, holy basil and cloves.

When I broil a chicken, I stick a few sprigs of rosemary under the skin along with some slices of lemon. Yum!

WHAT is ROSEMARY GOOD FOR: http://foodfacts.mercola.com/rosemary.html

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY HERBS ands FOODS
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a.../02/anti-inflammatory-foods-herbs-spices.aspx

 

[helen1]

Rosemary is a strong peroxynitrite scavenger, behind only witch hazel bark in one study.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Rosemary is a strong peroxynitrite scavenger, behind only witch hazel bark in one study.

Helen, what does that mean exactly?

 

[helen1]

Peroxynitrite is a very damaging free radical, a by-product of nitric oxide, and causes extensive mitochondrial and DNA damage in the brain. It damages the outer membranes of the mitochondria and thus allows unwanted substances to leak into the cell such as glutamate and calcium.

Anything that inhibits nitric oxide synthase will reduce the production of peroxynitrite. Here's several lists of inhibors of both nitric oxide and peroxynitrite. You'll find rosemary at the very bottom.

1. Genistein. Extracted from soybeans. Specifically inhibits nitric oxide production.

2. Allicin. Extracted from garlic. allicin inhibits the transport of arginine, from which nitric oxide is manufactured. So this simple herb offers double-whammy brain protection.

3. Ginkgo. In studies of Alzheimer’s patients, gingko stabilizes, and in less severe cases, improves cognitive performance.

4. Silymarin (milk thistle extract). It can indirectly stop nitric oxide turning into peroxynitrite by inhibiting production of an enzyme which produces the superoxide radical.

5. DHA, docosohexaenoic acid, an omega3 fat in fish oil. This nutrient works by inhibiting release of inflammatory cytokines that trigger nitric oxide production by brain glial cells.

6. Vitamin B12. It is one of the best scavengers of nitric oxide.

Hip's list:
Inhibitors of Peroxynitrite Production
N-acetyl-cysteine
Curcumin
Peroxynitrite Scavengers
Alpha lipoic acid — potent
Ebselen (flavonoid) — potent
Melatonin — potent
Anthocyanins (anthocyanins are in blueberry, cranberry, bilberry, black raspberry, red raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry)
Caffeic acid — found in coffee, especially decaf
Citrus juices — grapefruit juice is particularly effective
Folinic acid
Gamma tocopherol (a form of vitamin E)
Ginger
Green tea
Resveratrol
Rosmarinic acid (found in rosemary essential oil, and lemon balm essential oil )
Uric acid (note that the supplement inosine increases uric acid levels in the body)
Glutathione
Cysteine
Tryptophan
Lycopene
Luteolin
Curcumin
Echinacea purpurea
Selenium — behaves as an antioxidant and peroxynitrite scavenger when incorporated into selenoproteins
Jasmine tea
Sage
Slippery elm
Protection from Peroxynitrite Damage
Q10
This study found that the potency of peroxynitrite scavenging was in the following order:
witch hazel bark > rosemary > jasmine tea > sage > slippery elm > black walnut leaf > Queen Anne's lace > Linden flower.
Another list of peroxynitrite scavengers is found here.
Note however this study, which found that the evaluation of the peroxynitrite scavenging abilities of certain supplements (such as caffeic acid) may be overstated, due to not accounting for the presence of bicarbonate, which reduces the scavenging ability.
Note that peroxynitrite is not without benefits: this study found peroxynitrite inhibits coxsackievirus.

 

[Gondwanaland]

Uric acid (note that the supplement inosine increases uric acid levels in the body)

I would add that any herb will do that to some extent due to the presence of plant salicylates which are excreted from the body as salicyluric acid.

 

[perchance dreamer]

I live in Austin, and another great benefit of rosemary is that it's the one edible herb our deer won't eat! My part of town is semi rural, and some of my neighbors have huge areas of rosemary in their yard for that reason.

 

[helen1]

any herb will do that to some extent

Actually I know of two offhand that reduce uric acid, which are bidens pilosa and chaga mushroom not actually an herb true...

 

[Gondwanaland]

Actually I know of two offhand that reduce uric acid, which are bidens pilosa and chaga mushroom not actually an herb true...

I would never suspect a mushroom could reduce uric acid Thanks for the tips

 

[MeSci]

Peroxynitrite is a very damaging free radical, a by-product of nitric oxide, and causes extensive mitochondrial and DNA damage in the brain. It damages the outer membranes of the mitochondria and thus allows unwanted substances to leak into the cell such as glutamate and calcium.

Anything that inhibits nitric oxide synthase will reduce the production of peroxynitrite. Here's several lists of inhibors of both nitric oxide and peroxynitrite. You'll find rosemary at the very bottom.

1. Genistein. Extracted from soybeans. Specifically inhibits nitric oxide production.

2. Allicin. Extracted from garlic. allicin inhibits the transport of arginine, from which nitric oxide is manufactured. So this simple herb offers double-whammy brain protection.

3. Ginkgo. In studies of Alzheimer’s patients, gingko stabilizes, and in less severe cases, improves cognitive performance.

4. Silymarin (milk thistle extract). It can indirectly stop nitric oxide turning into peroxynitrite by inhibiting production of an enzyme which produces the superoxide radical.

5. DHA, docosohexaenoic acid, an omega3 fat in fish oil. This nutrient works by inhibiting release of inflammatory cytokines that trigger nitric oxide production by brain glial cells.

6. Vitamin B12. It is one of the best scavengers of nitric oxide.

Hip's list:
Inhibitors of Peroxynitrite Production
N-acetyl-cysteine
Curcumin
Peroxynitrite Scavengers
Alpha lipoic acid — potent
Ebselen (flavonoid) — potent
Melatonin — potent
Anthocyanins (anthocyanins are in blueberry, cranberry, bilberry, black raspberry, red raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry)
Caffeic acid — found in coffee, especially decaf
Citrus juices — grapefruit juice is particularly effective
Folinic acid
Gamma tocopherol (a form of vitamin E)
Ginger
Green tea
Resveratrol
Rosmarinic acid (found in rosemary essential oil, and lemon balm essential oil )
Uric acid (note that the supplement inosine increases uric acid levels in the body)
Glutathione
Cysteine
Tryptophan
Lycopene
Luteolin
Curcumin
Echinacea purpurea
Selenium — behaves as an antioxidant and peroxynitrite scavenger when incorporated into selenoproteins
Jasmine tea
Sage
Slippery elm
Protection from Peroxynitrite Damage
Q10
This study found that the potency of peroxynitrite scavenging was in the following order:
witch hazel bark > rosemary > jasmine tea > sage > slippery elm > black walnut leaf > Queen Anne's lace > Linden flower.
Another list of peroxynitrite scavengers is found here.
Note however this study, which found that the evaluation of the peroxynitrite scavenging abilities of certain supplements (such as caffeic acid) may be overstated, due to not accounting for the presence of bicarbonate, which reduces the scavenging ability.
Note that peroxynitrite is not without benefits: this study found peroxynitrite inhibits coxsackievirus.

Examine.com have this page on rosmarinic acid.

Scavenging peroxynitrite would be a good idea, but not scavenging nitric oxide, I think, although it may depend on where the nitric oxide is scavenged. Many of us may actually need to boost nitric oxide, at least in the blood vessel walls, as described in at least two or three threads dedicated to nitric oxide.