This study was quite interesting!

Apostolidis, Kwon, and Shetty (2006) conducted an experiment to test cranberry with various herbs to evaluate phenolic content on diabetes management, pancreatic health and hypertension. For those familiar with the terminology, they were looking for ACE-1 inhibition.

The authors of this study stated the current medication for diabetes can disrupt the pancreas which causes gas and other symptoms as the carbohydrates ferment in the gut. The potential of a more natural solution is less discomfort as the inhibition in the pancreas seems to be less and the blockage of the carbs being absorbed in the stomach seems to be greater (which is the desired effect). 

All samples (cranberry, oregano, rosemary and golden rose/roseroot were in powder form.  All tests were 1 gram of powder to 10 ml water. The combinations were 75% cranberry and 25% herb. Of the three herbs, rosemary has a lower water-soluble rate for phenolics than cranberry where the other two herbs were more water-soluble.

The water extract of oregano had the greatest content.  When combined with cranberry, oregano still had the highest concentration. There were synergistic effects in all three cranberry mixtures as well as a correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant activity.

Golden rose/roseroot, mixed with cranberry was most effective of the samples at inhibiting the absorption of a-glucosindase. The chart shows it was 100% effective both with the cranberry and by itself at both the 100 microgram/milliliter and 200 microgram/milliliter dosage. The cranberry/rosemary mixture was 70% and about 95% (100/200 microgram/milliliter dosage) where rosemary by itself was significantly less effective.

For a-Amylase inhibition, the cranberry/roseroot combination was also at 100%.

For ACE-1 inhibition, cranberry by itself and cranberry/rosemary were about the same and were the most effective at around 65%.  The authors included a chart for the phenolic content for the samples for the golden rose/roseroot and oregano mixtures with cranberry but did not include one for rosemary.

They did note in the text they feel rosmarinic acid is why the rosemary inhibited ACE-1 and that was the highest phenolic content for oregano. When looking at everything, they decided rosemary, even with cranberry was not effective in treating diabetes while cranberry/oregano mixed together seemed a good option. 

When reading the various results from each phase of the study, it’s quite clear more research needs to be done in this area but it does show promise.

Have a Great Day!

Apostolidis, E., Kwon, Y. I., and Shetty, K. (2006). Potential of cranberry-based herbal synergies for diabetes and hypertension management. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 15(3): 433-441.

Sorry there was no post yesterday.  My internet connection, even though I'm on cable internet, is severely affected by weather and Mother Nature decided to bring us some more of those lovely storms and heavy winds.

Jaswir, Che Man, and Hassan (2005) conducted a study using rosemary to reduce the oxidation of the lipids (fats) in palm oil when used for frying, in this case, potato chips.  There was a difference between all three antioxidants (sage, rosemary and citric acid) and control on day one of the 5-day trial. All three were significantly effective at reducing the oxidation of the lipids, though rosemary was the most efficient, citric acid being the least.

In looking for synergistic effects between the herbs, the most effective was the rosemary and sage combination. They did mention the oils will still break down do to heat and the water from the chips but these treatment methods helped reduce the oxidation, extending the length of time they were able to use the oil.  The cooking period for the whole experiment was 25 hours. For the rosemary and the sage, they used the oleoresin constituent specifically.

Changes in color were harder to pin-point.  The treated samples were all darker than control due to the color of the antioxidant but at the end, the control sample was darker. The factors to include are the introduction of the chips to the oil (they did it by weight, not by number so the number of chips could vary) as well as the effect of the heat on the oils.

The viscosity was decreased in the treated samples but not by much.  The viscosity increased throughout the experiment as the heat caused the increase in thickness of the oil.  The viscosity of the oil has a direct relation to the oxidation, the thicker the oil is, the more oxidation. Interestingly, the chips fried for the control significantly absorbed more of the oil than those fried in the rosemary- or sage-infused oils, with the citric acid chips absorbing less than control as well. 

The levels of the treatments needed for optimal effect varied based on which constituent in the oil was to be treated.  Citric acid had the least amount, sage had the most. For those interested, the effects on flavor were not tested.

Have a Great Day!

Jaswir, I., Che Man, Y. B., and Hassan, T. H. (2005). Performance of phytochemical antioxidant systems in refined-bleached-deodorized palm olein during frying. Asian Pacific Journal for Clinical Nutrition, 14(4); 402-413.

Badreddine, Olfa, Samir, Hnia, and Lahbib (2015) investigated the effect of rosemary essential oil on the fourth larval instars of Orgyia trigotephras. They tested this using ingestion, contact and the vapor from the oil. The contact form proved quite insecticidal with a 100% kill rate at .04 minutes. 

The kill time was longer when the oil was diluted.  Of the two oils tested, rosemary was the most insecticidal regardless of method used, being more effective than the pesticide used as well.  This study breaks down the idea that 1,8-cineol, camphor, a-pinene, b-pinene, camphene, and eugenol had insecticidal properties in other studies with other insects and may be responsible for the effectiveness in this study.

The authors concluded that even though the effectiveness was establish, how these constituents work together to act on the insect remains unknown.

Have a Great Day!

Badreddine, B. S., Olfa, E., Samir, D., Hnia, C., & Lahbib, B. J. M. (2015). Chemical composition of Rosmarinus and Lavandula essential oils and their insecticidal effects on Orgyia trigotephras (Lepidoptera, Lymantriidae). Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine (2015), 98-103. doi: 1O.1016/S1995-7645(14)60298-4

Skin cancer is somewhat common in my family so I find this study particularly exciting!

Huang, M. T., Ho, C. T., Wang, Z. Y., Ferraro, T., Lou, Y. R., Stauber, K., Ma, W., Georgiadis, C., Laskin, J. D., and Conney, A. H. (1994) conducted a study to determine the effects of rosemary in inhibiting the formation of skin cancer tumors.  They determined that putting rosemary extract on the skin before application of a cancer-causing substance reduced the chanced of tumor formation. 

There were two different amounts they chose, 1.2 mg and 3.6 mg and they had 30% and 54% inhibition rates respectively. At the 9-week mark, after doing weekly applications, the 3.6 mg group was 62% inhibition, 63% at 13 weeks and 64% at the 21 week mark.  In another group, by the time they got to 19 weeks, the percentage was as high as 99% inhibition. Rosemary also reduced inflammation, reddening of the site where the carcinogen was introduced.

They did note although ursolic acid is an antioxidant, ursolic acid alone was not effective at preventing these tumors. Only female mice were used in this study.

Have a Great Day!

Huang, M. T., Ho, C. T., Wang, Z. Y., Ferraro, T., Lou, Y. R., Stauber, K., Ma, W., Georgiadis, C., Laskin, J. D., and Conney, A. H. (1994). Inhibition of Skin ilimorigenesis by Rosemary and Its Constituents Carnosol and Ursolic Acid. Cancer Research, 54; 701-708.

We had a storm roll through last night and this video is the damage we sustained. It's back together now but many parts need to be replaced, including the cover.  There was an accident in the neighbor's yard, tow truck was called and the neighbor on the other side had to call in an electrician for emergency repairs.  We got off lucky.

This study goes along with the idea of using rosemary as a food preservative.

Shetty and Labbe (1998) wrote a paper discussing food-borne pathogens and natural methods to prevent them.  Rosmarinic acid from rosemary was one of the things they recommend based on their research, as well as thyme due to thymol and carvacrol.  The article touts the use of thyme over rosemary but the same rosmarinic acid in rosemary is also in thyme so thyme has a stronger antimicrobial activity than rosemary does.

Have a Great Day!

Shetty, K. and Labbe, R. G. (1998). Food-borne Pathogens, Health and Role of Dietary Phytochemicals. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 7 (3/4): 270-276.

Sorry I missed a post yesterday.  It was so crazy around here I didn't get to work on my book at all.  On the bright side, I have discovered that, though my daughter was afraid to sit on the toilet for potty training, Andes chocolates work great as a bribe and we are now finally sitting again.  Now just need to get the "potty" action going!

I found this study interesting.  I had never heard of this illness until I read this study.  Love and Light!

Abe, Yamauchi, Nagao, Kinjo, Okabe, Higo, and Akahane, (2002) isolated the three triterpene acids that are found in rosemary, ursolic acid, oleanic acid, and betulinic acid and studied their effects against Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan paracite responsible for Chagas’ disease (American trypanosomiasis).  If allowed to get to an advanced stage, this has the potential to be fatal.  Betulinic acid was not effective at all and ursolic acid immobilized the parasites within 48 hours. 

This was compared to other natural inhibitors, berberine chloride, harmine and gossypol and was more potent than all three.  The authors of the paper did note discrepancies between their results and previous studies noting there may be differences in the strain used as well as the potency of the samples tested.

Have a Great Day!

Abe, F., Yamauchi, T., Nagao, T., Kinjo, J., Okabe, H., Higo, H., and Akahane, H. (2002). Ursolic Acid as a Trypanocidal Constituent in Rosemary. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 25(11) 1485—1487.

Sorry this post is going out so late.  It's been quite the day!

So far, I'm quite pleased with what's going in in my greenhouse.  I got a nice surprise from my oregano!

Saito, Shiga, Yoshida, Furuhashi, Fujita, and Niki (2004) looked at the effects of a gaseous form of rosemary extract against the oxidation of nitrogen dioxide and UV radiation. The gaseous form of rosemary extract significantly reduced oxidation. Their sample had 1,8-cineole, camphor, borneol, limonene and alpha-pinene at a ratio of 43:41:13:2.5:.5, respectively. 

When Jurkat cells were exposed to nitrogen dioxide for 2 hours, there was a 95% cell loss.  Over the same duration with adding the rosemary gas extract, 73% of the cells remained alive. 

In the UV portion of the study, they determined that when adding the rosemary gas to the UV-exposed cells, the survivor rate was also increased and this increase was based on concentration, meaning the higher the rosemary concentration, the more cells survived radiation.

When they broke it down based on constituent, 1,8-cineole was the only on that appeared effective.  Some studies have shown these exact results of 1,8-cineole being very effective while others maintain there is no impact. Research needs to be done to figure out where the disconnect is in the radical differences between these studies.

This explains why so many historical documents depict rosemary for memory as a rosemary wreath around the head or as a chest-pocket adornment.  The scent of rosemary has antioxidative abilities that help the brain function better.

Have a Great Day!

Saito, Y., Shiga, A., Yoshida, Y., Furuhashi, T., Fujita, Y., and Niki, E. (2004). Effects of a Novel Gaseous Antioxidative System Containing a Rosemary Extract on the Oxidation Induced by Nitrogen Dioxide and Ultraviolet Radiation. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 68(4): 781-786.

Now that I've transitioned to working on my book as my focus, what I'd like to show-case are some of the studies I have read to include in my book. 

I often hear "there is no science that says herbs work".  This is where my book is different from others.  The last section contains those studies that those who repeat this statement are of a mind that don't exist. 

I aim to open some minds that have been closed by showing that these studies DO exist and they demonstrate how to use herbs effectively to maximize their effectiveness.  What follows is the first such study of many to follow for rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)(which is the object of my first book).

Kosaka and Yokoi conducted a study to determine what in rosemary contributed to Nerve Growth Factor T98G, which has the potential to reverse dementias such as Alzheimer's Disease. They were able to determine carnosic acid was responsible and the concentration matters. 

They tested 5 micrometers to 100 micrometers and the nerve growth factor increased by a factor of 25. They did discover that more than 200 is cytotoxic.  They used two different extracts, one water soluble, the other not. 

Carnosic acid was in the water-insoluble solution meaning a rosemary tea would not be very effective as a treatment for memory.

Also, the effects of the water-insoluble carnosic acid were almost as effective as the extract prior to being separated hinting there is not much of a synergistic effect of the other constituents with carnosic acid in this instance.

Though carnosol was ineffective by itself, they think it may be acting in synergy with the carnosic acid as well as the catechol which is part of these two constituents.

They also mention carnosic acid and carnosol are both antioxidant and antimutagenic with carnosic acid being much better for both actions and think that may have an impact on this specific activity. Obviously much more research needs to be done on this.

Have a Great Day!

Kosaka, K. and Yokoi, T. (2003). Carnosic Acid, a Component of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), Promotes Synthesis of Nerve Growth Factor in T98G Human Glioblastoma Cells. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 26(11) 1620—1622.