The three types of diseases that rosemary helps combat
Historically, rosemary's use has gone beyond culinary and ornamental uses , the two most common uses today. Chronicles speak of the plant's presence in funeral rituals , and it is also associated with mystical beliefs. Today, rosemary has ceased to be just another aromatic plant and is now being studied for its benefits to human health in some of today's most prevalent diseases .
Belonging to the Lamiaceae family, its scientific name has recently changed (2017) from Rosmarinus officinalis to Salvia rosmarinus . It is an aromatic, woody shrub native to the Mediterranean area, being Spain (specifically in the area of the Canary Islands) one of the countries where it is most cultivated, along with Portugal and Bulgaria.
As with other aromatic plants traditionally associated with culinary use, which also grow in dry, sunny soils and therefore do not require particularly sophisticated cultivation , rosemary has not particularly captured the interest of the scientific community. This has happened despite documentation supporting its medicinal and therapeutic use dating back to Ancient Egypt, to name a few.
However, this has changed in recent years, and several scientific articles have discovered the potential of this plant for some of the most prevalent pathologies in Western societies today.
Improves memory and concentrationAt first, neurological changes may seem far removed from the properties that can be attributed to rosemary; however, recent research on students proves otherwise. One group of participants received 500 milligrams of rosemary twice a day for a month , and the improvements were scientifically proven.
The team that conducted the study wanted to measure prospective and retrospective memory performance . The result was that these impairments decreased significantly in the group that had consumed rosemary compared to the placebo group.
Combat stress and anxietyIn that same study, other variables were examined: depression, anxiety, and sleep quality . These disorders can be temporary or even chronic, and they were not randomly selected by the research team: any of the three are identifiable to the university community as a result of the pressure they may experience during their academic career.
Controls hypertensionRosemary contains compounds that improve blood circulation and reduce blood pressure , but these are just two of the properties that have been studied over the years with respect to the cardiovascular system. The wide range of secondary metabolites linked to various biological activities exhibited by this plant, which reside largely in its essential oil and extracts , whose chemical composition varies depending on the ecological conditions in which they grow, has been analyzed.
ReferencesNematolahi, P., Mehrabani, M., Karami-Mohajeri, S., & Dabaghzadeh, F. (2018). Effects of Rosmarinus officinalis L. on memory performance, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in university students: A randomized clinical trial. Complementary therapies in clinical practice , 30, 24–28. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29389474/
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