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By Andrew Winner
Could the smell of rosemary enhance your time on a crossword puzzle? It's possible, according to a new study.
Researchers noted the surprising appearance of a component of rosemary oil in the bloodstream, leading to new ideas about how rosemary aroma can be used therapeutically. The results will be published in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, a journal published by SAGE Publications.
Rosemary has a long history as a traditional remedy with such widespread uses as a hair rinse and a cat repellent. When steamed, some say it can treat bronchitis and other forms of congestion, while the link between rosemary and improved cognitive function has long been established.
Dr. Mark Moss, who devised and wrote the study, was interested in rosemary’s fragrant aroma, which has long been cherished by chefs and bakers. Could the 1,8-cineole, a constituent part of rosemary oil, be detected in the bloodstream after exposure to just the aroma?
“We were not surprised by the improvement in cognitive performance following exposure to rosemary aroma as this has been demonstrated previously,” Moss wrote in an e-mail. “What excited us was the demonstration that performance was linked to plasma levels of 1,8-cineole following exposure.”
In the study, a cohort of 20 subjects were exposed to varying levels of the aroma, then given a battery of cognitive tests and mood assessments. Not surprisingly, the cognitive performance of the subjects increased, with a corresponding mood increase of lesser magnitude. However, the real surprise came when the blood tests were processed.
The results showed absorption of 1,8-coneole into the bloodstream, meaning the natural compound was absorbed through the nose and into the blood plasma. For Moss, this means there is a more traditional biochemical explanation for the increased cognitive performances previously demonstrated.
“This compound is present in rosemary but has not previously been demonstrated to be absorbed into blood plasma in humans,” Moss added. “It is our view that the aroma therefore acts like a therapeutic drug, rather than any effects being a result of the more sensory properties of the aroma.”
Moss reminds that it’s easy to forget how many of our therapeutic drugs are the result of plant science. His team will continue to investigate the therapeutic benefits of several common plants, including peppermint and lavender. An upcoming study with rosemary will aim to determine whether 1,8-cineole, when ingested orally, can survive the rigors of the gastrointestinal system to be similarly absorbed into the bloodstream.
The potential benefits of the research are extremely wide-ranging.
“Plants are very complex organisms and contain many different active compounds and these vary in concentration from plant to plant and even within the same plant over the course of a day,” Moss notes. “The accumulation of knowledge regarding possible impacts of plant aromas and extracts could potentially lead to an identification of the best combination to promote specific effects.”
“At its grandest conclusion might be the development of plant-based drugs that might extend mental capacity into old age through pharmacological challenge to decline,” Moss concludes.
Related:
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- People can smell your neuroticism
- The strange eating habits of Steve Jobs
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Leave a Comment:
Can you smoke it?
They never met Cathy.
A whiff of quite a few things will give your brain a boost.
I've used it in steam for my sinuses but cat repellent? Nope, my gourmand munches the plant.
No no noooo, no
I have an Aunt named Rosemary. Maybe I should visit her more often.
The article emphasizes "sniffing".
Just give her "a few sniffs when you do" and let us know exactly "what parts of her you were sniffing?"
Here's "hoping she sniffs OK?" :-)
Natural is the way to go...the way some herbs smell they have a medicinal smell to them...I have a rosemary plant that comes inside in the winter and out on the deck in the spring again...
...really?! I'm going to start plating these guys in a ring around my house.
Ive never known rosemary to be a cat repellent because I grow it in my herb garden and the local stray cats typically sniff it as they pass by.
I love the smell of rosemary but it must be used with a light hand because it will overwhelm a dish.
"Rosemary is for remembrance."
It has been used for ages to help short-term memory loss. It is also a mourning herb for the same reason, and used to be given to lovers so they wouldn't forget their sweetheart.
LINK ERROR in "People can smell your neuroticism." It points to the (rather ancient) Steve Jobs story.
You guys outsource your editing to China, don't you?
As one who used to consider "aromatherapy" and "essential oils" a crock of horse dung, I have to accept the fact that I've seen what aromatherapy can do--not just with rosemary, but with several other scents and natural oils. My daughter has severe ADHD. We use a bergamot natural oil and a blend oil that reduces her need for prescribed medicine (she has a standing scrip for Concerta, which, when on the full dose, wrecks her appetite and turns her into a moody, grumpy kid ... not at all pleasant for ANY of us in the home!). She went from using 27mg to half, combined with the single oil and blended oil, along with some vitamin supplements. There's no denying the difference.
Many have wanted to chalk it up to psychosomatics. And yes--the brain and body are capable of doing amazing things when they think something is supposed to work. However, this was on a 6 year old girl. We told her nothing of what to expect, why we were giving her these "new things," as she put it ... yet the results were exactly as we had hoped. And expected, truthfully.
I know there are doubters and skeptics out there. I was one of them. So was my sister in law. However, there's no denying that natural remedies exist.
cmccabo1
I have a daughter with ADD [not the hyper activity side], and if you'd care to offer the names of the oils you used, and/or perhaps a website [although this site might filter it off the screen?!?!], I'd be very appreciative.
Thankx in advance
@cmccab01 what method do you use to deliver the benefits of Bergamot? Diffuse? Massage?
cmccabo1-
There is no reason to be skeptical of aromatherapy. There are many medicines that are given in vapor. I think the problem is the name aromatherapy. It sounds like new age nonsense.
I was also was skeptical and have had too many amazing experiences to deny that there is some power in using essential oils. I know several people have had great luck with the Peaceful Child Blend for ADD kids. Vetiver is a main ingredient in that blend. Vetiver helps my son calm down and focus on school..Balance has also helped him be less irritable. I love that your sons medications were reduced so significantly. Thanks for sharing.
duuug - if you are still looking for information on what essential oils and oil blends can help your child, please contact me at hilary@flashfunding.com. I recently gave an oil blend to a friend whos child struggles with ADHD and they also have had amazing, immediate results. I'd be more than happy to share this information with you.
I am a doTERRA Essential Oil Rep and I use the oils myself. I was also a skeptic until I tried them myself. Now myfamily uses the oils as well..Here is a link on doTerra's Vetiver oil for Add/ADHD..
Even if rosemary actually is beneficial simply smelling it wont do squat. Our brain requires PHYSICAL material to function, fumes are not enough to enhance the brain's function. You would think that scientists would understand this.
A link to your research please.
So inhaling paint fumes does nothing to the brain either?
Fumes are in fact physical material. They aren't made of magic.
As he reaches for another bong hit...
@Morlack - I think you are the one who needs the science lesson. Where do you think the aroma you smell comes from?!?!?! The smell comes from compounds becoming airborne, not from some magical ether. Inhaling these compounds can easily result in some or all of them being absorbed into your system through your mucus membranes since the mucus membranes in your nose are actually quite permeable. In addition, these compounds can also be absorbed into your system in your lungs. Inhalation is a well established method of delivering medication into to body. Haven't you ever seen someone use an asthma inhaler or nasal spray!!! Try educating yourself before you comment, it will keep you from looking very foolish.
As for the Rosemary, I wish them luck with further research. Who knows, maybe it will lead to a new natural treatment for Alzheimer's or other cognitive disorders.
The UK is MILES ahead of the US in research regarding the positive effects of aromatherapy. If you Google it, you'll be amazed at how much verifiable research you'll find supporting this. I regularly diffuse a variety of oils and can't believe the difference it makes. My stepfather has dementia and by diffusing peppermint, rosemary, and lavendar together, he's more aware and much calmer than he is without it. AND, it's been years since any of us have gotten a cold or the flu!
So, like, if good odors enter our blood stream , what about the ones you find in a public bathroom? And things like gasoline?
A logical idea... would like to see some research on this as well.
We know exauct fumes affect us. Paint fumes give us a headache. It stands to reason that all types of fumes affect us in one way or another.
Poop fumes can cause nausea.
I meant do actual research as in the article. Check if anything shows up in the blood of people exposed to unpleasant odors and just as rosemary has a positive effect, whether unpleasant ones may have a negative effect. Curious for more details than the obvious.
Why not sniff your way to lower caloric intake. Smell, but do not eat! Diet pack comes in 10 delicious odors
Work has been already done on that years ago. Look up books by Dr. Alan Hirsch and info on the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.
Sniffing peppermint to subdue the appetite is pretty common diet advice at this point.
glitter, I have read many places that citrus scents also help to decrease one's appetite. Many dietitians recommend burning a grapefruit scented candle in the house (grapefruit is preferred over other citrus scents for some reason) in order to decrease appetite. I've never heard of peppermint (the smell) lowering one's appetite, but I've heard several people say if you are hungry, just chew some peppermint gum and it will take the edge off your hunger. All very interesting stuff to me. One person I know says if he is hungry but it isn't lunchtime or dinnertime, he brushes his teeth with a mint toothpaste. That suppresses his appetite.
I find brushing my teeth is a deterrent to snacking because of the minty smell not being a good segue to eating, but also because I don't want to immediately undo that nice clean feeling of my mouth and freshened breath while that's still lasting. It helps your mind 'change the subject.'
On my way outside to cut a big sprig of my Rosemary!
Do what I do. Grow it indoors. Once it gets too big for your taste, have another juvenile plant ready to take its place.
It must be REAL rosemary, as shown in the picture at the top of this article, not the fake scent from fragrant chemical that was created in a lab from toxic fragrant chemicals. Some aromatherapy products contain fragrant chemicals that are toxic, just like the toxic fragrant chemicals used in common household products, such as Bounce, Febreze, air fresheners, and many others. Beware of toxic fragrant chemicals, read this link for more information.
I have seen no verifiable research that bounce and febreze have toxic chemicals. If it is the particular blood chemical that they are talking about here than certainly ingesting it or raising it some other way (smelling the same chemicals that rosemary contains - made in a lab) would do the same thing.
As long as the chemicals are the same there is no difference between "natural" and "unnatural" chemicals. Aspirin from the bark of a tree is the same as aspirin made in a lab.
Daniel, I don't usually bother with people like you who post dumb comments without taking a few minutes to read the information posted, but in your case I'll show you the results of 3 minutes research with Google from that link I provided. Here is a small partial list of a few chemicals that are toxic and used in common household products; and, these chemicals do not need to be listed on the label because they are part of a 'Fragrant' product's 'trade secret'; but they are easily identified in the lab. Here's the small partial list of a few VOCs identified that are regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but they are used in many common household and laundry scented products. They are NOT naturally occurring, they are toxic chemicals that just happen to smell the same as some natural products:
1,4-dioxane
1-methyl-3-(1-methylethyl)-cyclohexene
2,4-dimethyl-3-cycl
2,4-dimethyl-3-cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde (Triplal 1)
2,7-dimethyl-2,7-octanediol
2-butanone
2-methyl-2-propanol
3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadiene
3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol acetate
Acetaldehyde
Acetone
Benzaldehyde
Benzyl acetate
Carene isomer
Chloromethane
cis-rose oxide
d-limonene
Ethanol
Ethyl acetate
Eucalyptol
Isopropyl alcohol
Linalool
tert-butyl alcohol
trans-rose oxide
α-phenylethyl acetate
α-pinene
β-pinene
β-terpinene
Herbal medicine is older that allopatic medicine and in most cases a cheap alternative to chemicals.
http://www.herbalmedicine.net.au/
The things that have been proven by scientific studies to be useful can be, but many things that it says work really don't. Simply being older does not make it better...in fact it usually makes things worse.
The scientific method works and should be followed when talking about health and if a method is effective or not.
I am glad that the scientific method is now being applied to herbal medicine and that pharma continues to find medicines coming from the plant kingdom. Older medicines (herbal) had to evolve through trial and error.
Crack is all incentive I need
Crack is all the incentive I need
And it's effects are obvious… obvious…
; )
Rosemary sure is great - and a wonderful spice for many types of food. Just rubbing your hands on the plant, and then rubbing the oils on your skin will help keep away biting insects. (Fresh peppermint and spearmint are also great insect repellents - as well as for making fantastic mint juleps! I also read that garlic juice is a good way to keep spiders away.)
Now, if I could only get my rosemary plants to grow! They're supposedly one of the easiest things on earth to start and nurture, but mine just grow to about 6 inches and stop. A very vexing problem.
Rosemary does not like a lot of water preferring to grow on the dry side. When the leaves start to turn a grayish color, then it needs a good drink. Also Rosemary is not hardy in certain zones and requires a lot of light, it doesn't seem to grow well sitting in front of any window facing East, West or South, so if you have a North facing window that lets in good lighting or are lucky enough to have a "bay" window, it should do well inside. If you want to plant it outside (only in very warm climates most of the year) it should not be planted until after June 15th. I leave mine in the greenhouse during the cold season and if you set it outside in a pot just make sure it gets the morning sun and is sheltered from the rain.
Hope this helps you.
Hmm. I am a biochemist by training (Master's in biochemistry from Wake Forest) and certainly we absorb chemicals when we smell. Pheromones are certainly real and I expect we do put them off like most other animals. However I am skeptical of this research for several reasons. First, they didn't seem to have controls. Did they give some people a smell like rosemary that wasn't rosemary and then do the same tests? Did they give people the tests and check the blood levels without any rosemary? Maybe doing these cognitive things increases the blood supply of this compound? Where is the link to real research that rosemary increases cognitive skills...that is not something in biochemical journals I would call established. Is the journal they are publishing in peer reviewed? It isn't a journal I am familiar with, and there are questionable journals out there. The number of people they used is also questionable. A group of twenty people is really not a great sample size for this type of thing.
I am a researcher, although not in biochemistry. I totally agree with your comments. However, I wonder about the following - wouldn't a smell "like" rosemary activate the same receptors like the "real" rosemary? Otherwise, how would one have the perception of the same smell? I think a better approach is to have a larger number of people exposed to different smells and no smells, give them the same cognitive tasks and no tasks, and measure the compound(s) in their blood before and after.
On another note - aromatherapy has been used for a long time, including in massage therapy. Although some of the claims may be farfetched, some uses are well established and can be easily tested by anyone. For example, lavender is widely assumed in those circles to have a calming effect, peppermint - an invigorating effect (as well as analgesic, hence the many brands of creams and lotions with the imitating menthol, in regular drug stores). Peppermint tea (aroma+drinking) is well known to calm nausea, and so on.
Thanks for the earworm.
It's always been rosemary for remembrance. People used to put it on corpses, plant it at grave sites.
are rosemary & thyme the same herb? the photo of the herb they showed in the article looks like thyme..Thanks
Rosemary is more line a pine, like needles, line in the photo . Most thyme has shorter, flatter, rounder leaves.
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/images/thyvulgarisstems.jpg
"God makes the earth yield healing herbs which the prudent man should not neglect;" (Sirach 38:4)
We are agreed!
"And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man— Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving." (Doctrine and Covenants 89:10, 11)
I lived in Australia for a few years about a decade ago. Aromatherapy is considered a valid health aide there, and it was not unusual for a medical doctor to send a patient to an aromatherapist to answer certain health issues. MD's here in the US are much more narrow in their outlook and need to persuade themselves to accept that there may be other and perhaps better (in terms of outcome as well as cost and being less invasive to the patient) methods in treating health problems than chemical input or surgery.
I've worked in a garden around herbs and other scent emitting plants on hot dry days in very close area. the smell and fragrances were over whelming. the feelings of love for the plants was unbelievable.
You nailed it. I love it when I brush against the herbs in my garden and get a whiff of the scent. Makes me smile, no matter which one. I'll usually 'pet' one or more even if I'm just walking past the bed and smell my hand as I continue on. I think I may get a small herb garden to keep on my desk at work. Including rosemary, of course!
You obviously don't have a very basic understanding of chemistry. What do you think an odor is, pure imagination? It is a molecule that physically reacts with receptors in the body. Just because you can't see it with the naked eye doesn't mean it doesn't exist physically.