Dementia is a term used to describe a range of symptoms linked to a decline in brain function, and one common garden herb could help fight the condition, according to researchAdam Toms Senior Politics and Transport Reporter and Jayne Thomson
22:43, 08 Sep 2025
Eating rosemary will seemingly help your brain health.(Image: Getty)
The fear of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is understandably daunting, and Brits may wish to take every possible measure to reduce their risk. One common garden herb is believed to have therapeutic potential due to its active compounds, which exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
For instance, carnosic acid in rosemary activates enzymes that are part of the body’s natural defence system.
In 2022, American experts emphasised that Rosmarinus officinalis has “long been known as the herb of remembrance and can be a potential cognition enhancer” for Alzheimer’s disease. A study involving animals concluded that administering the herb “improved cognitive function” in organisms with cognitive deficits, as well as in “normal intact” animals.
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The researchers added: “The outcomes may be used in the planning of clinical studies provided the included studies are robust enough to account for the heterogeneity observed.
“The cognitive benefits provided by R. officinalis and its mechanisms of action are in synchrony with the fundamental pathophysiology of cognitive deficit and the herb could be a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.”, reports the Express.
Further research, published in Antioxidants in February, revealed that when diAcCA – a novel, stabilised form of carnosic acid – was administered to mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, it reached therapeutic concentrations of the compound in the brain, and resulted in improved memory and synaptic density, or increased synapses, in the brain, according to News Medical Life Sciences.
Stuart Lipton, MD, PhD, senior author, professor, the Step Family Foundation Endowed Chair at Scripps Research and clinical neurologist in La Jolla, California, said: “By combating inflammation and oxidative stress with this diAcCA compound, we actually increased the number of synapses in the brain.
“We also took down other misfolded or aggregated proteins such as phosphorylated-tau and amyloid-β, which are thought to trigger Alzheimer’s disease and serve as biomarkers of the disease process.”
He added: “We did multiple different tests of memory, and they were all improved with the drug.
“And it didn’t just slow down the decline; it improved virtually back to normal.”
The precise impact rosemary might have on humans regarding preventing Alzheimer’s disease remains uncertain, though current research indicates it could show potential.
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