Sage and rosemary, two more members of the mint family, are rich in a variety of antioxidants: volatile oils, flavonoids, and some acids. Sage’s antioxidant enzymes make it possible to provide benefits commonly associated with the top antioxidant foods.
Containing rosmarinic acid, sage is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Easily absorbed, increasing the use of sage along with other foods is highly recommended, especially for inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma, and atherosclerosis.
Good news for seniors, research proves sage is an outstanding memory enhancer. It’s been used for treating vascular brain disease for over 1,000 years. Furthermore, it’s an effective option for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease plus menopausal symptoms: night sweats and hot flashes. Additionally, research shows it enhances insulin’s action, thereby benefiting diabetics.
Rosemary, like sage, is valuable for seniors too. Its benefits come from its antioxidants. Some are enhanced kidney function and digestion, plus helping ulcers, urine flow, prostate, gall bladder, and prevention of cataracts. Furthermore, it’s an anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, stimulating the immune system and brain function. Increasing blood flow to the head, it improves concentration, helps depression, and can relieve some of Alzheimer’s symptoms.
Additionally, rosemary contains 19 antiseptic, antibacterial chemicals and a number of volatile oils. These help reduce the inflammation that contributes to liver and heart disease. Plus, by decreasing the airway constriction provoked by histamines, the chemical cause of asthma and allergy symptoms, rosemary has long been used to treat those and other respiratory conditions like colds, sore throat and congestion, plus flu.
Furthermore, rosemary stimulates the liver enzymes that assist the inactivation of estrogen hormones, which can cause breast cancer. It’s also been shown to protect DNA from cancer-causing chemicals. Consumed on a daily basis, rosemary extract preserves essential minerals like sodium and potassium. Rosemary oil stimulates hair growth, and its extracts help prevent wrinkles.
Rosemary and sage are excellent seasonings for all meat dishes, breads (for Southerners, cornbread dressing), and starches. Use them separately or together.
A tip for experimenting with combining seasonings: smell each one in the potential group separately, about thirty seconds apart. That will help determine which ones you’d like to try mixed. Then smell the proposed blended group, rapidly one after the other. Because the sense of smell is highly related to the sense of taste, finding combinations that smell good together will normally taste good together.
