Tag Archives: nutrition

Put Rosemary on the Menu

While rosemary has graced Mediterranean kitchens for centuries, modern science is uncovering this fragrant herb’s remarkable potential as a brain protector and healer. Recent research conducted by the NIH and other entities reveals that rosemary may offer significant therapeutic benefits for those recovering from brain trauma, while also providing cognitive enhancement for healthy individuals.

Studies on animal models with repetitive mild traumatic brain injury have shown that rosemary extract dramatically improves cognitive deficits that typically follow such trauma. The herb’s active compounds, particularly carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid, demonstrate powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that protect brain cells from the harmful free radicals and inflammation that flood the brain after injury. Research published in NIH databases shows rosemary treatment prevents neuronal degeneration and reduces harmful brain cell activation in the hippocampus, a region crucial for memory formation.

In experimental models of stroke and brain injury, rosemary extract significantly reduced brain tissue damage, improved neurological function scores, and decreased dangerous brain swelling. Animals treated with rosemary showed better performance on memory tasks and improved spatial learning abilities. The herb enhances blood flow to the brain, delivering vital oxygen and nutrients needed for healing while supporting natural repair mechanisms.

Beyond trauma recovery, rosemary offers impressive benefits for everyone’s brain health. The herb contains 1,8-cineole, which prevents the breakdown of acetylcholine, a key brain chemical essential for learning and memory. Studies with healthy individuals show that simply inhaling rosemary’s scent can improve memory performance and concentration. University students taking rosemary supplements for one month demonstrated significantly enhanced memory abilities compared to those taking placebos.

Rosemary also helps reduce stress and anxiety by lowering cortisol levels, while its antioxidant properties protect against age-related cognitive decline. Ancient Greek students wore rosemary garlands during exams to boost focus, and Shakespeare called it “the herb of remembrance” – wisdom that modern research now validates.

Whether recovering from brain injury or simply seeking to optimize cognitive function, rosemary represents a natural, accessible option for brain health. However, those with medical conditions should consult healthcare providers before using rosemary therapeutically.

A Broader Definition of Day Care

No one wants a life of twiddling their thumbs, with little to occupy their time.  For this reason, the concept of adult day programs was created.*  As the geriatric population becomes larger, the idea of providing appropriate funding to attend these adult day centers has become more popular.  This year, on January 8**, Rep. Barbara Lee (CA) introduced the Adult Day Center Enhancement Act to broaden the idea of who may benefit and should receive funding for adult day center attendance.  The purpose of the Act is to provide funding for, “a program that provides comprehensive and effective services to individuals living with neurological diseases or conditions… that may result in a functional or degenerative disability and to their family caregivers and that may assist participants.”  (This bill funds daytime assistance to the young adults who are disabled, however I can find no information regarding the age limits.)

Related to its assistance to the participant, “adult day programs can offer services, including medical care, rehabilitation therapies, dignified assistance with the activities of daily living, nutrition therapy, health monitoring, social interaction, stimulating activities, and transportation.”  First introduced in 2013, and re-introduced every other year thereafter, H.R. 320 seeks to maintain the quality of life of the disabled population.  As with inflation, the allowed funding will increase every year until 2023.  (The Veterans Home Adult Day Health Care Improvement Act, to which I assume partially refers to veterans with brain injuries, was signed into law on March 27, 2018.)

On January 8, the Adult Day Center Enhancement Act was referred to the House Committee of Energy and Commerce, of which Rep. Lee is a member.  (Last time the Act was introduced, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Health.)  Due to the shutdown, this bill currently has no co-sponsors nor does it have a summary on congress.gov.  Now that the shutdown is over and before the bill may be enacted, it must be evaluated by the Assistant Secretary of Aging.

* On some sites, I have found it titled “adult day care”.  However, it is generally titled “adult day programs” assumedly because “daycare” has a youth connotation.  If one is to think about it though, that inaccurately marks toddlers as the only segment of the population that need activity during the day.

** I find it heartening that a bill was introduced in Congress during the partial shutdown, which officially began December 22, 2018.