Salvia rosmarinus Schleid. (syn. Rosmarinus officinalis L.) · herb
Evidence tier: weak
Supports liver detoxification, improves circulation, and provides antioxidant protection, carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid drive its anti inflammatory and neuroprotective effects
Not established for any human effect. 1,8 cineole is measurable in blood after inhalation and inhibits acetylcholinesterase in vitro, which is the origin of the memory story, and rosmarinic and carnosic acids are antioxidant and anti inflammatory in laboratory systems. The EMA registered rosemary without requiring a mechanism, which is what traditional use registration means.
Weak, and for the uses rosemary is actually marketed on, closer to nothing. Europe's regulator has monographed both the leaf and the essential oil, and both are TRADITIONAL USE only, resting exclusively on long standing use. Rosemary leaf (EMA/HMPC/513940/2021): symptomatic relief of dyspepsia and mild spasmodic gastrointestinal disorders, relief of minor muscular and articular pain, and minor peripheral circulatory disorders. Rosemary oil (EMA/HMPC/513893/2021): topical relief of minor muscular and articular pain and minor peripheral circulatory disorders. Cognition, memory and mental fatigue appear in neither monograph. The cognition literature is a handful of very small studies: Moss et al. (2012) is a within subjects aroma exposure study on mental arithmetic in a scented room, and Pengelly et al. (2012) randomised 28 older adults to dried rosemary powder. These are laboratory curiosities, not clinical evidence, and there is no systematic review that establishes a cognitive benefit in people. The single most interesting piece of human evidence for rosemary is somewhere else entirely: Panahi et al. (2015, Skinmed) randomised 100 people with androgenetic alopecia to topical rosemary oil or 2 percent minoxidil for six months and found comparable increases in hair count, with less scalp itching in the rosemary arm. That is a real randomised comparison and it deserves to be stated. It is also one small unreplicated trial, with no placebo arm, against the weaker 2 percent minoxidil rather than the 5 percent people actually use, and androgenetic alopecia is a diagnosed condition, so it cannot carry a general consumer claim.
EMA traditional use, leaf: comminuted herbal substance as a herbal tea or as a bath additive. EMA traditional use, essential oil: 6 to 10 percent in semi solid dosage forms applied topically, 2 to 3 times daily, not for under 18s. Supplement practice of 400 to 750 mg of standardised extract daily is not a regulator sanctioned or trial validated dose. The hair trial used topical rosemary oil twice daily for 6 months.
Take 400 to 750mg of standardised rosemary extract daily with food, or drink 1 to 2 cups of rosemary tea. For topical hair and scalp use: apply diluted rosemary essential oil (2%) to scalp.
Safe at culinary doses. Rosemary essential oil for aromatherapy is safe for adults. Caution: high dose rosemary essential oil applied directly to skin or scalp of children under 5 is not recommended, 1,8-cineole can cause respiratory distress in young children (same caution as eucalyptus). Avoid high dose supplements in epilepsy, camphor and rosemary oil may lower seizure threshold in sensitive individuals at concentrated doses.
Pregnancy: caution
Breastfeeding: safe
Active compounds: 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid, camphor, alpha-pinene
Remedies using Rosemary · Browse by body system · Check it against what you take
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.