Rose Hips to Look Younger and Feel Better

If you ask the average person about Rose Hips, you’d likely find that they’ve never heard of it. This once ancient remedy seems to have gotten lost in time. Not anymore though! Thankfully, this once popular pseudofruit is now coming back into the light. You can now start using rose hips to look younger and feel better. Keep reading on and we’ll tell you about the fascinating history of rose hips, its proven health benefits, practical applications, and more!

Quick Overview:

• Rose hips are high in vitamins C, E, and A.
• They are one of the highest sources of vitamin C and antioxidants.
• Rose hips can help you lose weight, burn fat, and may help lower blood sugar.
• They have been shown to help prevent cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
• Daily ingestion of rose hips has been shown to reduce wrinkles and improve skin moisture and elasticity.
• Rose hips have been reported to reduce joint pain and inflammation.
• There are no known side effects of rose hips in healthy adults.

History of Rose Hips

Rose hips are the pseudofruit, sometimes referred to as accessory fruit, of the rose plant. While there are many hundreds of species of rose plants, most scientific research has focused on Rosa canina; commonly referred to as the dog rose. It is thought it was given this name since it was considered ‘worthless’ when compared to the average garden rose. However, as we’ll learn soon, the health benefits it offers boost it miles above its more picturesque cousin.

Dog rose has a very interesting history that spans centuries. Ancient lore states the Thousand-year Rose, which climbs against a wall at Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany dates back to the establishment of the diocese in 815. It is believed to be the oldest living rose in the world. Early Christians thought rose hips to be sacred. So much so that the first rosary beads were crafted from them.

It has been shown that rose hips have been used through many civilizations including Chinese, Greek, and Roman. The most documented have been the uses by Egyptians, Mayans, and Native Americans. Egyptians used cold-pressed rose hips for healing various skin ailments. While Native Americans made tea or syrup from rose hips to cure colds and respiratory issues. In World War II, the British, unable to find fresh citrus, used rose hips to fight off scurvy due to its high amounts of vitamin C.

Proven Health Benefits of Rose Hips

While scurvy might not be an issue for most of us, there are still many other things vitamin C helps with. You might be surprised to find that rose hips actually have one of the highest amounts of vitamin C than any other fruit or vegetable. The research study that found this out also found rose hips to be high in phenolics and flavonoids. This means they offer beneficial antioxidant, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic effects. While those are somewhat large and intimidating words, it basically means these compounds help the function of your body and protect against cancer and other diseases.

For the Immune System

Vitamin C has also been shown to play an important role in your immune system. It stimulates the production of white blood cells called lymphocytes which helps protect you from infection. Rose hips are also high in vitamin A and vitamin E. Both have been in multiple studies to help strengthen and protect your immune system.

For Weight Loss

You might be surprised to learn that rose hips can help with weight loss! Rose hips from the dog rose plant (Rosa canina) are high in an antioxidant called tiliroside. It is believed that this antioxidant can help us burn fat. Researchers decided to test this theory in a 2013 study published in the journal of Preventive Nutrition and Food Science. This study involved splitting mice into groups and putting them all on a high-fat diet. One group had an amount of 1% of rosehip extract added to their diet while the other group did not. The mice given the rose hips gained significantly less body fat and overall weight than the control group did.

Building from this promising find, researchers in Japan decided to test this theory on human subjects. The study followed a group of adults for 12 weeks. One group was given 100 mg of rosehip extract daily, while the control group was given a placebo. The study concluded that those who took the rosehip extract had a substantial decrease in harmful stomach fat and body weight as well.

For Inflammation

Rose hips have many compounds that have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects on the body including polyphenols and galactolipids. Multiple studies have been done on people with osteoarthritis and those that take rosehip extract have reported significantly reduced joint pain. In fact, one study published that 65% of participants taking 5 g of rosehip extract daily reported a reduction in pain.

For Anti-Aging

If you’re interested in looking younger, hips might be exactly what you’re looking for. Its high levels of vitamin C promote collagen synthesis and help protect your skin from sun damage. This can help your skin look tighter, smoother, and more youthful. Rose also contain the carotenoid astaxanthin, which helps prevent the breakdown of collagen.

These results have been studied, too! One study published in the Journal of Clinical Interventions in Aging found that those who took 3 g of rosehip powder supplement daily for 8 weeks had improved skin elasticity and moisture. They also developed fewer crow’s feet wrinkles than the control group.

Diseases Rose Hips Can Help With

Rose hips may help prevent some of the most chronic and deadly diseases including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Most of these benefits come from the high levels of antioxidants found in rose . They’re so high, in fact, one study compared 8 different fruit extracts and rose ranked the highest in antioxidants.

While antioxidants can help with the prevention of type 2 diabetes, researchers have something else in rose helps, too. While scientists haven’t exactly figured out what component in hips help, they know it does. Multiple studies have been done on both rats and mice and have shown that rose significantly decreases blood sugar levels and fasting insulin levels, though more research needs to be done.

Using Rose Hips

There are many different ways of using rose hips. The most common ways include tea, syrup, jelly, or as an extract in supplements. For convenience, we suggest using a daily supplement with rosehip extract included. If you happen to have roses in your garden, especially dog roses, you can also make your own rosehip tea! Here is a quick and easy recipe:

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of fresh rose hips (or 1 ½ tablespoon of dried rose hips)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of dried hibiscus flowers (optional)
• Honey for taste (optional)

Directions:

1. Bring a little over 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan.
2. Add the rose hips and hibiscus flowers (if using) to the water. Stir it in, place the cover on, and remove from the heat.
3. Let the tea steep for at least 15 minutes.
4. Then, pour the tea through a fine-mesh sieve or a paper coffee filter into a cup.
5. Add honey to taste (optional)

This tea has a light fruity taste with tangy and sweet undertones. Though you can brew it on its own, it’s most often enjoyed with hibiscus or mint. Adding rosehip tea to your daily diet can easily offer you all of the benefits mentioned above. If you don’t like tea or are not a fan of the taste of rosehip tea, rosehip extract found in supplements is a great alternative.

Possible Side Effects

The great news here is rose hips have shown to have no side effects in most healthy adults. However, there are some precautions that should be taken. For example, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you should talk to your doctor before adding any hips to your diet. If you are prone to kidney stones, you may want to avoid roseas the high levels of vitamin C may aggravate the condition. Also, if you are taking the mood stabilizer Lithium, you should avoid rosehip tea. The diuretic effect of the tea could possibly increase the concentrations of Lithium in your body which may lead to serious side effects.

The All-Natural Way to Look Younger and Feel Better

As you have now learned, rose hips are the all-natural way to look younger and feel younger. It can help reduce pain, improve your skin, reduce inflammation, assist you in losing weight, and protect you from numerous diseases. We recommend adding hips to your daily diet for optimal health and nutrition. This can be done by drinking rosehip tea daily or simply added a supplement that included rose . Then you’ll be well on your way to younger-looking skin and a healthier body!