The common rose is not just another pretty face. It has several health benefits. Rose hips are a nutritious food. They are also an anti-inflammatory with benefit for sufferers of osteoarthritis. Rose hip seed oil is one of the best cures for scarring. Though the petals are sometimes used in teas, the fruit or "hip" of the rose is most commonly used for its health benefits.
Rose Preparations
Rose hips and petals are used in three ways: in tea, as powder or as oil.
To brew a tea with rose hips, use about 2 tsp. of rose hip pieces. Boil a cup of water and steep the rose hips for at least 10 minutes. For rose petal tea, use about 2/3 cup of rose petals to each cup of water. Clip the white bottoms from each petal as they tend to be bitter. Bring the water to a simmer, and steep the tea for about five minutes.
Rose hip powder is the dried, crushed rose hip.
Rose hip seed oil is the essential oil of rose seed. It is commercially distilled and cannot be made at home. It can, however, be found in herb and vitamin stores and online.
Nutrition
Rose hips are consumed in tea in part for their nutritional value. According to nutritiondata.com, a single ounce of rose hips contains 24 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin A, 5 percent of calcium, and a whopping 199 percent of vitamin C. Native Americans used rose hips in teas, and then, rather than discarding the remaining hips, added them to soups and stews because they were too nutritious to waste. Rose petals have also been used to make tea, but their nutritional content has not been studied.
Beauty Treatments
Rose hips and petals have been part of beauty treatments for as long as we know. Rose water, an infusion of rose petals in water, has been used throughout the centuries to smooth the skin. Legend has it that Cleopatra used rose water as well as a bath of ass' milk strewn with rose petals as part of her beauty regimen. Rose water and glycerin are a common traditional remedy for dry hands.
Clinical Studies
Modern research, however, has taken us far beyond simple home remedies. We now know that roses have anti-inflammatory properties. A 1999 study conducted by Danish researchers and published in "Inflammopharmacology" found that when subjects took rose-hip powder for four weeks, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, a marker of inflammation, declined. A 2005 study published in the "Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology" by these same researchers found that rose-hip powder decreased the pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis. No studies have been done on the benefits of rose petals to health.
Rose Hip Seed Oil
Rose hip seed oil also has a good deal of research behind its benefit for scarring. The rose hips most researched are those of the species Rosa mosqueta, whose scientific name is Rosa affinis rubiginosa. This oil contains trans-retinoic acid, a substance long recognized for its value in treating skin problems and scarring.
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