What Are The Health Benefits Of Rose Hips?

Rosa canina is a perennial herb native to Europe, Africa and Asia, and its fruits, called "hips," and are used for medicinal purposes. In folk medicine, rose hips have a long history of being recommended for respiratory and digestive conditions, as well as a natural flavoring for teas and jams, according to Drugs.com. Recent clinical studies show that rose hips might be beneficial for arthritis, diabetes and to prevent constipation and fluid retention; however, more research is needed to fully confirm these findings.

Osteoarthritis

Rose hips might be effective for the management of osteoarthritis, suggests a British research team led by V. De Silva. In the December 2010 issue of "Oxford Rheumatology," the scientists published a summary of clinical studies conducted until January 2009 that evaluated complementary medicine for treating osteoarthritis. Rose hip, among other herbs and supplements, showed some evidence of being beneficial for managing osteoarthritis.

Diabetes

Dietary supplementation with rose hip helped prevent the development of diabetes in animal studies, according to U. Andersson and associates from Lund University in Sweden. Their study was published in the January 2011 issue of "American Journal of Physiology." The anti-diabetes effects of rose hip was evaluated in two groups of subjects, one fed a high-fat diet and one a regular diet. Beside its anti-diabetes activity in both groups, rose hip also lowered the body weight and body fat mass in subjects who consumed the high-fat diet.

Laxative

Rose hip also might prevent constipation. The laxative effect of rose hip might be due to malic acid, citric acids, pectin and glycosides, active ingredients in rose hip, explains Drug.com.

Diuretic

Drugs.com indicates that rose hips was researched for its ability to act as a diuretic, its ability to eliminate fluid retention, but this potential benefit is controversial because studies yielded mixed results.

Considerations

You do not need medical supervision if you consider adding more rose hips to your diet for general health. You can consume plenty of fresh rose hips or rose hip tea. Rose hips tablets and oils are concentrated forms of rose hips extracts and are used by alternative health care providers to improve certain medical conditions. If you want to use rose hips for a particular disease, consult a medical professional to find out optimal dosage as well as possible side effects and drug interactions. Keep in mind that rose hip supplements do not replace any medication you are taking.