Leanne Pratt - Rosehips for Health

Friday, February 17, 2012 11:52 AM

When a rose fades and the petals drop off, the round seed pod that is left on the stem is called a rose hip. Rose hips are technically fruit. They are considered super-foods because rose hips contain more vitamin C than grapefruit and oranges. They also contain vitamins A, D, and E, iron, and powerful antioxidants.

Rose hips have been used as a source of food for centuries, but it was not until World War II that clinical scientists discovered the healing potential for rose hips. Several medical studies were performed in the 1940s which showed the high levels of vitamin C contained in the tiny fruit. When Britain experienced difficulties in getting citrus fruit into the country during WWII, the British government began collecting rose hips to make rose hip syrup as a source of vitamin C.

A medical study in January 2011 showed Rose Hips can have a positive effect on diabetic mice. Rose hip powder was fed to diabetic mice, along with a high fat diet. Lean mice were fed this diet for twenty weeks, while obese mice were fed this diet for ten weeks. Rose hip powder was shown to be able to not only prevent a weight increase in the mice, the obese mice lost weight. Glucose tolerance tests showed the mice on a diet which included rose hip powder tolerated glucose better than the control mice. There was a reduction in fat cells (lipids) in the liver, as well.

In addition to these benefits, the total blood cholesterol in the mice who ate rose hip powder was lowered. The ratio between LDL and HDL cholesterol levels were also improved. The study concluded that rose hips prevented a diabetic state and lowered the lipid profile in mice.