A breakthrough research shows that daily dose of the herbal medicine rose hip could slash the risk of heart disease. The study found that overweight people who consumed a drink made with rose hip powder daily for six weeks, shown a significant drop in their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
The small berries that grow at the end of the rose-blooming season have been used for centuries as a folk therapy for diseases such as arthritis. These berries are full of vitamin C and contain strong anti-inflammatory properties. In the latest study researchers from Lund University in Sweden conscripted thirty overweight males and females to see the effects of rose hip.
All study participants were given a daily rose hip concoction made with forty gram of rose hip powder for six weeks, subsequent to that they were given a drink made from apples and grapes for six weeks. Researchers were trying to find out if daily rose hip solution would diminish the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
After completing each trail, researchers measured body weight, blood pressure, blood fat level and glucose tolerance of each participant, to verify if they are in early stage of diabetes. After six weeks they found that participants in rose hip drink group shown drop in their blood pressure by an average of three and half percent and drop in cholesterol levels by almost five percent.
More trails showed a larger drop by up to six percent in levels of LDL cholesterol that amplify heart disease risks. Research believed that the combined drop in cholesterol and blood pressure would diminish the risk of heart disease in obese people by seventeen percent.
If further studies confirmed the cardiovascular benefits of the rose hip then only it could be used as option for patients who are unable to take anti-cholesterol drugs due to their side effects. The study findings were published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
According to study authors, the study findings may have significant health insinuations and may offer an attractive alternative to anti-cholesterol drugs such as statin treatment for people who do not tolerate statins due to muscle pain and rise in live in muscle enzymes. Idetically is true for people at risk of developing diabetes because statins recently were shown to increase the risk of diabetes.