Rose Hip Powder Stops Arthritis Pain: Researcher
Friday, 14 Feb 2014 12:44 PM
By Chris Pritchard

A secret weapon to obtain relief from the dreadful pain of osteoarthritis (and other forms of arthritis) is as close as your kitchen’s counter-top blender.

A top university doctor says that his research shows that a tasty smoothie made with rose hip powder is often just as effective as powerful pain-killing drugs.

Dr. Marc Cohen, health sciences professor at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said that rose hip powder works without the dangerous side effects of pain medications. Rose hip also comes in capsule form, which has shown to be just as effective as powder.

“I use rose hip myself,” he told Newsmax Health. “I have arthritis, but I’m not bothered by pain because I make myself a smoothie every morning. I add a tablespoon of rose hip powder. It has a pleasant but not overpowering taste.”

Denmark is a major producer of rose hip and it is featured in traditional Scandinavian foods – in soups and other dishes as well as in drinks.

Rose hip comes from seed pods of roses, like those found in gardens worldwide. They’re seldom encountered by gardeners because bushes tend to be pruned as blooms fade, encouraging more flowers. But, if dying flowers stay on bushes, tiny berry-like seed balls appear. Reddish colored, these are rose hips.

The average garden doesn’t produce enough for therapeutic value because many are needed to make powders or pills.

Besides, Dr. Cohen added, a specific type of rose is generally used for anti-inflammatory powders and pills. This prized variety is the dog rose (Rosa canina), a climbing type often found growing wild in Scandinavia as well as northern Africa and western Asia. For many centuries it’s been used as a traditional therapy for diarrhea, bladder infections, and a variety of other ills.

Dr. Cohen did a detailed meta-analysis of university studies regarding rose hips. His conclusion: “Rose hip works.”

He wrote that volunteers “reported treatment with standardized rose hip powder consistently reduced pain scores.”

This natural remedy is even more effective than drug-based painkillers, said Dr. Cohen, which can cause bleeding problems and other side effects.

“In contrast to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen), rose hip has anti-inflammatory action that doesn’t inhibit platelets, thereby avoiding potential side-effects for patients at increased risk from the gastrointestinal or cardiovascular side effects,” the eminent researcher explained.

Rose hip works in reducing arthritis inflammation and associated pain because it contains a strong galactolipid (a plant membrane fat), maximizing retention of phytochemicals (chemical compounds in plants found to have significant health benefits).

Besides their value to osteoarthritis sufferers and those with other forms of arthritis, rose hip has been found in animal studies to ease the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBS).

“Human studies regarding IBS and rose hip are expected to start soon,” Dr Cohen said. “But it’s reasonable to assume the same will be true in humans. People with inflammatory bowel disease should be encouraged to try rosehip.”

He points out, “It’s not at all like strong synthetic drugs where people are ill-advised to take them if they’re not needed or to exceed prescribed doses because of side-effects.

“You buy rose hip over the counter at supermarkets or in health food stores – and if you take a little more than recommended doses there’s no adverse consequence.”

Dr. Cohen says rose hip is as effective in pill form as is the powder added to food. “In either case, I’d recommend two grams a day for a month, then dropping to one gram a day permanently.

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