Sage - The Herb Healer And Preserver

Sage or Salvia, meaning to heal in Latin, is an ancient herb used for thousands of years for cooking and healing. In ancient Roman and Grecian times it was used as a meat preservative. It was also believed to be a memory enhancer like rosemary. Pliny, the Roman naturalist recommended sage for epilepsy, snakebite, chest ailments, intestinal worms and menstruation.

Sage was introduced into North America by early colonizers who used it for treating epilepsy, insomnia, seasickness, measles and intestinal worms. Healers in the nineteenth century used sage to treat fever and prescribed it as a poultice for arthritis and as a tea for depressing sexual urges.

Medical books in the U.S. recommend sage as a tea gargle for sore throat and for sprains and swellings as a sage leaf poultice. The many active ingredients in sage include the chemicals alpha and beta thujone, cineole, camphor, tannins, flavonoids and rosmarnic acid amongst others. Below are a few terrific uses for sage even today.

Antiperspirant: The aromatic oils in sage reduce perspiration. Studies have shown that there is a fifty percent reduction in perspiration when sage is ingested, the highest effect occurring at two hours of ingestion. This might explain the use of sage for treating fever, where there is sweating and its use in drying maternal milk.

Diabetes: Studies in Germany have shown that sage infusion, drunk on an empty stomach reduced blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes. If sage is used by diabetics it must be in conjunction with proper medical management as diabetes is a serious medical condition.

Digestive aid: Sage is known to relax the digestive tracts smooth muscle lining. This may be why it is used for gastrointestinal ailments.

Preservative: When the fats in meats oxidize, that is, turn rancid, the meat spoils. Sage like rosemary has many powerful antioxidants which preserves the meat by slowing the spoilage. In fact the antioxidants found in sage can be compared to commercial preservatives like BHT and BHA and this gives credence to its use as a traditional preservative. In fact it may be wise to prevent a mishap on a picnic by adding a generous portion of sage to tuna paste, pastas, hamburger meat and potato salads.

Sore throat: Many astringent types of tannin are present in sage, accounting for its use in treating bleeding gums, canker sores and sore throat. German physicians recommend hot sage gargles for tonsillitis and sore throat.

Wound treatments: Modern laboratory experiments have shown sage to be antibacterial in the test tube against various bacteria. This supports the use of sage in treating and cleaning wounds. Today, doctors do not recommend using sage leaves for bandaging wounds but crushed leaves could be applied to scrapes and cuts as a temporary measure until proper treatment could be had.

Sage is indeed a wonderful gift from the gods as the Greeks and Romans believed.