Sage 100 g, 50 g, 25 g

Sage – 100 g ($10.99), 50 g ($7.99), 25 g ($4.99)

Benefits:
Nutrients and Compounds
Sage packs a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals. One teaspoon (0.7 grams) of ground sage contains (2):

• Calories: 2
• Protein: 0.1 grams
• Carbs: 0.4 grams
• Fat: 0.3 grams
• Fiber: 0.3 grams
• Vitamin K: 12 mcg (10% DV)
• Iron: 0.2 mg (1.1% DV)
• Vitamin B6: 0.02 mg (1.2% DV)
• Calcium: 12 mg (<1% DV)
• Manganese: 0.02 mg (<1% DV)
• Vitamin A: 118 international units (2 percent DV)
• Magnesium: 8.6 milligrams (2 percent DV)

As you can see, a small amount of sage packs 10% of your daily vitamin K needs (2). Sage also contains small amounts (<1% DV) of magnesium, zinc, copper and vitamins A, C and E. What’s more, this aromatic spice houses caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, rosmarinic acid, ellagic acid and rutin — all of which play a role in its beneficial health effects (3). Since it’s consumed in tiny amounts, sage provides only minuscule amounts of carbs, calories, protein and fiber.

Antioxidants  Antioxidants are molecules that help fortify your body’s defences, neutralizing potentially harmful free radicals that are linked to chronic diseases (4). Sage contains over 160 distinct polyphenols, which are plant-based chemical compounds that act as antioxidants in your body (5). Evidence from test tube and animal studies suggest that compounds found in sage may have anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and neuroprotective effects (1, 3). A small, older study found that drinking a little over 1 cup (300 ml) of sage tea twice daily significantly increased blood levels of antioxidant enzymes. It also lowered both total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol, as well as raising “good” HDL cholesterol (6).

Oral Health  Sage has antimicrobial effects, which may protect against microbes that promote dental plaque.

In a 2015 study, a sage-based mouthwash was shown to effectively kill the Streptococcus mutans bacteria, which is notorious for causing dental cavities (7, 8). Another study in 2021 used sage-based mouthwash in late-stage cancer patients. Dental plaque was significantly reduced in the sage group, but plaque was also reduced in the normal saline mouthwash group (9). In a test-tube study, sage extract was found to kill and halt the spread of both oral bacteria and Candida albicans, a fungus that may also cause cavities (10, 11).

Menopause  During menopause, your body experiences a natural decline in the hormone estrogen. Symptoms of menopause include hot flashes, insomnia, dizziness, headaches, nighttime sweating, vaginal dryness, irritability and occasional palpitations. These symptoms arise from hormonal imbalances, namely lowered estrogen levels.

Common sage was traditionally used to reduce menopause symptoms (12). It’s believed that compounds in sage have estrogen-like properties, allowing them to bind to certain receptors in your brain to help improve memory and treat hot flashes and excessive sweating (12). A 2023 meta-analysis of 4 studies using doses ranging from 100 mg to 280 mg per day found that sage supplements significantly reduced the frequency, though not the severity, of hot flashes over 4-12 weeks, compared to a placebo.

In 2011, Swiss researchers substantiated the long-held belief that sage tea could provide relief for hot flashes and related menopausal symptoms. In this study, 71 patients were treated with a once-daily tablet of fresh sage leaves for two months. Patients reported a clear decrease in hot flashes during this time, with severe flashes reduced by 79 percent and very severe flashes reduced entirely. (7) The results offer a clear indication that sage is a viable treatment for menopausal symptoms, providing patients and caregivers with natural treatment options.

Blood Sugar  The leaves of common sage have been used traditionally as a remedy against diabetes. Human and animal research indicates that it may help lower blood sugar levels.

In one study, sage extract reduced blood glucose levels in rats with type 1 diabetes by activating a specific receptor. When this receptor is activated, it can help clear excess free fatty acids in the blood, which in turn improves insulin sensitivity (14, 15). Another study in mice with type 2 diabetes found that sage tea acts like metformin — a drug prescribed to manage blood sugar in people with the same disease (16). In another animal study, sage leaf extract has been shown to lower blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity in mice with a similar effect as rosiglitazone, another anti-diabetes drug (17).

Human research is limited, but one meta-analysis of three trials found that sage significantly reduced fasting blood sugar and HbA1c (18). However, more human evidence is needed to recommend sage as a diabetes treatment. Sage’s ability to lower glucose levels has been proven in animal studies. For instance, researchers out of the University of Minho in Portugal gave mice and rats common sage tea to test its antidiabetic effects. They concluded that ” its effects on fasting glucose levels in normal animals and its metformin-like effects on rat hepatocytes suggest that sage may be useful as a food supplement in the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus by lowering the plasma glucose of individuals at risk.” (3)

In addition, mice that were fed a high-diet to induce obesity were treated with sage to see if sage benefits for diabetes were exhibited in the obese mice. The mice were treated with either sage methanol extract or a control for five weeks. As a result, the mice given the sage saw insulin sensitivity improvements along with reduced inflammation, leading researchers to conclude that “sage presents an alternative to pharmaceuticals for the treatment of diabetes and associated inflammation.” (4)

Memory And Brain Health  Sage can help support your brain and memory in several ways. For one, it’s loaded with compounds that can act as antioxidants, which have been shown to buffer your brain’s defense system (19, 20). It also appears to halt the breakdown of the chemical messenger acetylcholine (ACH), which has a role in memory. ACH levels appear to fall in Alzheimer’s disease (21, 22).

In one study, 39 participants with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease consumed either 60 drops (2 ml) of a sage extract supplement or a placebo daily for four months. Those taking the sage extract performed better on tests that measured memory, problem-solving, reasoning and other cognitive abilities (21). In healthy adults, sage was shown to improve memory in low doses. Higher doses also elevated mood and increased alertness, calmness and contentedness (23). A 2021 randomized controlled clinical trial found that healthy people who took 600 mg of a proprietary sage extract daily for 2 weeks showed significant improvements in working memory, when compared to a placebo (24).

Alzheimer’s and Dementia  Traditional medicine has long recommended common sage (Salvia officinalis), Spanish sage (Salvia lavandulaefolia) and Chinese sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza) to treat declining mental functions and memory loss associated with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Otago in New Zealand conducted clinical trials using the extract of Spanish sage. In vivo and participant studies using both rats and humans with Alzheimer’s were examined, and “in a study in healthy volunteers essential oil administration produced significant effects on cognition.” Participants in the study experienced a reduction in neuropsychiatric symptoms and an overall increase in mental attention. (1) This lends credence to the claim that sage benefits include its ability to help improve mental capacities associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Another study out of Northumbria University in the U.K. administered doses of Spanish sage to participants before testing them for cognitive performance and mood ratings. These participants displayed an increase in the speed of recall in memory-related tests. They also reported an overall improvement in “alertness,” “calmness” and “contentedness.” (2) These mood-enhancing qualities are of particular interest to researchers treating Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. As those diseases progress, patients often experience episodes of intense irritability, so the sage oil treatments may offer some relief to those conditions.

Bad LDL Cholesterol  Every 33 seconds, one person in the US dies from heart disease (25). High “bad” LDL cholesterol is a key heart disease risk factor, affecting over 50% of American adults (26). In addition, the CDC estimates that 86 million adults over 20 in the US have total cholesterol levels above 200 mg/dL (27).

Sage may help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol, which can build up in your arteries and potentially cause damage. In one study, consuming sage tea twice daily lowered “bad” LDL cholesterol and total blood cholesterol while raising “good” HDL cholesterol after just two weeks (6). Several other human studies illustrate a similar effect with sage extract (28, 29, 30, 31).

A pilot study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences evaluated the benefits of sage tea on six healthy females volunteers 40 to 55 years old. Specifically, researchers looked at blood glucose regulation, lipid profile and cholesterol. They found that after four weeks of sage tea consumption, there were no real effects on glucose regulation, but “an improvement in lipid profile was observed with lower plasma LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels as well as higher plasma HDL cholesterol levels during and two weeks after treatment.” (5)

Cancer  Cancer is a leading cause of death in which cells grow abnormally (32). Interestingly, animal and test-tube studies demonstrate that sage may fight certain types of cancer (33). In these studies, sage extracts not only suppress the growth of cancer cells but also stimulate cell death. While this research is encouraging, human studies are needed to determine whether sage is effective at fighting cancer in humans.

Skin Aging: Several test-tube studies suggest that sage compounds may help fight signs of aging, such as wrinkles (36, 37).

Weight Loss  Increased body weight and obesity are known to contribute to an array of health complications, including type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Researchers developing natural alternatives to weight-loss control methods studied the effects of the methanolic extract derived from the leaves of common sage. Animal-based tests indicate that the methanolic extract inhibited the absorption of fat in the pancreas, leading to a decrease in overall body weight in mice fed a high-fat diet. (6) These findings may lead the way to further natural alternative treatments for obesity.

Anti-Diarrheal  Fresh sage is a traditional remedy for diarrhea. Test-tube and animal studies found that it contains compounds that may alleviate diarrhea by relaxing your gut (34, 35).

A study conducted by researchers in India sought to understand the relationship between sage and possible anti-diarrheal effects. The data from the in vitro and in vivo research suggested that an extract of the sage leaves inhibited gut motility and curbed spasmodic activity of the gut. This study provided support for the medicinal use of sage to treat not only diarrhea, but also abdominal colic. (8)

Botanical Name: Salvia officinalis
English: Dalmatian Sage, Garden Sage, True Sage
Also, known as: Salbei, Sauge, Salvia, Salvia Grande, Tan shan, Salbia, Wild Sage, sawge, Broad-leaved sage Narrow-leaved sage. Salvia salvatrix, salie, sauge, Echter Salbei, Gartensalbei, faskomilo, salvia officinal, Salvia Sefakuss, Spanish sage
Origin: Egypt
Harvested: Cultivated
Parts Used: Leaves.

General Information:
The common sage, familiar plant of the kitchen garden, is an evergreen undershrub. Its natural habitat is the northern shores of the Mediterranean. It has been cultivated for culinary and medicinal purposes for many centuries in England, France, and Germany, being sufficiently hardy to stand any ordinary winter outside.

Sage generally grows about a foot or higher, with wiry stems. The leaves are set in pairs on the stem and are 1 to 2 inches long, stalked, oblong, rounded at the ends, finely wrinkled by a strongly-marked network of veins on both sides, grayish-green in color, softly hairy and beneath glandular. The flowers are in whorls, purplish and the corollas lipped. The strong aromatic camphor odor is a characteristic of Sage, and it has a warm, slightly bitter taste They blossom in August. All parts of the plant have a strong, scented odor and a warm, bitter, somewhat astringent taste, due to the volatile oil contained in the tissues.

The most common type grows to about two feet high and two feet wide. In late spring or early summer, sage plants produce flowers that range in color from lavender and white to pink and purple. Another identifying feature of sage plants is their texture. Each leaf is covered with tiny, hair-like structures called trichomes.

Sage is found in its natural wild condition from Spain along the Mediterranean coast up to and including the east side of the Adriatic, it grows in profusion on the mountains and hills in Croatia and Dalmatia

Common sage (salvia officinalis) is a member of the mint family and thought to have originated in the Mediterranean. Now this popular culinary herb can be found in many regions and is a favorite addition of kitchen herbalists around the world. Variants of the sage plant are also used as ornamental shrubbery.

Recipes containing sage call for it in both fresh and dried forms. “Rubbed” sage is a powder that has been literally rubbed off the leaves of the plant. This powder is exceedingly delicate and fluffy. Sage is also available in essential oils and extracts, and all of these forms provide some truly remarkable sage benefits.

For thousands of years, sage has been an essential ingredient in the practice of traditional medicine, whether we’re talking traditional Chinese medicine or Ayurvedic medicine. Traditional herbalists have used sage to treat a wide variety of ailments and complaints, including swelling, infection, pain relief and memory enhancement. Sage tea has been recommended for its ability to ease digestion, curb diarrhea and provide relief to woman experiencing intense menstrual pain. Sage had also proved to be an effective counter to sores and infections of the mouth. Prepared as a gargle or mouth wash, it’s even been used to relieve discomfort associated with sore throats, bleeding gums and mouth-related ulcers — and these are just some of the traditional safe benefits and uses.

Perhaps because of sage’s prevalence in traditional herbal medicine, researchers have turned their attention to the herb in an attempt to study these sage benefits in clinical trials. The results of this research are quite surprising, as sage has proved effective at treating a wide range of ailments.

Commons sage’s Latin name, Salvia officinalis, references its widespread use as a medicinal herb. Salvia can be traced back to the root salvere, which means “to be saved” or “to cure.” The term officinalis refers to a specific room in a monastery called an officina. The officina acted as a storeroom for herbs and medicines.

Sage appears in written texts as far back as the Roman naturalist and historian, Pliny the Elder. Pliny describes how sage was used as a local anesthetic, a diuretic and a styptic. In 800 A.D., the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne decreed that every farm in his empire must grow sage for the benefit of the nation. (13)

Medieval herbalists included sage in a mixture called Four Thieves vinegar. This concoction, which along with sage contained strong white vinegar, wormwood, cloves and other herbs, was thought to prevent the spread of the plague. Present-day researchers suspect that the aromatics contained in the sage and other herbs actually worked as a flea repellent. Unbeknownst to the medieval herbalist, it was actually the fleas that carried and transmitted the plague.

 

How to use:
We make these suggestions to help you get the best benefit from the herbs that you’re choosing to improve your health. Also we make these ideas and recommendations so that consuming them easier and better fit into your lifestyle by adding them to the food that you already eat.
For the full health benefit, it is best to consume (or use the whole herb in poultices) the whole herb. All of the compounds in the herb act best together, as nature intends. Extracts draw out the most prominent beneficial compounds and may concentrate them. What is not extracted can be helpful in ways that we do not yet understand.

Cut Pieces or Powdered Herb:
There are different ways to use cut pieces or powdered herb.
Food Preparation: You can add powdered or pieces of herb (if the pieces you buy are bigger than you like, a coffee or herb grinder will quickly reduce) to any yogurt, smoothie, apple or other sauces, spreads, salads or other foods more familiar to you that don’t use heat. Heat can be damaging to the beneficial compounds in the herb. Other options like oatmeal, scrambled eggs, pasta sauce, soup, cookies and anything else that fits your lifestyle, but minimizing (by adding near the end of cooking) the heat is helpful.
Also, for children, you can mix powdered herb with honey or glycerin to make paste. The thicker the paste, the more potent and herbal in taste. The sweet taste of honey and glycerin will help medicine go down. The resulting liquid is called an electuary.
For seeds in general, but especially small seeds, it’s best to grind these to break the protective hulls a short time before consumption. This makes all the benefits available, rather than some remaining locked inside the hulls that are unbroken by insufficient chewing.
To make adding herbs even easier, you could add a week’s worth of your chosen herb(s) to an amount of, for example, yogurt that you would eat in a week. Mix thoroughly and eat this each day of the week. So you make once /week and just eat each other day.
Hot Infusion: The basic method for dried herbs and flower is, take 2-3 tablespoons of dried herb in a cup or teapot. Pour hot water over it and cover it with lid for 10-30 minutes. The heat from making tea can degrade some of the beneficial compounds in the herb. This method minimizes this effect. For the full health benefit, it is recommended to consume what is left over after making tea.
Decoctions: Decoctions are suitable for roots, barks, large seeds & berries, and other dense material. The simple way to make decoction is, in a saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of dried herbs to 1 cup of water, Bring the water to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-60 minutes with the pot covered. Squeeze out as much as liquid as possible. Best practice is to drink the liquid and also consume the solid material that remains. Herb pieces can also be used.
Powdered Herb:
There are different ways to use powdered herb.
Capsules: HerbsCrafters makes capsules guaranteed to be filled with the pure herb with no filler or any other products. You can also use powdered herb to make your own capsules at home. These capsules are best taken with liquid to aid in digestion and absorption and to ensure it doesn’t stick in your throat.
Poultice: Poultice can be made with an herbal powder and liquid (mostly water) to form a paste which is then applied to the skin. This method is very helpful for skin conditions.
Herbal shot: Powdered herb can be mixed with water, fruit juice or other liquid to make herbal shot.

Tips:
You can sweeten your herbal decoctions with bit of honey, natural fruit juice, stevia leaves powder or licorice root powder.

Precautions:
You should consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before using any herbal products, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, or on any medications.
All information on this website is for educational purpose ONLY.
This information has not been evaluated by Health Canada.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.