Red wine lovers can happily justify moderate tippling, thanks to the impressive body of research which indicates that one of its key components, resveratrol, interferes with the action of the inflammation-producing COX-2 enzyme, which is linked to a host of health disorders, including cancer and heart disease.
However, people who don’t drink or who don’t like red wine may also be able to achieve a similar effect with certain essential oils. In a study published in the Journal of Lipid Research, Japanese scientists have found that thyme, rose, clove, fennel, eucalyptus and bergamot essential oils all had the ability to reduce COX-2 activity in cells. Thyme oil had the most dramatic effect, decreasing COX-2 levels by nearly 75 percent.
The researchers concluded that a chemical called carvacrol, which is particularly prevalent in thyme oil, was responsible for the anti-inflammatory effect, and they also suggest that it may provide the basis for future anti-inflammatory drugs.
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