Unlocking The Natural’s power: The Health Benefits of Oregano
Oregano is a famous herb that we usually recognize from foods like pizza and pasta. It’s a dried spice that’s often used in Greek and Italian cooking. It’s like a cousin to thyme, basil, lavender, and sage. Oregano has a strong taste that makes food warm and a little sweet. You can have it fresh, dried, or as oil. But it’s not just about adding smell to your food – it’s really good for you too.
It helps make your immune system stronger and helps your stomach and digestion work better. Even though you don’t need a lot, oregano has many good things in it. Just one teaspoon of dried oregano can give you about 8% of the vitamin K you need every day.
Oregano is like a superstar herb in cooking all over the world. It doesn’t just make food taste good – it also has some special powers. It can help our bodies fight off harmful bacteria and make things less swollen and sore. Scientists have looked into it and found out that oregano could be really good for us.
Types of Oregano:
Oregano is a group of 42 different types of plants. They’re found in places like North Africa, Eurasia, and Western India. The one most people use is called Oregano Vulgare, also known as Spanish Thyme. These different types of oregano are used in cooking, and which one you use depends on the recipe you’re making.
There are different ways you can find oregano:
- Dried leaves
- Fresh leaves
- Oregano oil
- Oregano extract
You can pick the one that fits the recipe you’re making.
Fresh Oregano
When you taste fresh oregano, you’ll notice it has a strong flavor and its leaves are flat. It might taste a bit like metal, but that’s normal. What’s really cool is that it can fight off bad bacteria and help keep you healthy. It has special things called phytonutrients that can fight infections. People often put fresh oregano in soups and stocks, or they add it to fish dishes to make them taste really interesting.
Dried Oregano
Most people like to use dried oregano more often. It adds a nice taste to food without being too strong, like fresh oregano might be. Dried oregano also has things that can fight off viruses. So, if you have a cold, cough, or a sore throat, putting dried oregano on your warm soup could help you feel better.
Oregano Oil
To make oregano essential oil, they first dry the leaves in the air. After they’re dry, they take out the oil from them using steam. This oil is strong and has good things in it that can help your body. It’s got stuff that fights bad things and helps keep things clean. You can use a little bit of this oil in your cooking or put it on your skin or nose to help with things like colds, coughs, skin problems, bug bites, and even for cleaning.
Benefits of oregano:
For many, many years, people who live near the Mediterranean Sea have been using oregano as a kind of plant medicine. They use it to help with different problems like:
- Sores on the skin
- Muscles that hurt
- Breathing issues like asthma
- Painful cramps
- Upset stomach and diarrhea
- Trouble with digestion
- Common colds
- Just to make their overall health better
Scientists still need to do more studies to be sure, but there’s some proof that oregano might:
- Fight off bad bacteria
- Make swelling go away
- Keep blood sugar and fats in check
- Help fight against cancer
Oregano and other plants like it have special things inside that help the body get rid of harmful stuff called “free radicals.” These free radicals are made naturally in the body and can also come from things around us. Too many of them can make our bodies sick. So, oregano and similar plants can help us stay healthy by getting rid of these harmful substances.
1. Protecting against cancer:
Some things in oregano might be able to fight cancer.
Scientists have seen signs that these things could protect cells from getting hurt because of stress, radiation, and certain proteins that make cells grow too much.
They also found out that some parts of oregano might stop skin cancer from spreading and keep harmful cells from growing.
But just eating oregano isn’t enough to prevent cancer. If you eat lots of different plant foods with special things like oregano, it might help stop changes in cells that can lead to cancer.
Back in 2013, tests in labs showed that a type of oregano called Origanum majorana could slow down or even stop breast cancer from spreading to other parts of the body.
2. Diabetes:
Oregano has special things in it that might help control type 2 diabetes. In a study with animals in 2016, they found that a part of oregano called Origanum extract could:
- Make insulin resistance better
- Control the way genes work that affect how our body uses fat and carbs
- Fix parts of the liver and kidneys that got hurt
Some people already use oregano leaves and oil to keep their blood sugar levels from getting too high.
Type 1 diabetes is a kind of sickness where the body fights itself. Doctors aren’t sure why it happens, but something called “oxidative stress” might be a part of it.
In 2015, scientists saw that an oregano extract helped mice with type 1 diabetes. They thought this might be because oregano can stop harmful things from happening in the body, help the immune system, and keep cells from dying.
3. Anti-Inflammatory properties:
When our body gets hurt or has germs, it swells up to protect itself. Oregano has good things in it that can help make this swelling go down. This happens because oregano has stuff that fights bad things and helps with the swelling.
4. Depression:
In 2018, a group of scientists did a study to see if oregano oil and other things could help rats that were feeling really down because of ongoing stress.
After about two weeks, the rats that got the oregano treatment seemed to feel better. The scientists said that oregano might be able to make them feel less stressed.
5. Improves Digestion:
Oregano has something called fiber, which is really good for our digestion. Fiber helps our digestive system work better by making our stool bigger and helping food move through our body properly.
You can also use oregano oil to help with stomach issues like feeling bloated, having an irritable bowel, or having cramps in your belly. It might make you feel better.
Other possible health benefits:
The National Library of Medicine talks about how people use oregano for different reasons. They eat oregano things for problems like:
- Coughs
- Breathing issues like asthma
- Allergies
- A sickness called croup
- Lung infection called bronchitis
- Painful cramps during periods
- Joint pain from rheumatoid arthritis
- Problems in the urinary tract
- Headaches
- Diabetes
- Bleeding after a tooth is removed
- Heart problems
- High cholesterol
People also put oregano oil on their skin for things like:
- Pimples and acne
- Athlete’s foot
- Dandruff
- Sores inside the mouth, tooth pain, and gum issues
- Warts
- Cuts
- Ringworm
- Red skin condition called rosacea
- Skin disease called psoriasis
- Bug bites and as a bug repellent
- Pain in muscles and joints
- Swollen veins called varicose veins
But there isn’t enough proof to say oregano is a good medicine for these problems when eaten, used as a supplement, or as oil. However, for most people, it’s not likely to cause harm if they don’t take too much oregano oil and use a weak form of it on their skin.
Nutritional Properties of Oregano:
Oregano is packed with important stuff our body needs, like vitamins A, C, and K. It also has things like iron, magnesium, potassium, and calcium that are really good for us. Plus, these plain-looking leaves have a bunch of other special things that are good for our body. And the best part is that it doesn’t have a lot of calories.
Here’s how much nutrition you can get from 100 grams of dried oregano:
- Energy: 265 Kcal (that’s how much energy it gives you)
- Carbohydrates: 68.9 g (these are like the body’s fuel)
- Protein: 9 g (this helps you grow and stay strong)
- Total Fat: 4.2 g (the healthy kind of fat your body needs)
- Dietary Fiber: 42.5 g (this helps your tummy work better)
Side Effects:
If you eat oregano in your food, like leaves or oil, it’s probably okay and won’t harm you. But we’re not sure if using a lot more than what’s in food is safe. Sometimes, it might upset your stomach a bit.
When you put oregano oil on your skin, we don’t know for sure if it’s safe. Using too much can irritate your skin, especially if the oil is really strong. So, it’s best not to use too much of it.
