Self Help

The generic name for sage, Salvia, comes from the Latin word meaning “to heal.” The ancient Greeks and Romans first used sage as a meat preservative. They also believed it could enhance memory, like another powerful preservative, rosemary. The Roman naturalist Pliny prescribed it for snakebite, epilepsy, intestinal worms, chest ailments, and menstruation promotion.

The Colonists introduced sage into North America, where it was widely used by folk healers to treat insomnia, epilepsy, measles, seasickness, and intestinal worms. 19th century healers used sage primarily to treat fever. They also prescribed sage poultices for arthritis and the tea as sexual depressant.

U.S. medical texts recommended sage tea as a gargle for sore throat and sage leaf poultices for sprains and swellings. Modern herbalists recommend sage externally for wounds and insect bites, as a gargle for bleeding gums, sore throat, laryngitis, tonsillitis, and in an infusion to reduce perspiration, terminate milk production, and treat dizziness, depression, menstrual irregularity, and intestinal upsets. Below is a list of the many health benefits of sage.

1. Antiperspirant: Sage contains an aromatic oil that reduces perspiration. Several studies show sage cuts perspiration by as much as 50%, with the maximum effect occurring 2 hours after ingestion. This effect helps explain how sage developed a reputation for treating fever, which causes profuse sweating, and for drying up mothers’ milk.

2. Wound treatment: Sage is active against several infection-causing bacteria in the test tube, lending some credence to its age-old use in treating wounds. Modern physicians would not recommend bandaging wounds with sage leaves as did Dioscorides, but for cuts and scrapes in the garden, you may want to crush some sage leaves into the wound on the way to washing and bandaging it.

3. Preservative: Meats spoil in part because their fats turn rancid (oxidize). Like rosemary, sage contains powerful antioxidants, which slow spoilage. The antioxidants in sage, comparable to the commercial preservatives BHA and BHT, support its traditional use as a preservative. Sage’s preservative action may help prevent food poisoning on your next picnic. Mix it generously into hamburger meat and tuna, pasta, and potato salads.

4. Digestive aid: Sage may help relax the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract. This property lends support to the herb’s traditional use in gastrointestinal complaints.

5. Diabetes: One German study shows sage reduces blood sugar (glucose) levels in diabetics who drink the infusion on an empty stomach. Diabetes is a serious condition requiring professional care. If you’d like to include sage in your overall management plan, discuss the herb with your doctor.

6. Sore throat: Sage contains astringent tannins, which account for its traditional use in treating canker sores, bleeding gums, and sore throat. In Germany, physicians recommend a hot sage gargle for sore throat and tonsillitis.