Rosemary: Cancer Guard for the Grill – The Real Hamburger Helper

Rosemary is at home at a backyard barbecue. Its robust aroma accents the powerful flavor of red meats. Grill jockeys sprinkle it on roasts, add it to marinades, and throw rosemary sprigs on hot coals to infuse steaks and chops with a smoky rendition of its pine-like aroma.

But rosemary also does another important (though little known and rarely acknowledged) job at a barbecue. It guards your health by keeping away unwanted intruders known as HCAs—a gang of carcinogens that are out to ruin your fun.

The Real Hamburger Helper

Nothing spoils a good cookout like hearing that the juicy hamburger you’re enjoying is loaded with carcinogens. But scientists were spoilsports about 30 years ago, when they let the public know that grilling, frying, broiling, or smoking (but not baking) at high temperatures causes molecules in certain foods to break down and produce toxic chemicals called heterocyclic amines, or HCAs. When consumed, HCAs are readily absorbed, and traces of them have been found in human colon, breast, and prostate cells. They’ve also been found to induce DNA damage in test animals. Population studies over the years link a high intake of grilled meat with an increased risk of various cancers, including colon, breast, prostate, and pancreas.

Studies conducted during the last three decades consistently have found that HCAs start to build up on all flesh foods—meat, poultry, and even fish (but not vegetables and fruit)—four minutes after the temperature reaches 352°F. The longer the cooking time and the higher the temperature, the greater the toxic build-up. In one study, for example, food fried at 435°F contained six times as many HCAs than the same type of food fried at 352°F.

High temperature defines what grilling, frying, broiling, and smoking are all about. The standard household oven broiler is set at 500°F, and high-end steakhouses cook meats at 600°F and higher.

Saying you shouldn’t enjoy a grilled hamburger or Porterhouse steak would almost be un-American. In fact, there’s been lots of debate over the years as to how carcinogenic, or even harmful, HCAs really are. However, the US Department of Health and Human Services categorizes them as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” that can increase the risk of certain types of cancers.

What to do?

Well, the backyard barbecue has not been declared hazardous to your health and probably never will be, but the International Agency on Cancer Research says you can minimize this potential risk by cutting back on high-temperature styles of cooking and avoid eating charred food.

Or you can take rosemary to all your cookouts. Studies show that this spice is a potent antioxidant that can wipe out HCAs.

When researchers in Austria fried hamburgers at a relatively moderate temperature of 356°F for 20 minutes, they found HCAs continued to rise as the meat was being cooked. When they sprinkled rosemary on another set of burgers before putting them on the grill, however, and fried them at the same temperature for the same amount of time, 61 percent fewer HCAs were detected.

Researchers at Kansas State University have been experimenting with HCAs and rosemary extract for the last few years. They consistently found putting a little edible rosemary extract on hamburgers significantly decreased levels of HCAs. In some instances HCAs could not be detected at all.

“Lower temperatures can affect taste adversely,” noted Kansas State researcher and food science professor J. Scott Smith. “The better way may be to use rosemary extracts so temperatures can still be kept high.”

A Super-Sized Antioxidant

Rosemary’s carcinogen-killing talent comes from a special blend of antioxidants—rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid, and carnosol. Together they make rosemary one of the most powerful antioxidants on earth. Studies show that rosemary possesses more antioxidant strength than BHA and BHT, manmade antioxidants strong enough to keep fats such as butter and lard from going bad.

Rosemary can even do better than that; it can help keep the immune system from going bad. One study found that just breathing rosemary essential oil reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol in a group of volunteers. This is significant, because high levels of cortisol are associated with an increase in oxidative stress, a kind of internal rust that ages and damages cells. In fact, oxidative stress plays a role in all chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s—and in aging itself.

Rosemary is such a potent antioxidant that it can reduce the misery of radiation sickness (a mega-oxidizer) and prolong the lives of experimental animals exposed to a massive dose of gamma rays, according to a study in the Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology, and Oncology. In another animal experiment, Korean researchers found rosemary prevented neurological damage (caused mostly by oxidation) from the toxic pesticide dieldrin (which is now banned in the US, though not in other parts of the world).

It appears rosemary may even be powerful enough to protect your skin from one of the most powerful and penetrating oxidizers on earth—the sun.

A Natural Skin Saver

Laboratory and animal studies suggest that rosemary might act like a protective shield against the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which causes premature aging (photoaging) and increases the risk of skin cancer. In a study in the European Journal of Dermatology, rosemary extract protected human skin cells from damage when they were exposed to simulated UV radiation. The experiment, reported the French researchers, “supports this extract as a promising agent for the prevention of skin photo-damage.”

Rosemary may help prevent and/or treat:

Anxiety

Arthritis, osteo- and rheumatoid

Blood clots

Cancer

Depression

Dermatitis

Diabetes, type 2

Gout

Heart disease

Liver disease

Memory loss (age-related, mild cognitive decline)

Stress

Stroke

Ulcer

Urinary tract infection

Wrinkles

In another study showing rosemary can literally save your skin, researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey injected two groups of test animals with carcinogens that cause skin cancer. One group was treated with carnosol before each injection. After four months, the mice treated with carnosol developed 61 percent fewer tumors.

In another animal experiment, researchers in Italy found rosemary extract significantly reduced the growth of two different types of melanoma.

A Spice with Many Talents

Traditional healers have long believed rosemary contained special curative powers. They used it to treat diabetes, respiratory illnesses, arthritis, and dizziness. People inhaled rosemary boiled in wine to sharpen the mind. A medical text from the 17th century praised it as “a remedy for weakness and coldness of the brain.” Rosemary oil was put in hair rinses to promote vigor and growth.

Many of these uses are proving to be scientifically valid. We know, for example, that rosemary possesses nutrients that can help fight inflammation, bacteria, and viruses. It can also stimulate the central nervous system. The cosmetics industry has enough faith in rosemary’s traditional use to put it in formulas to treat wrinkles and oily skin.

To date, more than 500 studies have looked at rosemary and its constituents in the search to help cure and prevent a myriad of conditions. Among them are:

Dermatitis. A cream containing rosemary extract significantly decreased the oozing and swelling in 21 patients with severe dermatitis. The patients reported improvement in dryness, itchiness, and other symptoms.

Memory. Several studies show that the smell of rosemary can enhance thinking and total recall. One study of 144 people, reported in the International Journal of Neuroscience, found that smelling rosemary essential oil while performing mental tasks improved memory. Another found that sniffing the essential oil decreased anxiety before a test.

Cancer. More than 50 animal and test tube studies show that carsanol, carnosic acid, and other components of rosemary can suppress and kill cancer cells. For example, researchers in Israel, reporting in the journal Oncology, found that rosemary increased survival time in mice with leukemia. And researchers at the University of Illinois, in a study in Cancer Letters, found rosemary extract could “significantly inhibit the initiation and promotion” of breast cancer in animals exposed to carcinogens.

Cirrhosis. Rosemary protected animals exposed to the liver toxin carbon tetrachloride from the damage typical of cirrhosis of the liver, according to Mexican researchers, reporting their results inPhytotherapy Research. Researchers in Mexico also found that daily doses of rosemary improved the structural integrity of liver cells in mice and protected them from liver damage, despite repeated exposure to toxic substances; their findings were in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

Blood clots and stroke. Two studies by researchers in Japan found that adding rosemary to the daily diet of test animals fed a high-fat diet improved blood flow through the carotid artery (in the neck) into the brain. It also “significantly inhibited” blood platelets from clumping, reducing the risk of a blood clot. A high-fat diet contributes to the build up of plaque in arteries that can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Arthritis. US researchers found that a supplement containing rosemary extract reduced pain by up to 50 percent in people with arthritis. They reported their results in Phytotherapy Research.

Studies in Mexico found that adding rosemary to the diets of test animals helped alleviate the pain and inflammation from chemically induced arthritis. “This study reinforces the folk medicinal use of the plant in pain and anti-inflammatory disorders such as arthritis and gout,” the researchers concluded in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

Repeated treatment with rosemary extract “dramatically reduced” pain and inflammation and helped restore “nearly normal” joint health in test animals with experimentally induced rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study in the Journal of Rheumatology. “This effect could be beneficial in clinical [human] settings,” the researchers concluded.

Diabetes. Treatment with rosemary extract helped lower blood sugar levels in both normal and diabetic rabbits, according to a study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. The spice was just as effective as the diabetes drug glibenclamide (Glynase).

Ulcer. Rosemary “might have a therapeutic potential in the treatment of diseases such as peptic ulcer,” concluded scientists from the University of Illinois after evaluating the gastrointestinal healing potential of 25 spices and plants, according to a study in Phytotherapy Research.

Urinary tract infection. Researchers in Morocco found that rosemary increases urine flow similar to diuretic medication, according to a study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. They concluded that the research supports the Moroccan common practice of using rosemary to treat urinary tract infections.

Depression. Treatment with rosemary extract worked as effectively as fluoxetine (Prozac) in treating depression-like symptoms in animals, according to Brazilian researchers, in a study in Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology &Biological Psychiatry.

Getting to Know Rosemary

Rosemary is a legendary—and holy—spice. In a story told in the Christian tradition, the Virgin Mary threw her blue robe over a bush with white flowers when she stopped to rest while fleeing to Egypt with the baby Jesus. When she retrieved her robe, the flowers had turned the color of her robe, the same blue color found on the flowers of the rosemary bush today. “Robe of Mary” eventually became “rosemary.”

In ancient Greece and Rome, rosemary had traditional uses at both weddings and funerals. Brides put rosemary sprigs in their bouquets as a sign of fidelity and newlyweds planted rosemary on their wedding day. Rosemary branches were placed in the hands of the dead and, according to legend, grew to cover the entire corpse. Rosemary sprigs were placed on the graves of loved ones as a symbol of remembrance.

In premodern Europe, the French burned rosemary and juniper berries in hospitals to purify the air and prevent disease, and rosemary leaves were burned as incense in English courtrooms to protect officials from contracting contagious diseases from prisoners.

Today, rosemary is especially popular in the Mediterranean region, where it thrives in dry, sunny, sandy scrublands near the sea, and grows on retaining walls in backyard gardens. However, nowhere is it more enthusiastically used than in the cuisines of Italy and the Provence region of France, where it is a popular ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes.

Rosemary pairs well with these spices:

Basil

Bay leaf

Cinnamon

Clove

Coriander

Garlic

Marjoram

Nutmeg

Oregano

Paprika

Sage

Sun-dried

tomato

Thyme

and complements recipes featuring:

Chicken

Game

Grilled vegetables

Lamb

Pizza

Pork

Rabbit

Tomato sauces

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Other recipes containing rosemary:

Basic Barbecue Rub

Hungarian Goulash

Mediterranean Vinaigrette

Penne and Sausage with Fennel Tomato Sauce

Pizza Spice Blend

Roast Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Rosemary Barbecue Rub

Spaghettini with Basil-Tomato Sauce

Spice de Provence

Italian butchers often dress meat with rosemary or give rosemary sprigs to customers. Italians combine rosemary with honey, garlic, chiles, and wine, and use it to baste grilled lamb, goat, beef, fish, shellfish, and rabbit. Rosemary bread is a specialty in almost every region of Italy. Perhaps the most famous is pan di ramAjowan erino, a Florentine bread flavored with rosemary and raisins that is a tradition at Easter time. Rosemary is used in Italian pizza topping mixes, and some Italian pizzas are flavored with nothing but rosemary.

Rosemary grows wild and is cultivated in backyard gardens all over Provence. Just about every restaurant table in Provence features a bottle of olive oil seasoned with a sprig of rosemary, chiles, and other spices. Rosemary and garlic are featured spices in the Provencal vegetable dish ratatouille and it is hard to find a lamb dish that doesn’t make use of rosemary. Rosemary is used to spice French liver pâté and is used to flavor grilled whole fish.

How to Buy Rosemary

Rosemary’s stiff woody stalks with thin, dark green, pine-like leaves make it one of the most recognizable of culinary plants. On top, the leaves are glossy, with a vertical crease down the middle; the underside is pale gray-green.

There are actually two kinds of rosemary that produce the edible spice: a five-foot stiff bush that is often used as a hedge around homes and a low-growing variety that inhabits rocks and retaining walls. Upright rosemary is the more pungent variety. The only difference in appearance between the two varieties, other than size, is that the leaves on the upward-growing rosemary are about an inch long, while those of the low-growing rosemary are about one-half inch.

Rosemary is especially popular in the Mediterranean region, where it thrives in dry, sunny, sandy scrublands near the sea.

You can purchase rosemary fresh or dried (whole, chopped, crushed, or ground). There is not much of a difference between fresh and dried; they’re both equally strong. (And unlike most other spices, rosemary retains its flavor and volatile oils when ground.) Both are available year round in well-stocked supermarkets.

Fresh rosemary is easy to grow in backyards or container gardens in warm weather. Newly snipped or freshly purchased rosemary keeps for a week or more immersed in clean fresh water. You can also wrap it in foil, put it in a plastic bag, and freeze.

Rosemary’s leathery leaves and tough stems make it perfect for drying. It must be dried immediately after harvesting to preserve volatile oils. Hang fresh-cut branches upside down in a dark, well-aired warm place for a few days. When dried, the edges roll into tight scrolls and lose their flat appearance.

Once dried, the leaves are easy to strip from the stem. Hold them upside down and pull each leaf from the stem. This prevents ripping a piece of stem with the leaf. Snip them into quarter-inch pieces to make them easier to use.

Most of the rosemary imported to the US comes from Spain.

In the Kitchen with Rosemary

Rosemary has a pine-like aroma with a minty almost pepper-like balsamic taste. Its flavor is strong and can easily overpower a dish. If used carelessly or in excess, it will dominate all other spices and flavorings.

Rosemary does not lose its flavor in long, slow cooking. Because it contains a lot of oil, it dissolves quickly in fatty liquids. Again, it will take over a dish if the liquid is not degreased. The subtlest way to use rosemary is to throw a handful of sprigs on the coals near the end of grilling and let the smoke lightly scent the food.

Grilled Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Rub

This entree can also be roasted. Place the lamb racks on top of two rosemary sprigs on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast at 400°F for 20 minutes.

2 racks of lamb, trimmed and the bones frenched, about 2 pounds each

2 tablespoons Rosemary Barbecue Rub

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

1. If using a charcoal grill, set the grill for indirect cooking and place a dripping pan in the center. Preheat the grill to medium.

2. Rub the lamb racks generously with the rosemary barbecue rub and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. When ready to grill, coat the grill with oil and set the rack, fat side up, on the grill over medium heat until medium rare, or until it reaches the desired doneness, about 20 minutes. The lamb is medium rare when an instant-read thermometer measures 140°F. Throw the sprigs of rosemary on the coals five minutes before the rack is finished. Let the rack sit for 15 minutes before carving.

Makes 6 servings.

Being a hardy spice, it is best used with full-bodied foods such as roast lamb, chicken, pot roasts, and stews. It also goes well with starchy foods, such as scones, bread, and dumplings. It complements vinegars nicely.

When using fresh rosemary, strip the leaves from the stalk and crumble at the last minute to release their oil. The leaves of dried rosemary should be used in the same way.

Here are some ways to add more rosemary to your diet:

• Put whole sprigs under roast lamb or place a sprig in the cavity of a whole chicken or fish. Whole sprigs used this way should be removed and discarded.

• Finely chop the leaves and add to tomato-based soups.

• Finely chop and add to biscuit and bread mixes.

• Add rosemary sprigs to sugar syrup for poached pears and peaches.

• Infuse a rosemary stalk in vinegar and sprinkle on bread you’re going to grill.

• Use rosemary to flavor strong vegetables, such as brussels sprouts, cabbage, and eggplant.

• Combine a big sprig of rosemary, 2 or 3 crushed red chiles, a few fresh sprigs of thyme, a bay leaf, 1 tablespoon of oregano, 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, and add to a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil.