Image courtesy of Pixabay/Hans
As a teenager, I spent one summer living with my aunt and her family. My aunt is an amazing cook, and I got to watch her make jams and syrups.
To this day, I remember a hot summer afternoon when she was sitting in the kitchen completely surrounded by the pinkish rose petals.
That particular day my aunt had a very delicate job. Her goal was to cut a little stem on EVERY single petal connecting it to the flower center. Supposedly that would help to remove the bitterness from the syrup.
When I close my eyes now, I can still see those pink translucent petals floating in a rich sugary syrup. The delicate petals created a surprising astringent texture of the syrup in your mouth.
I always thought that my aunt’s culinary masterpieces had a secret ingredient. One of my teachers, David Crowe, said few years back that Jasmine is a flower of seduction, but Rose is a flower of love.
It feels very appropriate that I finally understand my aunt’s secret ingredient was her love.
Personally, I started to develop a love affair with roses a few years back. My rose obsession began after creating a daily ritual of drinking Tulsi Rose tea. I learned that the smell of roses makes me happier.
Since then, I’ve discovered many medicinal values of roses.
According to the traditional herbal literature and one of my teachers David Winston, rose petals can be used externally for wound washing and conjunctivitis, or internally for mood enhancement and support for grief and sadness.
Some recommend trying rose petals for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.
If used by themselves, rose petals in tea can be very fragrant and quite overpowering. Mixing them with other herbs is a good idea.
Even though roses simply command admiration and appreciation just for their beauty, a part of my curiosity is always pushing me to search for an explanation of why and how plants work (probably the pharmacist in me).
There is quite a bit of newer research that evaluates therapeutic benefits of roses.
Take a look at latest studies describing rose’s anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities as well as cardioprotective, hypoglycemic and even exercise-induced stress alleviating effects.
You might know, roses have an amazing fruit called rose hips. Rose hips are one of the highest sources of vitamin C known to men, and I’d like to talk about them separately in a future post.
If none of this persuades you to give roses a try, smelling the products made with this gorgeous flower certainly will.
Over time, I’ve been trying products containing rose petals – there are many gorgeous ones on the market.
These are some of my favorites thus far:
- Rose petal elixir from Avena Botanicals – If you’ve ever had a rough day, nothing helps better to remove the stress than a teaspoon of this syrup in your tea.
- Rose water spritzer from Avena Botanicals – Splashing/spritzing some on your face can work well in the skin care routine or help you just as a lovely “pick me up.”
- Riot of Roses collection from Galen’s way – Master formulators at Galen’s Way created rose cream that is hard to match.
- Rose otto from Floracopeia – If you are in search of that rare luxurious rose essential oil (most expensive of all essential oils), be prepared to spend some real money or put it on your wish list. Floracopeia also carries a more affordable version.
- Triple Goddess Rose oil vaginal serum from Snow Lotus – An amazing, very healing and beautiful formula for women of all ages.
[tweet]Roses have high medicinal value and many therapeutic effects – from mood enhancement to stress reduction. What type of a rose product would fit into your life?[/tweet]
Questions: Have you tried products or foods made with roses before? Do you have some favorites or recommendations?