FOOD AS MEDICINE

OREGANO

In last twenty years we have witnessed the abrupt and tremendous rise of interest in natural medicine. On the International Congress of Integral Medicine In Salzburg 2003., oregano was presented ass a useful medicinal herb with various healing properties.
First association related to oregano is of course pizza, the world most popular Italian meal. Oregano is a herb of strong, harsh, intensive scent becoming more and more popular as food supplement. It is the essential oil of oregano and its aromatic components that poses the medicinal properties.
Studies on biological activity of oregano have showed a wide range of antibacterial, fungicidal, antiviral and antioxidative properties of this herb and so its use extended from kitchen to health support field. At first, the oil of oregano was used in aromatherapy. Today, oregano is used dried and grinded, in capsules or as oil epplicated on skin locally or taken orally.
In folk medicine, oregano had been used for centuries as a natural antibiotic, antitussive agent, antispasmodic and mucolytic agent. Oregano is also efficacions in treating sinusitis, chronic throat troubles, non-specific ear inflammations, colds, virosis, flue, cystitis.
American physician dr. Harry Preuss from Georgetown University through experiments on mice proved that oregano shows inhibitory activity on bacterial growth specifically on staphylococcus species of bacteria which is same as that of standard antibiotics. According to Life Extension data base, oil of oregano halts staphylococcus growth "in vitro" just like streptomycin, vancomycin, or penicillin. The same experiment in Georgetown has shown that the wild, mountain-grown oregano is an excellent antifungal agent halting the growth of Candida albicans both on skin and in systemic infections. This was confirmed in studies by dr. Cass Ingram and others and indicated that daily intake of Oregacyn P73 can prevent candidiasis development.
In his book "Beyond Antibiotics", Michael Schmidt indicates that the advantage of essential herbal oils in halting microorganisms is in the fact that bacteria do not develop resistance towards them which happens with classic antibiotics. Oregano essential oil as well as many other herbal oils halts bacteria on its respiratory level while classic antibiotics block their metabolism. Bacteria avoid that by mutation thus making antibiotics unefficient.
Active matters in oregano carvacrol I thymol belonging to group of phenols that is antiseptics. The essential oil of oregano is the strongest know herbal antiseptic. It is interesting to note that it is 21 times more potent than phenols used for hospital sterilization.
Jennifer Billing and Paul W. Sherman from Cornell University, New York found out that oregano kills 100 % colonies of some thirty kinds of bacteria "in vitro". The most known are Pseudomonas aeruginusa, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus auerus and albus, Bacillus antracis.
Some Greek experiments showed that oregano kills bacteria in septic water this making it sterile.
Research published in volume 228 of "Journal of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry " shows antifungal activity of oregano (Oregacyn P73) against Candida Albicans.
Researchers at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture have determined that herbs are higher in antioxidant levels than fruits, vegetables and even spices such as garlic. Oregano herb has 42 times more antioxidant activity than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, 12 times more than oranges and 4 times more than blueberries. Antioxidant have become a synonym for good health in recent years. This is because antioxidants are a class of components that fight off the charged molecules known as free radicals that cause chemical damage in the human body and ailments such as stroke or heart attack. In addition, oregano being a herb is an easy way to get a concentrated source of antioxidants without all the extra calories of whole foods.
American doctors point out the extraordinary efficiency of Oregacyn in sinus troubles. Sinuses are wet, warm and dark hollows where fungi find ideal place to grow and maintain a constant inflammation and mucus production. This is frequently mixed up with bacterial infection and antibiotics are prescribed. However, they reduce bacteria but not fungi and thus the inflammatory cycle starts again.