Health Benefits Of Eating Thyme

Thyme is a naturally growing herb and regularly eating thyme may offer various health benefits because of concentrated bioactive compounds.

This plant originates from the Mediterranean and is used to spice up many different dishes. This is largely because of an effect on food flavor or aroma. Thyme is available in many grocery stores both as a fresh herb and sometimes as a cold pressed oil. Some studies have found that thyme is able to reduce oxidation of some frying oils from heating and preserve oil tocopherols. One popular culinary use of thyme is alongside oregano within a fresh salad.

Thyme has been used in many different cultures as part of medicinal preparations throughout the years and is a wild medicinal plant. The Ancient Sumerians and Egyptians both used thyme as a medicinal. Some example applications include for bronchitis and coughs partly because of mild expectorant effects. Thyme is also a mild antiseptic and has been used historically for gastrointestinal issues.

This herb is also known for immune system regulating effects and possible suppression of inflammation. Thyme could also protect DNA from damage within the body and could have Alzheimer’s preventative effects too. These possible health benefits of consuming fresh thyme may result from various nutrients and phenolics.

Here the known research on thyme will be condensed to clearly show how thyme could influence your health and provide possible benefits when eaten regularly.

How Thyme Offers Health Benefits

Thyme is considered to be one of the most important medicinal plants in the world. Thyme is considered to be rich in phenolic compounds which are known for antimicrobial effects and also sulfur compounds.

This herb seems to be rich in antioxidant phenolics but is not as nutrient dense as other foods or herbs in raw vitamins and minerals. There are a couple of very strong bioactive compounds within thyme including thymol and carvacrol. Thyme oils contain up to 50% thymol and carvacrol. Thyme extracts also contain other bioactives such as luteolin, p-cymene, linalool, γ-terpinene, ortho-cymene and apigenin.

Core Nutrients Within Fresh Thyme

Nutrients are considered to be central to the medicinal or health supporting benefits of any medicinal herb or food. Thyme has a reasonable nutrient density and nutrient profile. Thyme is thought to contain high amounts of iron, vitamin C, folate and zinc. These could contribute to possible health benefits of eating fresh thyme.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a core nutrient present in many herbs which are thought to promote wellness. Within thyme there is 160 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. 100 grams is a lot of thyme but this is a high nutrient density of vitamin C per gram of food which could improve dietary nutritional quality. Our RDA for vitamin C is also 90mg. Per gram thyme really adds to this RDA and vitamin C should form a large part of possible health benefits from eating thyme.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant vitamin which reduces total oxidative stress within the body and supports healthy immune system functioning. This vitamin may reduce the appearance of skin of aging and research suggests vitamin C is cancer preventative.

Beta Carotene And Vitamin A

2850 µg of beta carotene and this converts to 4750 IU of vitamin A per 100 grams of fresh thyme. This supports our vitamin A RDA of 900µg.

Beta carotene is used independently in the body but also converts to vitamin A. Vitamin A is an antioxidant which supports optimal eye health and fertility. This vitamin is also linked to optimal brain functioning. Beta carotene is a natural antioxidant and contributes to reducing systemic oxidative stress. This compound may stimulate immune cell production and be preventative of cancer.

Folate

Folate is an interesting B complex vitamin. There is 45 µg of folate per 100 grams of thyme which contributes to our RDA of 400 µg.

Healthy level of folate are needed for healthy growth and development. This is because of a role in amino acid metabolism and DNA synthesis. Folate also contributes to myelin formation and neurotransmitter production. These are important for optimal brain health and development as we age.

Iron

Thyme contains an incredible 17.4 mg of natural source iron per 100 grams which is over 100% of our iron RDA. Support of healthy iron status is therefore a core part of the possible health benefits of eating fresh thyme. The high vitamin C content of thyme also helps to improve iron load into the body for an added iron boost.

The iron content of thyme could support a reduced risk of anaemia. This is because iron is essential for healthy red blood cell formation and maintains oxygen status throughout the body. Iron supports healthy blood flow to our muscle and brain providing vital nutrients to our organs.

Zinc

Thyme supports health zinc levels with the body as this herb provides 1.81mg of zinc per 100 grams of thyme. Our zinc RDA is 11mg.

Zinc is another important mineral which adds to the antioxidant capacity of the body. Healthy levels of zinc also support immune status and infection resistance. Zinc is heavily linked to testosterone levels and fertility. Zinc may also offer some neuroprotective ability in the correct concentration within the brain.

Manganese

Manganese is an important mineral for our bodily antioxidant systems and supports healthy blood glucose levels.

There is 1.72mg of manganese per 100 grams of thyme which supports healthy antioxidant status and may also support optimal athletic performance. Our RDA for manganese is around 2.3mg. Therefore support of healthy manganese levels could contribute to the overall possible healthy benefits of eating fresh thyme.

Potassium

Potassium is an essential electrolyte within our bodies that encourages healthy muscle movements and nerve signalling.

There is about 609 mg of potassium per 100 grams of thyme which contributes to our recommended intake of 4,700mg per day. Healthy potassium levels are linked to heavily reduced risks of strokes.

Dietary Fibre

Thyme is particularly rich in dietary fibre and contains 14 grams of dietary fibre per 100 grams. Thyme is thought to contain high amounts of cellulose, lignin an hemicellulose fibres.

Dietary fibres are complex carbohydrates or sugars is not digestible to humans but our gut bacteria thrive on them. Health promoting gut bacteria are becoming more recognised for their influences on our health. They supress the growth of pathogenic bacteria and may also provide us with health supporting compounds.

Pathogenic gut bacteria or microbes can cause systemic inflammation. They may disturb balances within our body and cause inflammatory skin conditions. Some microbes can cause acne from skin sebum production. Through the provision of dietary fibre thyme could provide possible health benefits such as improvements in skin or gut health.

Thyme And Gut Health

Interestingly thyme and carvacrol rich water has been used as a traditional medicine to aid digestive disorders. Modern research has found strong evidence to support these claims.

One study found that individuals consuming thyme extracts had higher levels of specifically characterised health supportive gut bacteria. They also had improvements in gastrointestinal symptoms. Gut health is also thought to influence obesity risk and this is another possible health benefit of eating fresh thyme.

Thyme dietary fibre may encourage the growth of health promoting gut bacteria while reducing the amounts of pathogenic microbes via bioactives like thymol or carvacrol. Some studies believe thyme could be similar in strength to some antibiotics. Thyme antioxidants may also support gut health.

This herb may also have powerful anti fungal effects against some Aspergillus and candida fungi which could be because of specific thyme phenols. Thyme and thymol both supress the growth of some nasty bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium and Helicobacter pylori.

Other studies have shown that thyme extracts could have effects against HSV-1 Herpes. Thyme extracts are also a part of products used to treat skin conditions such as acne and anti aging formulations. There is also a skin photoprotective element to thyme as revealed by research.

Thyme And Brain Health

Some studies show that thyme may be preventative of or supportive for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. In Alzheimer’s disease large amounts of oxidative stress build up within specific brain areas. According to recent studies thyme carvacrol may protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

Antioxidants such as carvacrol which is found in thyme support our health and provide possible benefits in their ability to cleanse the body of harmfully reactive compounds.

Research shows that fresh thyme has a strong antioxidant capacity. Thyme is in an exclusive group of tested herbs as being extremely potent in antioxidant content. There may be up to 30 times more antioxidants in thyme than garlic and 2.8 more than ginger. This antioxidant activity has been measured as being powerful enough to protect DNA from damage. Thyme may also be preventative of some cancers because of compounds like salvianolic acid, carvacrol, rosmarinic acid and p-cymene which are very strong antioxidants.

Carvacrol is a potent antioxidant which is found in large amounts within thyme in addition to other phenolic antioxidants. Thyme carvacrol could support more optimal brain health through oxidative stress cleansing. Other strong thyme antioxidants may include thymol as this thyme compound is thought to be able to cleanse free radicals in oils.

Our mitochondria in particular produce reactive oxygen species which create large amounts of oxidative stress. Carvacrol or other thyme antioxidants could cleanse stress inducing compounds which form within the brain and other body organs to support our health.

Thyme And Inflammation

Antioxidant capacity within the body and systemic inflammation are usually very closely related. This means that plant extracts containing strong antioxidant compounds should in theory assist with reductions in inflammation. Some herbs have extremely powerful effects in comparison to others.

Research has observed that thyme could suppress the inflammatory responses from some cells and therefore suppress systemic inflammation. Thyme extracts seemed to reduce the secretion of systemic inflammatory compounds such as IL-6 and IL-1β cytokines. This is thought to be due to compounds such as carvacrol.

Other studies have shown that thyme could reduce the oxidation of LDL and this could support cardiovascular health or reduce risks of stokes. In fact there are various studies supporting possible health benefits of eating thyme or thyme extracts for reducing risks of diabetes and inflammatory cardiovascular diseases.

This may be due to various nutrients or bioactives which are supportive of cellular structure or antioxidant status. Thyme extracts have been shown to be able to support healthy blood insulin and glucose levels which are implicated in diabetes risk.

Fresh Thyme And Immune System Benefits

Some of the inflammation suppressing effects of thyme are thought to extend to immune cells such as macrophages. These are important cells within our immune system. Macrophages digest circulating pathogens as part of the immune response to protect the body from infections. Downregulating immune inflammation would support immune system health and could provide various possible health benefits as a result.

Various studies support the immune system boosting effects of fresh thyme extracts. Thyme extracts may increase total circulating amounts of various immunoglobulins. These are antibodies which intercept pathogens and alert immune cells to their presence in the body. This is vital to protecting the body from infection.

The same studies show reductions in CRP which is an indicative marker of oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines. Some studies also show that thyme may have effects against influenza viruses. The rich vitamin C and zinc content of thyme may also contribute to natural immune resistance against infections. Thyme may also downregulate inflammatory responses linked to allergies within the body. Eating fresh thyme could therefore have possible benefits in supporting immune system health and inflammation reduction.

Overall thyme presents many possible health benefits from gut health support to reduced cardiovascular disease risk as a result of inflammation suppressing compounds.

Summary

Thyme is a herb which has been used for many years as a health supportive extract and food because of bioactive compounds specific to thyme. Extracts of thyme were used by the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians. Thyme extract is a traditional cough and bronchitis remedy too.

This herb is very popular in food dishes and could be used alongside oregano in a fresh salad. Thyme is able to reduce the oxidation of some frying oils from heating too.

There is a rich pool of antioxidants within thyme and thyme oils. Thyme is one of the strongest antioxidant herbs gram for gram. There may be 30 times more antioxidants in thyme than garlic. The antioxidant prowess of thyme is so great that thyme bioactive compounds and vitamins could support reductions in systemic inflammation while reducing DNA damage.

The main thyme bioactive compounds are thought to be thymol and carvacrol. Thyme also contains compounds such as rosmarinic acid and p-cymene which form part of a unique bioactives profile. The core health supportive nutrients or more dense nutrients of thyme are thought to be vitamin C, zinc, iron, dietary fibres, manganese and beta carotene. These are able to support our gut health, immunity and systemic antioxidant levels. A strong iron content could be preventative of anaemia.

Thyme dietary fibres may support the growth of health promoting gut bacteria while thyme compounds like thymol suppress the growth of nasty gut bacteria. Some thyme compounds may be as strong as antibiotics.

Some of the core researched health promoting effects of thyme extracts may include reductions in pathogenic bacterial content, healthy gut bacterial support, support of optimal brain functioning and reductions in unhealthy systemic inflammation which could lead to cardiovascular diseases.

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