Myrcene Health Benefits

Myrcene is an upcoming phytochemical, or plant specific chemical, with powerful potential health benefits. This phytochemical is an isoprenoid or terpene, revered for its antioxidant capabilities. Plants have been used as medicines or to improve human health since the inception of the earliest human civilizations.

Phytochemicals are plant specific molecules that can have affects against harmful organisms. These are of interest to human health because the effects of phytochemicals are non-discriminatory. They will have the same effects in humans in regards to harmful organisms.

Sometimes health effects of certain extracts are observed and it can take up to 10 years to successfully isolate the active compounds within a phytochemical extract. Myrcene has attracted attention as a potential natural and aromatic flavouring in the foods industry. While research on this natural plant compound is new, there is a good body of research on its health benefits in the body.

We will now look at these in detail, including any relevant foods high in myrcene for you to consider supplementing your diet with.

Foods High In Myrcene

Considering the myrcene is a plant phytochemical, it is going to be found in high amounts in certain plants or fruits. At the moment, myrcene has been isolated in some common kitchen herbs and fruits. These include mango, guava, parsley, lemongrass, cardamom spice and sweet basil. Fruits like mango or guava can be made into sweet fruit curries or included in fresh raw juices. Mango is especially tasty and cheap to purchase.

There is nothing better than finding a new and low-cost way to improve your health. You might prefer fresh and organic herbs like parsley because of its lower fructose or natural sugar content. These are the best ways you can look to benefit or have the health benefits of myrcene naturally from your food.

Antioxidant Effects Of Myrcene

Antioxidants are crucial to life. They support cellular balance and block the accumulation of destructive forces within the body that could cause serious damage. This is very important for your skin. Your skin is subject to many different external stressors that can have an oxidative effect. When this happens, oxidative free radicals accumulate in the skin and this can also lead to cancer.

Myrcene seemed to have a photoprotection effect on human skin cells. This suggests it could be a strong antioxidant. After exposure to strong UV radiation, similar to that from the sun, skin cells had lower counts of reactive oxygen species. This might mean that myrcene has sun protective health benefits and could be used in natural or organic skin creams. Also of interest is type I procollagen. Collagen is a very important factor in skin appearance, elasticity and youthfulness.  Levels of type I procollagen were found to be significantly increased in human skin cells after myrcene use. Myrcene has also been investigated as an anti-fungal and it seems to have mild anti-fungal potential. This further implicates myrcene as having potential in the skincare industry and its potential health benefits.

Myrcene Anti-Inflammatory

As with most antioxidants, they also have strong anti-inflammatory properties. The two are very closely linked because of the suppression of accumulative and damaging free radicals. One recent study has linked the consumption of myrcene with an ability to lower colon inflammation.

Of particular note was the ability of myrcene to restore normal physical properties of the colon. This is in addition to myrcene modulating some of the internal chemical pathways that trigger inflammation. This could help to support inflammatory gut diseases such as Crohn’s disease. Myrcene might then have an effect on inflammation in the body that could support gut health.

Anti-inflammatory studies using myrcene to treat arthritis topically, or on the skin, noted that myrcene reduced joint pain and inflammation. Myrcene also has a mild natural anaesthetic effect that could be of benefit to chronic inflammation suffers.

Myrcene has also been tested for its anti-inflammatory wound healing in extracts of a specific evergreen shrub essential oil. Mastic oil has myrcene as one of its active antioxidant compounds, coming from a shrub native to Greece. Mastic oil, high in myrcene was shown to aid the pace of wound healing and is the subject of further study. Myrcene might also have anti-cytotoxic effects, with recovery of antioxidant related gene expression after mild environmental toxin exposure in animals.

Myrcene And Cancer

Antioxidants generally have relevance in the body when it comes to cancer prevention and myrcene is no different. Myrcene seems to have an ability to reduce cancer cell growth, while also reducing DNA damage. This antioxidant protective effect was seen in skin cells earlier.

Myrcene shows potential as having cancer preventative effects and was seen to interact directly with DNA. It could be considered as an anti-cytotoxic molecule. This is just another reason to increase the number of myrcene containing foods in your diet.

The result seen with myrcene are consistent with the results of studies of other terpene molecules, that have antioxidant properties. Many terpenes show inhibitive effects on tumor cell growth and cancerous growths. One massively well researched area is how terpenes can prevent oxidation of LDL, this can have massive consequences on the outcomes of cardiovascular diseases. As mentioned before, terpenes like myrcene are available from plants and essential oils.

Myrcene Influence On Brain Health

Considering the antioxidant effects of myrcene, research is well placed to investigate its effects throughout the body. This would include the ability of myrcene to rescue certain nerve cells from oxidative damage and cell death that might contribute to inflammatory diseases. This can happen in Parkinson’s disease, where certain neural cells are lost. Markers of this are excessive nerve inflammation and the accumulation of oxidative molecules.

Myrcene was shown to protect specific nerve cells from oxidative or radical damage, contributing to a preventative or improved outlook from Parkinson’s disease. Myrcene massively improved markers of inflammatory neurone damage. This indicates that myrcene might also have positive effects on brain health and benefits on neural functioning.

Conclusion

Myrcene is new to the wellness scene because of its recent research, but it shows great potential to prevent certain health conditions. Found in plant sources such as mango, guava, parsley, lemongrass, cardamom spice and sweet basil, it is easy to improve your intake of myrcene. These common kitchen fruits, herbs and spices are cheap to include in your diet or as part of fresh juices.

The effects of this phytochemical centre around its antioxidant abilities. Many of these effects are typical of terpenes like myrcene. Antioxidants are crucial to supporting life and can have various health benefits throughout the human body.

Myrcene has been seen to prevent cancer cell growth and to assist with protecting key nerve cells to improve outcomes from Parkinson’s disease. Myrcene seems to reduce DNA damage, being able to interact with DNA. They might influence cardiovascular diseases through their antioxidant effects.

Topical or skin use of myrcene might help to protect the skin from sun damage, help the wound healing process and also help sufferers of arthritis. They might also help to improve skin youthfulness and elasticity. As an anti-inflammatory, myrcene might also be able to support optimal gut health.

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