How Sage Can Support Memory and Soothe Sore Throats

The herb that flavors your Thanksgiving stuffing has a long tradition of being used to sharpen memory and soothe sore throats. Modern research is exploring the evidence behind these uses.

Sage (Salvia officinalis) belongs to the mint family and is native to the Mediterranean, though it now grows worldwide. Its genus, Salvia, includes hundreds of species. The name comes from the Latin “salvare,” meaning “to heal” or “to save.”

Ancient cultures prized the plant. The Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians all considered sage a sacred herb. The Egyptians used it for fertility. The Romans believed chewing it quickened the senses, boosted memory, and eased mental exhaustion, and they burned dried sage in religious ceremonies, believing the smoke carried their prayers to the gods.

Sage is central to smudging, a sacred purification ritual practiced by Native Americans. In smudging, burning sage is meant to clear negative energy. The smoke is seen as a bridge between earthly and spiritual worlds. In this tradition, sage offers clarity, strength, and wisdom.

Sage and the Brain

Sage is one of many herbs, along with rosemary, turmeric, and cinnamon, that clinical herbalist and Herbal Reality creator Sebastian Pole told The Epoch Times may support brain health.

Some sage species, including common sage (Salvia officinalis) and Spanish sage (Salvia lavandulaefolia), contain compounds that block the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which breaks down acetylcholine, a chemical messenger that helps brain cells communicate and is essential for attention and memory.

Deficiencies in acetylcholine in the brain are strongly associated with neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. By slowing the enzyme, sage may help keep more acetylcholine available, the same basic strategy used by some Alzheimer’s drugs.

Sage also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and studies show strong neuroprotective properties, which researchers believe may help protect brain cells. Much of that evidence, however, comes from laboratory and animal studies rather than from people.

What Human Studies Show

Several human studies point in a promising direction.

Alzheimer’s Disease: In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Iran, 42 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s took 60 drops of S. officinalis extract or a placebo daily for four months. The sage group showed significant improvements over the placebo group in two measures—cognitive function and dementia severity—and the extract was well tolerated.

General Memory and Cognition: A systematic review of eight clinical studies and 339 people investigated sage (both common and Spanish) and found that both species enhanced cognitive performance in healthy people and those with dementia or cognitive impairment, with no safety concerns. In a different systematic review of eight human trials involving 330 patients, multiple studies reported significant improvements in memory, attention, concentration, memory recall, alertness, and mood. One study even found cognitive benefits from simply smelling sage.

The researchers behind the first review noted that the studies varied in design and in how sage was prepared, and that more research is needed.

Sage for Sore Throats

“One of the simplest things you can do for a sore throat that’s highly effective is gargling with some sage tea,” world-renowned herbalist, ethnobotanist, educator, and author David Winston told The Epoch Times in a previous interview.

Sage has long been a go-to herb for mouth and throat inflammation. It has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiseptic actions, and its volatile oils help soothe mucous membranes in the mouth, nose, and throat.

A sage-containing throat spray works as well as a traditional throat spray, according to a small randomized trial of patients from eleven general medical practices in Switzerland. The study compared a throat spray made with echinacea and sage with a conventional medicine spray that contained chlorhexidine (an antiseptic and antimicrobial) and lidocaine (a local anesthetic that numbs and blocks pain) in patients with an acute sore throat.

Echinacea is traditionally used to support the immune system.

Safety

Taking sage in amounts found in foods is considered safe; however, sage contains thujone, which can be toxic in large amounts or concentrated forms, such as essential oil.

A cup of tea made with one teaspoon of sage contains approximately 0.15 to 0.35 mg of thujone, depending on how long it is steeped. A review found that, based on its analysis of thujone content in sage tea, three to six cups could be safely taken daily.

Stay within recommended dosages and do not take sage medicinally over extended periods of more than eight weeks.

However, thujone is volatile, and most of it evaporates during cooking. The European Medicines Agency recommends limiting daily thujone intake to 5 mg per person.

Because sage is traditionally used to dry up a mother’s milk when she is ready to wean her babies, breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women should avoid it.

People with epilepsy should avoid sage in medicinal doses as thujones may cause convulsions.

Sage is not recommended for those on medications that affect GABA receptors, such as benzodiazepines and barbiturates, and anyone on medications should consult their doctor before taking sage in medicinal doses.

How to Use Sage

For a sore throat, Winston suggests gargling with sage tea.

Use 1 teaspoon of ground sage to 8 ounces of hot water. Steep for 10 to 20 minutes, then let cool. Once cool, gargle with the tea every half hour as needed.

Sage’s flavor is strong, and not everyone likes it. “Mix some sage tea and put in a nice spoonful of honey and maybe squeeze a little bit of a lemon in there, and gargle with that—that can be lovely,” Winston said.

A sage tea gargle is an excellent remedy for a sore throat, but if the pain persists, see a physician, as something more serious may be afoot, he said.

You can also take sage as a tea or infusion. Use 1 to 2 grams of dried sage in 8 ounces of boiling water and let it steep for 15 minutes. You can drink the tea three times daily.

Tinctures—concentrated liquid extracts made with alcohol—are another way to take sage. Sage tincture is made with a 1:10 ratio, meaning 1 part herb to 10 parts 70 percent alcohol. You can take 2 to 3 milliliters up to three times daily.

Additionally, for a quick brain boost, you can inhale or diffuse common sage (Salvia officinalis) essential oil. Do not swallow it.

Final Thoughts

Sage is a medicine sitting in most people’s spice racks, or growing in their gardens. While a common Thanksgiving herb for flavoring stuffing, it has a long tradition of medicinal uses in cultures around the world. Used sensibly, as a tea or gargle, it is an inexpensive remedy worth a try, as long as you stay within safe amounts.

Next time a sore throat hits, you feel under the weather, or you have worked a long week and your brain could use a boost, think of sage—a reminder that the plants around us can help heal and bring us back into balance.

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