The first day of spring is approaching quickly, but here in the north we are still blanketed in a couple feet of snow.
Days of walking barefoot in summer dresses are a distant memory. Instead, all walks through the forest that surrounds us require snowshoes and lots of layers of clothes.
This is always the hardest time of year for me. I am dreaming of fresh greens like dandelion, chickweed, and nettle, but I’ve still got months to go!
If I look closely, however, I can still find a fresh, slightly tart, slightly sweet herb scattered throughout the landscape.
Rose hips are the fruit of the rose (Rosa spp.). They ripen and turn red in the late summer to fall. In my neck of the woods, they stay frozen on the bushes through the winter. When harvesting a rose hip, I look for a bright red hip without any dark blemishes. I also look closely to avoid any with little dots on the fruit that would indicate a worm hole.
Back at home these fresh hips can be de-seeded (with patience, I recommend storing them in the freezer for a couple of hours before beginning the process) and infused in honey or added to food. Or they can be dried whole to make into teas or syrups.
Many rose hips taste delicious, while some admittedly have a so-so flavor. In either case, they are high in beneficial micronutrients and phytonutrients such as vitamin C and flavonoids. Herbalists and wild foods enthusiasts have been enjoying rose hips probably since the beginning of roses! In recent years, science has been exploring their benefits in relationship to heart health and addressing chronic inflammation.
Rose Hips for Heart Health
In one study, people were given 40 grams of rose hip powder daily for six weeks. At the end of the six weeks there was a significant improvement in blood pressure and plasma cholesterol in the people taking the rose hip powder as compared with the control group.1
Rose Hips for Addressing Pain and Inflammation
Numerous studies have shown that eating rose hips daily has been shown to reduce pain and inflammation for patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.23 One study even showed that rose hips can reduce inflammatory markers like serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with osteoarthritis.4 The researchers concluded, “The results indicate that rose-hip possesses anti-inflammatory properties and might be used as a replacement or supplement for conventional drug therapies in patients with osteoarthritis.”5
How to Use Rose Hips
To get the most vitamin C from rose hips, it is best to eat them fresh and raw. But dried or cooked rose hips still offer many benefits.
If you don’t have wild rose hips growing near you, domesticated rose hips can be used as well. Be sure not to harvest from rose bushes that have been sprayed with pesticides. Once you know a rose hip is safe for eating, give it a taste (avoid eating the seeds with their irritating hairs). Is it tart, sour, or sweet? Great! If it is bland tasting, it’s probably not the best medicine.
The following recipe is a wonderful way to use rose hips in your meals and a great way to have a quick breakfast waiting for you in the morning. To make this recipe, I used dried rose hips that had been de-seeded. If you aren’t up for harvesting your own rose hips, they can be easily found at your favorite local or online herbal apothecary.
Rose Hip and Apple Muesli
Muesli is an oat-based breakfast that often includes nuts and dried fruits. Soaking the mixture overnight makes the oats and nuts more easily digestible and allows the dried rose hips to rehydrate. With a little prep the night before, you can have a quick and delicious breakfast in the morning.
What you’ll need…
- 1 1/4 cups oats
- 1/3 cup dried rose hips with seeds removed (also search for rosehips – one word – when looking to purchase)
- 1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons honey, or to taste
- 1 cup diced apple (about 1 medium apple)
Mix the oats, rose hips, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl with a lid. Stir in the milk, yogurt, juice, vanilla extract, and honey. Leave in the fridge overnight to soak.
In the morning, add the apple. Serve with additional milk if desired. This muesli is fine to eat as is, but if you prefer warm breakfasts, feel free to heat it up.
Yield: 4 servings
Recipe from Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients into Foods and Remedies That Heal by Rosalee de la Forêt (Hay House, 2017)
Now we’d love to hear from you!
What are your favorite ways to enjoy rose hips?
Were you surprised to see all the clinical research showing the many benefits of rose hips for supporting heart health and addressing pain and inflammation?
Let us know in the comments below.
Hello, I’m confused about the rose hip hairs. When are they a concern? When they’re fresh and raw? If the rose hips are dried (or if I buy dried hips) are the hairs then taken care of? CanI eat dried straight away?
I ask, partly, because I saw a man on Youtube harvesting buckets full of them and he ate them right then and there without mentioning the hairs, and I was confused about it.
Thanks for all your work, and I’ve already pre-ordered your book!
they can get stuck in the throat and choke a person or child. I got this tip from my grandma and mother back in 1980 when I made my first batch of wild rose hip jelly. It seems to be true to be careful with the inside of the rosehip. It is very dry inside and once I almost choked on one of the pods.
I’ve also seen people eat fresh rose hips, hairs and seeds included, and not have it bother them. That seems to be the exception rather than the rule however. Unless you are willing to risk a lot of discomfort, it’s better to avoid the hairs, fresh or dried.
Thank you Rosalee. I’ll be careful and remove those hips. :)
Hi John or Rosalee, I thought you might want to know that my virus software (trend micro) stops the yellow rectangle “need organic herbs or supplies, get them here” as a Malicious web site. Can you tell me what the web site is and if perhaps it is not really “Malicious” but a trend micro mistake?
Thanks,
Jakki
The website Trend Micro is blocking you from is a good website. It is https://www.mountainroseherbs.com which sells the herbs and organic supplies to make the recipes Rosalee shares with us. Of course, Mountain Rose Herbs sells more than that… Trend Micro is just being overly cautious.
Hey there. The link may be getting flagged because the URL redirects over to Mountain Rose Herbs. I checked with a third party scanner to make sure nothing untoward was going on with our link, and it comes back 100% clean. It looks like the warning you received from Trend Micro is a false positive.
https://www.virustotal.com/en/url/b3a31f7c7d82aa4bec8451f5ee099c405fe90839aeb878720fd5456f2ecba9ef/analysis/ (or go to virustotal.com and enter the URL of that button, iwantherbs.com)
Good afternoon to you and yours from Canada.
Got my first herbal remedy kit from you a few years ago to learn and make my own remedies. Love love, as my family does too. With 5 children 3 grown and on their own and a granddaughter :) I get calls for the healing salve and elderberry syrup the most.
Speaking of elderberry syrup that is what I now add Rosehip powder to and love it. What a great boost ?
I cant wait for spring either for the beautiful abundance of benefits from our forests and for the first foods for our bees and butterflies. Thank you..
Shannon.
I to get told by my software that it’s a malicious site as well. the difference being learning – herbs or learning herbs but it seems to go through learning – herbs to get to learning herbs. Any Ideas on why this is happening?
Hi Linda, see the comment above from Jan about this issue.
I picked rose hips last fall and infused them in cider vinegar, then gave it as Christmas gifts. Didn’t have to worry about picking out the hairs this way!
Do ALL roses create “rose hips”? Are they all edible/useable? As there are SO MANY rose varities out there, I was wondering WHICH ones are suitable for the home herbalist/garden.
Best time to harvest rose hips? I assume if been on bush all winter wouldn’t be any good….
This sounds delicious, Rosalee! I can’t wait to try it. I am assuming if I bought dried rosehips from Mountain Rose Herbs that they already have the hair and/or seeds removed so they are ready to use? Thanks for sharing this recipe!