Struggling with an Autoimmune or Brain Disorder? Boswellia to the Rescue!

Guest Post by Valerie Burke, MSN, The Shungite Queen 

 

For millennia, Frankincense has been revered for its plentiful healing properties. Frankincense, a resin produced by Boswellia trees, was highly regarded in biblical times for its spiritual, medicinal, and aromatic qualities. Today, science is finally catching up with tradition and revealing why this ancient resin’s popularity has stood the test of time.

As a medicinal agent, frankincense is simply referred to as “boswellia.” Boswellia has phenomenal anti-inflammatory properties that make it a highly effective natural treatment for osteoarthritis, as well as for healing and rejuvenating the skin.

Recent studies have turned the spotlight toward boswellia’s benefits for other major inflammatory conditions – such as autoimmune diseases and brain injuries – a few of which will be the focus of this article.

 

5 Conditions Boswellia May Help

1. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and collagenous colitis
2. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
3. Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
4. Stroke or Brain Ischemia
5. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

 

Boswellia’s Role in Autoimmune Disease

Autoimmune diseases occur when your body develops an overactive immune response against its own tissues. Some of the compounds in boswellia have demonstrated “immunomodulatory” effects – meaning, they act as modulators for your immune system when it runs amuck. You can understand how beneficial this could be with an autoimmune condition.

Some of the oldest uses of frankincense involve treatment of various autoimmune and inflammation-related conditions such as asthma, arthritis and chronic bowel diseases. Boswellia’s various mechanisms of action and its impact on autoimmunity are heavily tied into its potent anti-inflammatory properties.

Boswellia interferes with autoimmune disease development in the following ways:

• Helps control the production of immunoglobulins, or antibodies, which your immune system makes to fight potential threats like bacteria, viruses, and toxins
• Inhibits leukotriene production; leukotrienes are tied to many autoimmune diseases
• Modulates cytokines, T-cells and other immune cells and mediators that are key players in your immune response (Ammon 2010).

What is in Boswellia that does all this?

The key compounds are called boswellic acids, or BA for short. One in particular has been identified as the primary bioactive agent: acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid, or AKBA. AKBA inhibits an enzyme called 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), which is involved in the synthesis of leukotrienes and plays a key role in brain inflammation – among other things.

For this reason, most of the current boswellia studies look at BA, and AKBA specifically.

It’s important to note that the BAs are not present in frankincense essential oil because these molecules are too large for volatilization during distillation. They must be extracted using other processes, such as into an extract or frankincense resin oil.

>> The Gem of the Healing Kingdom: Frankincense Oil 

Now, let’s take a peek at a few of the studies that suggest how Boswellia might help if you have one of these conditions.

 

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term for a number of intestinal disorders marked by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and collagenous colitis fall into this group.

Leukotrienes play a key role in this type of gut inflammation that creates such misery for so many – but Boswellia holds great promise here! It has been shown to reduce inflammation and swelling of the gut wall, restoring healthy cell structures, and healing and sealing “holes” in the gut, thereby normalizing bowel function.

Two studies deserve mention.

The first study (Gupta et al 1997) involved patients who were given 350 mg Boswellia extract three times daily for six weeks for ulcerative colitis. After six weeks, a whopping 82 percent went into remission – which was a higher percentage than the patients taking the standard prescription of sulfasalazine.

In a second study involving colitis patients (Gupta et al 2001), 300 mg of Boswellia extract was given three times a day for six weeks. Ninety percent of those patients showed symptomatic improvement, and 70 percent went into full remission.

Boswellia has also been shown effective at facilitating remission in those with collagenous colitis, which is characterized by abdominal pain, rectal bleeding and diarrhea.

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Boswellic acid is showing great promise towards helping to alleviate the joint pain and inflammation that is so commonly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). There are many anecdotal human reports of improvement, but studies remain somewhat limited.

One study involving rats (Kumar et al 2019) evaluated Boswellia serrata extract for induced RA. The extract significantly reduced inflammation and was deemed an effective therapy. Another rodent study (Umar et al 2014) produced similar findings, leading the researchers to conclude that Boswellia extract effectively inhibits proinflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

 

Multiple Sclerosis

If you have multiple sclerosis (MS), there is also good news. Preliminary studies suggest boswellia may tamp down inflammation in the central nervous system, and this could translate to big benefits for MS sufferers.

MS is an autoimmune disease marked by dysregulated T-cells that attack the body, specifically those in the brain and spinal cord. As an overactive immune system destroys these nerves, individuals begin experiencing episodes of neurologic dysfunction such as loss of vision, inability to walk, and cognitive deficits. Too often, this leads to lifelong disability.

Brain demyelination is one of the effects of MS. A 2024 study (Shadab et al 2024) found boswellia to significantly reduce brain demyelination in rats, as well as decreasing their encephalomyelitis-related symptoms.

MS is a neuroinflammatory disease. Scientists have determined that brain lesions form as a result of “smoldering inflammation” in the brain as MS progresses over time. It is estimated that 40 to 60 percent of MS patients experience some degree of cognitive impairment.

A human study (Majdinasab et al 2016) demonstrated that taking a boswellia supplement improved cognitive impairment among MS sufferers. A group of 60 MS patients were given 450mg of boswellia powder twice daily for two months, compared to a placebo group. The boswellia group showed statistically significant improvement over placebo in both visuospatial and verbal capacities.

Boswellia not only lowers inflammation, but it is neuroprotective and actually helps lay down new nerve networks. It has also demonstrated the ability to block degenerative changes in your brain’s hippocampus, directly affecting memory processing.

But boswellia doesn’t stop there – it does even MORE for your brain!

 

Cerebral Edema

One of the most powerful boswellia studies to date involved patients with cerebral edema secondary to brain irradiation treatments for brain tumors.

Irradiating the brain as a treatment for brain tumors has the unfortunate side effect of causing excess fluid to accumulate inside the brain, resulting in intracranial swelling, otherwise known as cerebral edema. This edema is typically handled with steroids.

In this trial (Kirste et al 2011), patients receiving radiotherapy for their tumors were given boswellia for management of brain swelling. The boswellia performed spectacularly, thereby decreasing their need for steroids – always a good thing.

However, the researchers encountered an unexpected finding. The patients receiving the boswellia experienced an EXTRA benefit – a better tumor response to the radiotherapy!

This is not surprising given the large volume of scientific literature supporting boswellia’s antitumor, anticancer benefits. Nevertheless, it was a surprise to the scientists conducting the study – a testament to boswellia’s immense healing potential (Iram et al 2017).

 

Stroke & Traumatic Brain Injury

Not surprisingly, AKBA also appears to be neuroprotective against cell injury caused by ischemic stroke and restorative to brain tissue after traumatic brain injuries.

A Polish study (Sadeghnia et al 2017) found that AKBA does indeed protect neurons against oxidative stress and ischemic injury. Then, in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving post-TBI patients (Meshkat et al 2022), those treated with boswellia extract for three months showed significant improvement across all cognitive assessments.

The authors of a 2020 review entitled “Genus Boswellia as a New Candidate for Neurodegenerative Disorders” summarized it best (Rajabian et al 2020):

“In vitro, animal, and clinical studies have confirmed that Boswellia species contain bioactive components that may enhance cognitive activity and protect against neurodegeneration. They exert the beneficial effects via targeting multiple pathological causes by antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiamyloidogenic, and anti-apoptotic properties. The Boswellia species, having neuroprotective potential, makes them a promising candidate to cure or prevent the neurodegenerative disorders.”

 

A Message of Hope

The jury is in – Boswellia is the bomb!

Emerging scientific evidence supports the potential benefits of boswellia for managing autoimmune disease and brain inflammation. Its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties offer promising avenues for therapeutic applications.

Having a powerful way to manage inflammation is no small breakthrough because, as you know, the vast majority of health problems are related to inflammation – in one way or another.

Of course, more extensive clinical trials are necessary to fully establish its efficacy and safety profiles in these contexts. But thus far, all roads are pointing in the same direction – the direction of HOPE if you or a loved one happens to be suffering from one of these debilitating conditions.

 

Where can you find this precious oil?

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