boswellia

Add boswellia aka frankincense at 1,000 mg a day and willow bark so you get 120 to 240 mg of the active component called salicin, which is also, by the way, the active component of aspirin—we like the aspirin itself.

You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008

Add boswellia aka frankincense at 1,000 mg a day and willow bark so you get 120 to 240 mg of the active component called salicin, which is also, by the way, the active component of aspirin—we like the aspirin itself.

You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008

But encroaching agriculture and insects threaten to kill off most of the region's boswellia within the next 50 years, according to a study published this week in the Journal of Applied Ecology by a team of Dutch and Ethiopian ecologists.

A Shift for the Magi? Frankincense Shortage Leslie Josephs 2011

The incense comes from the resin of the boswellia, a stout, gnarly-branched tree that mostly grows in the Horn of Africa.

A Shift for the Magi? Frankincense Shortage Leslie Josephs 2011

Getty Images A boswellia tree, which produces frankincense, in Yemen.

A Shift for the Magi? Frankincense Shortage Leslie Josephs 2011

Of the trees that haven't been destroyed, he said 85% are "heavily infested by one or more long-horned beetles" that bore into the wood of adult boswellia and eat them from the inside.

A Shift for the Magi? Frankincense Shortage Leslie Josephs 2011

Taken orally, over time, boswellia may help relieve some of the symptoms of arthritis.

Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

Ayurvedic healers use boswellia for other conditions related to inflammation, including psoriasis, allergies, and ulcerative colitis.

Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

Several Indian studies report that, based on animal studies, compounds derived from boswellia, called boswellic acids, can reduce signs of inflammation in the knee joint.

Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

The gummy resin of the boswellia serata plant has been used as a natural anti-inflammatory for thousands of years.

Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008