As you place sprigs of rosemary on a pan to roast alongside chicken or in a garlicky loaf of bread, you may not be thinking about the potential health properties this common herb is wielding.

It turns out, rosemary is a well-studied herb with myriad benefits—from boosting hair growth to potentially helping fight cancer.

Here’s how to take advantage of this natural health powerhouse.

Stimulate hair growth

While there are countless hair-growth supplements and hacks that circulate social media, rosemary oil, extracted from rosemary plants, is a tried-and-true tool to boost hair growth, backed by science.

In one study comparing the effectiveness of rosemary oil compared to minoxidil—a common medication used to stimulate hair growth in men and women—participants saw significant hair growth from both products after six months, with no difference between the two treatments’ effectiveness.

A comprehensive review of studies on the hair loss condition alopecia demonstrated that rosemary oil is an effective treatment due to its ability to improve scalp blood flow and enhance the regeneration of the hair follicles.

Improve skin health

Rosemary also has the potential to help heal the skin, according to a 2023 review of studies. Oxidative stress to the skin, caused by things like ultraviolet (UV) light, environmental pollution and chronic psychological stress, can damage the skin and lead to further skin aging and may play a role in skin cancer, according to researchers.

But thanks to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, rosemary could help treat some skin diseases either when ingested or applied to the skin.

Anticancer properties

Rosemary’s anticancer potential is more than skin deep: Ingesting rosemary was found to help stop the activation of carcinogens, increase antioxidant enzyme activities, reduce tumor-stimulating inflammation, decrease cell growth (which can lead to the production of cancerous cells), stimulate programmed cell death, and suppress tumor growth and invasion, according to a 2020 study.

Brain health and Alzheimer’s treatment

The benefits of rosemary extend to your nervous system, according to a 2020 review of studies. Rosemary extract showed anti-spasm, pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety and memory-boosting properties.

The study concluded that components of rosemary show promise in the treatment of anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and withdrawal syndrome, researchers found.

For Alzheimer’s in particular, a January 2025 study in mice linked a compound found in rosemary to boosts in memory, more neuron synapses, reduced inflammation, and greater removal of toxic proteins that are linked to Alzheimer’s. It was administered to mice three times a week for three months, with no observable toxic effects. 

How to use rosemary for your health

All of the studies on rosemary have limitations: The use different a dose as well as different methods of extracting and administering rosemary, making it difficult to put the findings into clinical practice. In the anticancer study, authors also raised concerns about chronic use of rosemary extract becoming toxic.

While the Food and Drug Administration designates rosemary extract as generally recognized as safe (GRaS), there is no recommended daily allowance. Talk to your doctor before taking any supplement to make sure it’s safe for you.

The most common forms of rosemary are the herb or as an essential oil. You should not ingest the essential oil as it is highly concentrated and can be toxic when ingested, according to Poison Control. If you want to apply it to your skin, they recommend diluting it with a carrier oil like jojoba or argan oil. Rosemary essential oil is generally safe when inhaled through an aroma diffuser.

To reap the benefits of rosemary, you can steep the herb in boiling water and drink it as a tea, or make it a regular part of your cooking.

Mount Sinai Hospital advises, however, that pregnant and nursing women avoid taking rosemary as a supplement, as higher doses can potentially cause miscarriage—but, it is still safe to consume as an herb in food. Additionally, people with high blood pressure, ulcers, Crohn’s disease, or ulcerative colitis should not take rosemary.

For more on supplements:

• 4 best supplements for an energy boost, according to experts
• The dietary supplements you think are improving your health may be damaging your liver, research warns
• The 5 best supplements for healthy aging, according to a longevity expert
• Vitamin D may improve your energy levels. Here’s how much you need each day

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

In Ray Dalio‘s 2021 book about “the changing world order,” the investor and hedge fund manager emphasizes staying calm and connected in a world where government, technology, climate, and more are rapidly evolving.

Amid uncertainty and chaos, Dalio has credited one daily practice to his ability to quiet the noise and succeed in the face of change: meditation. Dalio told CNBC in 2021 that he adopted the practice in 1969, years before he founded Bridgewater Associates. 

“Whatever success I’ve had in life, has been more due to my meditating than anything else,” the billionaire recently told CNBC. Other entrepreneurs, performers, and athletes tout the practice’s benefits, from Oprah Winfrey to LeBron James. Former star Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who propelled the team to win the 2023 National Championship for the first time since the late 90s, credits meditation as a “tune-up” time that primes his brain for success. 

“I can react from a higher perspective instead of reacting out of just straight impulse,” McCarthy said in an interview during the season. 

People champion meditation as a stress reducer and tool for keeping the mind in the present moment. It’s a proven antidote to the high rates of stress, anxiety, and depression. 

“The best advice that I could give anybody … would be to meditate, and that’s because it gives you a calmness and equanimity. It gives you a sense of spirituality, which means … [a] connectedness to the universe, connectedness to people,” Dalio said. 

Dalio swears by Transcendental Meditation (TM), which helps people learn to stay still yet alert by repeating a mantra with the eyes closed. The Beatles were big fans of the practice, which can help improve self esteem and decrease stress, according to The Cleveland Clinic. It’s done in two 20-minute sessions daily. There are a few nonprofits that teach this type of meditation, with fees up to $980, depending on household income.

Other types of meditation, such as guided meditations involving an instructor, and mindfulness meditations which involve breathing, body scanning, and nonjudgmental observations, help regulate breathing and reduce symptoms associated with mental health conditions. These meditations can be found at little to no cost.

Focusing on your breath is the most accessible place to start. So, when everything feels like it’s moving too fast and you feel like you’re losing control, meditation can intentionally slow the brain and body down for longer-term success.

“You’re peaceful. You’re quiet,” Dalio told CNBC. “You’re not awake, but you’re not asleep.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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• Foundations are no replacement for government funding, some philanthropists are arguing. Bill Gates has reportedly warned the Trump administration the Gates Foundation will be unable to fill the gaps left by the dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which distributed $43.8 billion in aid in fiscal 2023. 

Bill Gates has reportedly warned President Donald Trump’s administration that his philanthropic endeavors are no replacement for the U.S. government’s funding of global health care efforts. 

The Microsoft co-founder-turned-billionaire philanthropist is petitioning the Trump administration to continue funding worldwide health programs Reuters reported, citing two anonymous sources. He has met with legislators and the National Security Council about his concerns.

The Trump administration effectively dissolved the U.S. Agency for International Development, the body responsible for mass public-health campaigns, including carrying out mass measles vaccination efforts. Last month, the administration dissolved 90% of the agency’s foreign aid contracts and put the majority of its workers on leave, firing 1,600 others. USAID distributed $43.8 billion in aid in fiscal 2023, according to Pew Research. 

“President Trump will support polices [sic] that bolster our public health, cut programs that do not align with the agenda that the American people gave him a mandate in November to implement, and keep programs that put America First,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fortune in a statement.

Public-health experts fear the White House’s USAID scrapping could have devastating global consequences, such as a rise in global malaria cases and deaths and the spread of HIV and tuberculosis (TB). 

“Without immediate action, hard-won progress in the fight against TB is at risk,” Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, director of the WHO’s Global Programme on TB and Lung Health, said in a statement earlier this month.

The Gates Foundation, founded by Bill Gates and ex-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000, has a nearly $9 billion budget for 2025 and has funded malaria vaccine testing and the Gavi Alliance’s childhood immunization efforts.

The foundation did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment, but told Reuters in a statement, “Bill was recently in Washington D.C. meeting with decision makers to discuss the life-saving impact of U.S. international assistance and the need for a strategic plan to protect the world’s most vulnerable while safeguarding America’s health and security.”

Foundations refuse to step in

Trump’s mission to curb global foreign aid would increase pressure on private organizations to pick up the slack, something philanthropic groups seem unwilling to do. Gates met with Trump at the White House in early February, calling on the administration to continue funding USAID. The Gates Foundation has made it clear that no private philanthropic effort would be able to replace government-funded foreign aid.

“There is no foundation—or group of foundations—that can provide the funding, workforce capacity, expertise, or leadership that the United States has historically provided to combat and control deadly diseases and address hunger and poverty around the world,” Rob Nabors, the North America director for the Gates Foundation, told media outlets earlier this month.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation, one of the wealthiest charities in the world, likewise shied away from committing additional funding to foreign aid and will continue to focus on addressing non-communicable diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

“Of course, more people are contacting us…We don’t have plans of stepping in, of filling gaps,” Flemming Konradsen, the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s scientific director of global health, said in a February interview with Reuters.

These foundations are turning away from taking on the government’s role in global health care aid because they aren’t designed to do so, according to Jesse Lecy, associate professor of data science and nonprofit studies at Arizona State University.

“The capital needed to sustain an initiative dwarfs the levels of capital needed for pilot programs that can establish the efficacy of new approaches,” he told Fortune in an email. “Scaling viable solutions requires partnerships.”

Philanthropic efforts are most effective when they invest in early research or pilot initiatives that are more risky, but less expensive. Then, nonprofits can build out and sustain successful projects in the long term, Lecy argued. Scaling nonprofits projects is something far more expensive than what foundations have resources for.

“What people misunderstand about foundations is that they are the venture capital arm of philanthropy, not the long-term capital that sustains programming,” he said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com