For generations, borage has been brewed and applied as a remedy for everything from sore joints to skin problems. It’s a leafy herb with a long reputation – but one that hasn’t always been tested by modern science.
Researchers are now taking a closer look. A team in India reviewed decades of lab work, animal studies, and small clinical trials to see which borage claims hold up and which ones fall apart under scrutiny.
Rather than running new experiments, a team led by Zahra Sufwan at Integral University traced reported benefits back to specific chemical pathways in the body.
Their focus was Borago officinalis, a plant whose seeds, leaves, and flowers all contain different compounds – making it both scientifically intriguing and hard to evaluate.
Testing borage’s healing roots
Traditional healers long used borage for respiratory, skin, and digestive complaints, but modern medicine demands clearer proof.
Drug developers now test phytotherapy – plant-based treatments made from standardized extracts – with the same skepticism applied to conventional pills.
“While borage has been used for generations, our review highlights a shift from traditional folklore to evidence-based phytotherapy,” said Sufwan.
That shift matters because borage does not contain a single, uniform ingredient. The plant stores different compounds in its seeds, leaves, and flowers, meaning one bottle of borage extract can differ greatly from another.
The review highlights flavonoids – plant pigments that limit cell damage – alongside fatty acids and other molecules that influence inflammation.
This chemical diversity makes borage intriguing for drug discovery, but it also underscores the need for careful extraction, testing, and labeling.
Borage and inflammatory healing
Long-lasting inflammation can feed chronic pain and tissue damage, so scientists watch the molecular switches that keep it running.
One target is nuclear factor kappa B, a protein that activates inflammatory genes, and borage compounds appear to dampen its activity.
Such control could matter in diseases where the immune system attacks the body, yet researchers still need consistent results in humans.
Blocking pain pathways
Many anti-inflammatory drugs target enzymes that build pain-related chemicals, so researchers compare borage compounds with that same pathway.
A major target is cyclooxygenase-2, an enzyme involved in generating pain signals, and lab evidence indicates that borage chemicals reduce how strongly it functions.
If future trials confirm this effect, borage extracts could complement current therapies, but they could also interact with them.
The healing fats in borage
Seed oil gets the most attention because it concentrates skin-supporting fats and usually contains fewer natural toxins than leaves or flowers.
Its main active fat is gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fat that cells convert into calmer signaling molecules during inflammation.
A separate analysis found that borage seed oil contains 15 to 22 percent gamma-linolenic acid, and mixtures can outperform the isolated fat.
Trials that check reality
A long-running trial tested borage oil in atopic dermatitis, long-lasting itchy eczema driven by inflammation, across adults and children.
Adults took a daily borage oil dose for 12 weeks, but skin symptoms improved more in the placebo group.
That outcome did not support routine use, and it shows why early promise needs repeatable results in larger groups.
Metabolic disease involves more than blood sugar, because chronic inflammation can distort how the body stores fat and manages cholesterol.
The review links borage to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, a gene switch that improves insulin response, which may lower unhealthy blood fats.
Researchers have reported changes in diabetic markers, but the field still lacks large trials that track heart attacks or strokes.
Oxidative damage can weaken cells over time, and it can accelerate problems linked to aging, toxins, and loss of nerve cells.
The review describes oxidative stress, a form of cell injury caused by reactive oxygen molecules, and notes that borage boosts natural antioxidant enzymes.
Those defenses may explain reports of brain and liver protection in animals, but human evidence remains thin and inconsistent.
Promising results, limited proof
Some claims about borage center on the brain, where inflammation and oxidative damage can impair memory and mood.
Animal studies suggest borage extracts may protect nerve cells by lowering inflammatory signals and supporting normal chemical communication.
A few small human studies have explored effects on anxiety and compulsive symptoms, but the data remain too limited to guide everyday care.
Researchers are also examining borage in more extreme biological settings, including infection and cancer, where cell behavior becomes highly disrupted.
Laboratory experiments show that some extracts can slow bacterial growth or stress tumor cells, often by damaging membranes or activating self-destruction pathways.
These findings can inspire new drug concepts, but they still require rigorous safety testing.
Borage dosage makes the difference
Dose can change the story, and animal experiments showed that high amounts of borage extract affected convulsions, not just inflammation.
“The potential is vast, ranging from anticancer applications to skin healing,” said Dr. Javed Akhtar Ansari, a co-author of the study from Integral University.
Manufacturers will need standardization, making extracts with repeatable ingredient levels, or researchers cannot compare results across studies.
Promise, potency, and patience
Safety reviews focus on pyrrolizidine alkaloids – plant toxins that can injure the liver – which can appear in some parts of the borage plant.
Toxicology research shows these compounds can cause genetic damage after the body metabolizes them, raising long-term safety concerns.
European regulators have responded by setting strict maximum limits for these alkaloids in teas, herbs, and borage leaves, formalized in a 2020 food safety rule.
Taken together, the findings argue for caution. Across laboratory experiments and limited human studies, borage shows real biological effects, but the strength of evidence varies widely by condition.
Clear standards, stronger safety testing, and larger clinical trials will determine whether borage advances as a drug candidate or remains confined to the supplement aisle.
The study is published in the journal Biological Diversity.
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