Why Take Boswellia Serrata? | FutureYou (2024)

Boswellia serrata is known to be beneficial for a range of areas such as joint, gut or respiratory health. In this article we take a look at the history of Boswellia serrata, its uses, benefits and how it can help you improve and maintain your joints, helping them to feel cool and comfortable.

The history of Boswellia serrata

The trade in Frankincense is at least 5,000 years old. The Old Testament talks about its role in religious ceremonies conducted at the Temple in Jerusalem, where it was burned on a special altar to produce a fragrant aroma.

Along with gold and myrrh, frankincense was one of three valuable gifts dedicated to the gods and kings of the ancient world. This partly explains why the wise men presented frankincense to Jesus in the Christian nativity story.

Frankincense has also been used in traditional Indian (Ayurvedic), Arab, African and Chinese medicine as a remedy for chronic inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. Today, it is used for supplements, perfume and aromatherapy, and is known to be a natural anti-inflammatory.

Boswellia serrata is a hardy tree of the Boswellia genus, found in dry and rocky parts of the Indian Subcontinent. Like other trees in the genus, farmers make two-inch cuts into the bark two or three times a year to produce ‘tears’ of aromatic resin. This is known as Indian Frankincense.

What is in Boswellia serrata?

The main components of Boswellia resin are volatile oils, resin and mucus. The main bioactive components, boswellic acids, represent about 30% of the resin ¹.

Multiple boswellic acids have been described, and their quantities vary in different Boswellia extract, but the major boswellic acids are ²2:

• AKBA (3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid)
• KBA (11-keto-β-boswellic acid)
• βBA (β-boswellic acid)
• AβBA (acetyl-β-boswellic acid)

As is the case with similar active ingredients, boswellic acids are difficult to absorb by the body, a factor that can limit their effectiveness. If they are not able to reach sufficient levels in blood, they won’t be able to cause any effect.

Taking Boswellia extract with a high-fat meal has been shown to increase the absorption of boswellic acids ³.

Until recently, it was thought that AKBA was the most important compound, due to its potential inhibitory effect on 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), a key player in inflammatory response.

However, levels of AKBA in the body seem to be too low to achieve this effect¹. Therefore, other boswellic acids are also necessary for the beneficial response in the body.

Of these, βBA has been shown to inhibit microsomal prostagladin E2 synthase-1 (mPGES-1), another key player in inflammation⁴.

The overall data suggests that it is very important to have a full bouquet of boswelic acids to achieve maximum benefit.

What is Boswellia serrata used for?

Inflammation is a natural response of the body’s immune system when facing physiological damage.

It occurs when the white blood cells attempt to fight off foreign organisms, usually in response to irritation, injury or infection.

In some rare occasions, the immune system triggers an inflammatory response when there is no invader to fight.

This can cause swelling, pain, joint stiffness and tissue damage.

Boswellic acids are able to modulate and reduce the inflammatory response, making Boswellia extract a suitable tool against inflammation related to conditions like arthritis, bronchial asthma, chronic colitis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Various studies have found that boswellic acids:

• may help to soothe joints and reduce joint pain from chronic conditions and sports injuries⁵
• may help to support the gastrointestinal tract, particularly in people that suffer irritable bowel syndrome⁶
• βBA (β-boswellic acid)
• may reduce the need for inhalation therapy among people with asthma⁷

What’s the difference between taking Boswellia and turmeric?

Natural extracts of turmeric (Curcuma longa) and Boswellia serrata are both known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In fact, they are often taken together, particularly to help with joint problems.

Although the end result is very similar, which is the modulation of inflammation, they have different mechanisms of actions.

As briefly mentioned above, boswellic acids seem to have their main effect on the inflammation pathways involved in short-term inflammation, such as the arachidonic acid pathway, which can explain its anti-oedemic and ‘cooling’ properties.

Curcumin, on the other hand, seems to be more effective in modulating low-grade chronic inflammation, mainly driven by the TNF pathway⁸.

A 2022 study done in cartilage cells extracted from patients with osteoarthritis showed that the actual picture is a bit more muddled up, with both turmeric and Boswellia extract showing overlapping effects in multiple physiological pathways.

Nevertheless, the researchers were able to show that there is a synergistic complementary effect of both extracts, which supports their use together, particularly to address joint problems⁹.

How much Boswellia should I take a day?

The composition of the different boswellic acids can differ greatly between different Boswellia serrata extracts. This makes it quite difficult for researchers to recommend an effective dose, and studies have been done with doses from 100mg to 800mg of Boswellia serrata extract¹⁰,¹.

It’s important to remember that boswellic acids have very poor solubility in water, which in turn means they are not absorbed very well by the body, even when using very high doses such as 3000mg/day¹.

Taking Boswellia extract will food containing fat has been shown to improve the absorption of multiple boswellic acids³.

There are several products in the market that have tried to address this issue by working on improving the bioavailability of boswellic acids. One of such uses a phytosomal formulation, in which the boswellia serrata extract is combined with sunflower lecithin, a natural fat.

This formulation has been shown to improve absorption of multiple boswellic acids by 2-4x, as well as making the absorption quicker¹¹.

Studies done with phytosomal boswellia have used 250-500mg/day.

Can Boswellia help with gut health?

Although Boswellia serrata it’s mainly known to us for its effects on joint health, ancient Indian texts describe the use of Boswellia extracts for helping with gastrointestinal symptoms¹².

We are still learning about what causes some common gut disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease, but we know they are characterised by low-grade inflammation, and that the mucosa of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases generally contains considerable amount of inflammatory molecules¹².

Due to the effect of boswellic acids in reducing inflammation, Boswellia serrata extracts appear to be a potential natural solution against these conditions.

Boswellia phytosomal formulations have been shown to have positive effects in people suffering from IBS, with an improvement in symptoms such as abdominal pain and cramps observed in only 4 weeks⁶,¹³.

Can I take Boswellia serrata with other medication?

There are no known interactions with any other medications described so far. Boswellia can be taken with common anti-inflammatory medication⁵, and there is no data to suggest that boswellic acids have a blood thinning effect.

Of course, if you are on any prescribed medication or are going to have a medical intervention, it is always best to check with your doctor before starting to take a food supplement containing Boswellia.

Does Boswellia have any side effects?

None of the studies that have been done with Boswellia serrata supplements have noted any serious side effects. In some cases, some minor GI symptoms such as diarrhoea and nausea were seen, but these are generally rare, and more likely when taking higher doses of extracts1.

References

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2. Siddiqui MZ. Boswellia serrata, a potential antiinflammatory agent: an overview.. Indian J Pharm Sci. 2011;73(3):255-261.

3. Sterk V, Büchele B, Simmet T. Effect of food intake on the bioavailability of boswellic acids from a herbal preparation in healthy volunteers.. Planta Med. 2004;70(12):1155-1160.

4. Verhoff M, Seitz S, Paul M, et al. Tetra- and pentacyclic triterpene acids from the ancient anti-inflammatory remedy frankincense as inhibitors of microsomal prostaglandin E(2) synthase-1..J Nat Prod. 2014;77(6):1445-1451.

5. Franceschi F, Togni S, Belcaro G, et al. A novel lecithin based delivery form of Boswellic acids (Casperome®) for the management of osteo-muscular pain: a registry study in young rugby players. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2016;20(19):4156-4161.

6. Belcaro G, Gizzi G, Pellegrini L, et al. Supplementation with a lecithin-based delivery form of Boswellia serrata extract (Casperome®) controls symptoms of mild irritable bowel syndrome.. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2015;19(19):3757-3762.

7. Ferrara T, De Vincentiis G, Di Pierro F. Functional study on Boswellia phytosome as complementary intervention in asthmatic patients.. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2015;19(19):3757-3762.

8. Dragos D, Gilca M, Gaman L, et al. Phytomedicine in Joint Disorders. . Nutrients. 2017;9(1):70.

9. Sanchez C, Zappia J, Lambert C, et al. Curcuma longa and Boswellia serrata Extracts Modulate Different and Complementary Pathways on Human Chondrocytes In Vitro: Deciphering of a Transcriptomic Study.. Front Pharmacol. 2022;13:931914.

10. Yu G, Xiang W, Zhang T, Zeng L, Yang K, Li J. Effectiveness of Boswellia and Boswellia extract for osteoarthritis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis..BMC Complement Med Ther. 2020;20(1):225.

11. Hüsch J, Bohnet J, Fricker G, et al. Enhanced absorption of boswellic acids by a lecithin delivery form (Phytosome(®)) of Boswellia extract. .Fitoterapia. 2013;84:89-98.

12. Ammon HP. Boswellic acids in chronic inflammatory diseases. Planta Med. 2006;72(12):1100-1116.

13. Riva A, Giacomelli L, Togni S, et al. Oral administration of a lecithin-based delivery form of boswellic acids (Casperome®) for the prevention of symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized clinical study.. Minerva Gastroenterol Dietol. 2019;65(1):30-35.