A Health Blog

Antioxidants
Thyme contains the flavonoids apigenin, naringenin, luteolin, and thymonin, which have antioxidant activity.

Anti Bacterial
The thyme extract thymol is one of the ingredients in the anti bacterial Listerine mouthwash, which in studies has exhibited potent anti bacteria properties.
The results of a study demonstrated that the thyme oil ingredients carvacrol and p-cymene could potentially be used as antimicrobial agents in unpasteurized fruit juices.
In preliminary studies thyme and the essential oils thymol and carvacrol inhibited the formation of Shigella, a food borne bacteria that can cause severe dysentery.
In a study of the antimicrobial properties of 21 plant essential oils against 5 bacteria, of which Salmonella and E. coli were included, thyme oil was one of the most inhibitory.

Anti Inflammatory
The thymol in thyme inhibits elastase, an enzyme that breaks down elastin, and is considered a marker of inflammatory diseases.