Sage for Antioxidant Support

Research suggests that sage may offer antioxidant and antiviral properties at the cellular level, with one laboratory study finding that water infusions of sage demonstrated potent activity against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants, partly by activating heme oxygenase 1, a cellular protein with known antioxidant and antiviral functions. The same study identified active compounds in sage, including caffeic acid, that may contribute to these effects. However, the available evidence comes exclusively from in vitro cell culture experiments rather than human clinical trials, which means findings cannot be directly translated to conclusions about how sage affects antioxidant status or disease outcomes in people. A separate epidemiological study included in the linked literature examined air pollution and COVID-19 risk and is not directly relevant to sage's antioxidant properties, leaving the human evidence base for this use notably limited.