Supplements that can help fibro include ... boswellia
Jemima, I've been seeing you highly recommend
boswellia for "puffiness" and more many a time.
Now my acupressurist asked me to get her some "African Frankincense" as that's sposed to be better.
So: Which sort to you use and in which dose?
I'd also been wondering for myself about its anti-inflammatory effect and decreasing stiffness.
So my acupressurist's quick question spawned hours of research on it...
What I've found out in short is that all Boswellia types seem to be helpful. At least a review from 2020 finding it helpful for osteoarthritis has looked at all types in their search, altho they explicitly refer to the Indian type, serrata, as this is the one most common for research and use.
I've seen it mentioned for
inflammation, joint and arthritis pain, cancer, infections, autoimmune diseases (draxe), asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel diseases, osteoarthritis, and multiple sclerosis, the oil
is antimicrobial, animal studies suggest it's neuroprotective (wikipedia - normally very reserved as far as herbs/alternative medicine go), whilst healthline is maybe a bit too careful in its report of
a little bit of scientific evidence that Boswellia is good for
arthritis (OA, 2x170mg/d), gut (IBS, colitis; 250mg/d), asthma, gums and cancer, too little evidence for diabetes, stress/anxiety/depression, heart disease, smooth skin, memory, hormones/PMS and fertility. Sfx according to healthline (spread over two of their articles on one page): indigestion, constipation, acid reflux, diarrhea, nausea, skin rashes. (- which is why I probably won't try it, also considering I don't tolerate any anti-inflammatory spices, but am wondering if I might try the oil for skin and gums, altho I already have success with tea tree oil, calendula essence, and could try the myrrh essence that I have again too, e.g. for my persistent tooth inflammation.)
Now as far as the 20+ types go, most from northeast Africa, the most common are Boswellia serrata (Indian Frankincense), B. carteri (formerly carterii; "African" Frankincense) and B. sacra ("Arabian"). (Recent research has shown that carteri and sacra are variants of the same species, but they have different resin chemistry.) You can see where the problem arises talking about "African" Frankincense.... And that's exactly where my acupressurist's question took me: An article in a German pharmacists' gazette mentioned a German researcher finding that "the African" type is
10x as anti-inflammatory as the "normal" type - without detailing or revealing the source (so I wrote a letter to the editor...). Looking around a bit I haven't found the study itself yet, but a report from his university, i.e. reliable, that it wasn't "the usual African" type (carteri), but
B. papyrifera, in comparison to the Indian type, B. serrata. It's harder to get papyrifera encapsulated, but I've found a pharmacy (calling itself Weihrauch Apotheke, Frankincense pharmacy) that would do that. Probably a lot cheaper to encapsulate it yourself: The Revisionist Org in a comment writes you'd have to freeze then grind it. He says it is a common type, might help MS, and his take on it is it's no good for him as it disturbs his sensitive stomach - so nothing for me either.)
(btw "The Revisionist Org" interestingly goes into incredible detail about several sorts - incl. medical uses - as he uses them to chew on as gum for brain enhancement.)