At BALANCE, we pride ourselves on having secured WellSpoken mark. ‘What does that mean’, you might ask? Well, it means everything we publish, in print and online, is well researched, factual and presented from a #balanced point of view, naturally.

When it comes to brands, however, any brand worth its salt understands the importance of substantiating claims with an objective peer review or clinical trial. Hence the uproar when it came to light Gwyneth Paltrow refused a fact check on her wellbeing platform, Goop.

The problem people had with this was Gwyneth wasn’t concerned whether the health content she was publishing was either factually correct, or scientifically possible.

BOTANICAL BRAIN BOOST

One brand which does walk the walk is No1 Rosemary Water.

In January 2018, their bold TV advert was banned by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) after a handful of people complained it implied their botanical drinks could improve your memory and promoted ‘good health and longevity’.

Taking this feedback on board, and in an effort to address the confusion, No1 Rosemary Water substantiated their claims with research conducted by Dr Mark Moss, Head of Psychology at Northumbria University, which proved the botanical drink does in fact improve memory and cognitive performance by 15%.

Dr Moss and his team conducted a series of tests that were designed to fathom the participants’ capability to retain and manipulate information. Across a number of assessments, the group drinking No1 Rosemary Water saw an improvement in their ability to recall information and complete cognitive tasks.

Dr Moss commented, “The results of this research show there are statistically reliable improvements in memory function thanks to the ingestion of No1 Rosemary Water. In fact, I’d say the shots act like a turbocharger for the brain.”

Throughout history, rosemary has long been associated with enhanced memory and concentration but this is the first piece of research published on the cognitive benefits of drinking rosemary extract, and conclusive proof No1 Rosemary Water is not to be lumped into the ‘pseudoscience’ bracket.

HOW TO SPOT PSEUDOSCIENCE

CURE ALLS If a product claims to cure every disease because they all stem back to one thing, think twice
‘NEW’ SCIENCE Dubious scientific advances are easy ground for big claims
TESTIMONIALS Unlike No1 Rosemary Water, if a brand is simply banking on testimonials to sell its wares, question the science
CLOSED BOOK If you’re unable to read a study for yourself, there might be a reason why…