Tea of the Month: Herbal Tea
Many people enjoy drinking teas, especially on busy days. Most teas taste good, and they can make you feel refreshed and stay healthy. Besides the black, white, and green teas from the popular Camella Sinensis plant, there are herbal teas that can do wonderful things to your body. Herbal teas can come from leaves, roots, flowers, fruits, or seeds. The best herbal teas can have different effects on your body, from boosting the immune system to treating bloating, sore throat, and other conditions.
Herbal teas are great beverages to drink when you want to stay hydrated and maintain healthy cells, organs and tissues. These days, there are literally thousands of herbs on the market, so it might be confusing for you to know the effective and safe ones for many common problems.
Thankfully you are at the right place as the following will give you a list of different variations to help you understand the benefits of the herbal tea. You can do your own research to choose the best teas to drink for any ailment that you might have.
List of Herbal Teas & Benefits
Lemongrass: This tea has antifungal, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties. You can drink it to relieve upset stomach, bloating, and indigestion. It is a powerful vasodilator as well, so it can improve the blood circulation to the vessels, and prevents blood clots, hypertension, and other cardiovascular illnesses.
Peppermint: This delicious herbal tea can provide many benefits. It has properties that can promote digestion; lowers fevers naturally; relieve respiratory spasms and digestive tracts.
Chamomile: Many people drink this herbal tea for many digestive complaints, to relax the body and mind, to relieve irritability and anxiety as well as promote sleep.
It has been used for many years to treat conditions such as ulcers, hemorrhoids, menstrual problems, inflammation, rheumatic pain, and allergies.
Rooibos tea: This tea contains high amounts of antioxidant properties, vitamin C, and other minerals. It is a very easy drinking tea that can help to prevent disease, aging, and skin disorders such as eczema.
Lemon balm: This herbal tea is very tasty and is an effective treatment for anxiety, stress, headaches, heart palpitations, and digestive problems.
Ginger: As you know, this herb is used widely for culinary purposes, but it also has many medicinal qualities. The tea can soothe the digestive system, relieve nausea, colic, gas, and slow digestion, lowers fever in adults and children, and treat colds and other severe febrile illnesses.
Tulsi or Holy Basil: An herb that is used as a traditional medicine in India, Tulsi can treat many ailments. The tea has a very relaxing effect and is usually considered to be more powerful than chamomile. Some scientific evidence shows that it can be useful for treating depression and anxiety as well as for preventing Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Passionflower: An extremely powerful and relaxing herb, the passionflower can be used for anxiety problems. Drinking the tea will also help to prevent or ease the withdrawal symptoms associated with the discontinued use of benzodiazepines. This herb has increased potency and safety concerns, so it is not always classified as a medicinal tea and is not recommended to drink as a regular beverage.
Herbal Teas and Pregnancy
Most herbal teas are considered safe in pregnancy once you are not drinking them in large amounts. It is perfectly fine to drink one or two cups of herbal tea daily. You could also replace coffee and other high caffeinated drinks with herbal teas to help reduce your intake.
There are some herbal teas to avoid during pregnancy, including green tea, as it contains caffeine. You could have a cup occasionally, but no more. Sage tea is another one to avoid because it has thujone, a substance that has been linked to high blood pressure and miscarriage. Parsley tea can also increase your risk of having a miscarriage and it can affect the development of the baby if you drink large amounts.
Herbal Teas for Anxiety
Herbal teas, especially caffeine-free types, are used commonly to promote relaxation. Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Tulsi or Holy Basil and Passionflower are some of the teas which are known for having anti-anxiety or relaxing effects.
Herbal Teas for Colds
These are some of the herbal teas that can help with colds:
- Lemon tea, effective for easing sore throat and coughs
- Peppermint tea, good for opening up the sinuses for easier breathing
- Cinnamon tea, works similar to the peppermint tea
- Ginger tea, improves the immune system
- Parsley tea, great for numbing sore throat and relieving achy ears
- Garlic tea
At the end of the day, there is absolutely nothing nicer than drinking a soothing and delicious cup of herbal tea, especially on cold days. Besides the tasty flavor and caffeine-free content, you should choose the healthiest herbal teas to enjoy all the benefits.
Parsley Tea
Parsley tea is rich in Vitamin C and antioxidants. It is an herbal tea that is consumed for its many medicinal and nutritional benefits. Parsley is a biennial herb with a bright dark to light green color, and it’s found commonly in the Middle East, Europe, and America. There are actually two kinds of parsley, the curly leaf, and the flat leaf. The two varieties are utilized for culinary purposes. The herb is used to make tea as well by boiling its leaves and stems in water.
Parsley Tea Benefits
If you drink parsley tea regularly, it can help to combat flatulence and excess mucus.
Parsley is a rich Vitamin C source, so it helps iron to absorb in the body. You can benefit a lot from this if you have anemia.
The tea has diuretic properties, so it is often used for detoxification. Drinking it can help to reduce water retention and flush toxins from your body. The diuretic properties also cause people to use it extensively in weight loss diets.
There are parsley tea menstruation benefits. The herb has a compound called apiol, and this helps regulate irregular or abnormal menstrual cycles as well as other related disorders.
Parsley is also a wonderful herb to drink if you want to bring on a late period. The tea has proven to ease menstrual cramps and pain as well. You can get the fresh herb at any grocery store or grow it easily if you want to benefit from the parsley tea induce period.
Parsley is also a mild emmenagogue, which means that it can cause the uterus to contract. Due to its ability to cause uterine contractions, you can drink it to induce an overdue or due flow and the shedding of the uterus lining. Parsley tea abortion is also a natural remedy.
Parsley tea can help to rejuvenate the blood vessel. It aids in maintaining the blood vessels’ elasticity as well as helps in repairing wear and tear.
Drinking parsley tea will improve digestion and help to cleanse a sluggish liver.
Parsley has rich anti-inflammatory properties, making it good for fighting rheumatism and arthritis.
Parsley contains high levels of Vitamin B12, folate, and beta-carotene. These vitamins can lower LDL cholesterol levels and the risk of having homocysteine in the blood. This means that it can boost cardiovascular health.
You can also drink tea to ease discomfort from a bladder infection.
A brew of parsley is recommended for persons who are suffering from chronic fatigue.
Best Parsley Teas Online
Side Effects
You should not drink parsley tea if you are a pregnant woman because it will act as a uterus stimulant and increase your chances of having a miscarriage.
Excessive amounts can cause vomiting, nausea, bloody stools, and diarrhea.
The essential oil from parsley tea is very toxic, so it’s not recommended to use internally.
Parsley tea has a compound known as psoralen, and this is associated with photodermatitis reaction.
This tea has a lot of oxalic acids, and so it must be avoided by persons who are suffering from kidney inflammation.
Parsley Tea Recipe
Put 1¼ tablespoon of the dried parsley inside an infusion basket and then place in a teapot. One cup of hot water can be poured over this.
Allow steeping for five to six minutes before removing the infusion basket from the inside of the teapot.
After that, the tea is ready for drinking. You could sweeten it with a teaspoon of honey or some vegan type of sweetener that is healthy. If you want to enhance the taste further, you could add two to three drops of lemon juice.
Note that parsley tea tends to have a slightly bitter taste, and it might take a few days for you to get used to it. If the taste is too bitter and strong after five-minute steeping, you should try steeping the parsley for two to three minutes instead.
As a final thought, you should know that parsley is also available in dry, powdered form that you can use to make the tea directly. The nutritional and health benefits will be noticeable after a couple of months of drinking parsley tea, so you should not expect to see changes within a week.
Spearmint Tea Benefits
Spearmint is a species of mint often used instead of peppermint. It has a pleasant smell and taste and provides many health benefits. It’s often an ingredient in toothpaste, mouthwashes, and cosmetics.
Spearmint contains a high quantity of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and nutritious matter. It has a scent similar to that of peppermint, but despite that, it doesn’t contain as much menthol. It is, however, rich in limonene, dihydrochalcone, and cineol.
As is the case with other plants that fall under mint family, it has a square shaped stem. Leaves are approximately five to nine centimeters long and around three centimeters wide, while their tips are pointed and resemble spearheads, which is how this herb got its name.
This plant is used to treata wide variety of health issues – nausea, gas, indigestion, toothache, cramps, sore throat, cold, diarrhea, fatigue, stress… It can also be applied topically (directly to the skin) to reduce swelling and nerve or muscle pain.
Spearmint has potent antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal effects and can help treat hirsutism (abnormal hair growth) as well. We will shed more information about these benefits in the text below.
Best Spearmint Tea on Amazon:
Hirsutism (excess body and facial hair)
Spearmint can help reduce the excess amount of hair on a woman’s body and face by lowering the level of androgens in the organism. Men and women both produce androgens, although men produce these hormones in higher quantities. Hormonal imbalance can lead to hirsutism, which, in modern society, generally isn’t a big problem for men, but it can be quite a burden for women. Hirsutism is often connected with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome).
Drinking two cups of spearmint tea for at least five days in a row may reduce levels of androgens present in a woman’s body and help reduce hirsutism symptoms. It’s a refreshing drink with a pleasant scent and taste. In moderate doses, it barely has any side effects, and it reduces your sugar cravings, so why not give it a chance?
Acne
Acne appears because of hormonal imbalance of male hormone testosterone. As previously mentioned, drinking spearmint tea regularly may lead to better hormonal balance, which can considerably reduce recurrence of acne and give clear skin. You can expect notable difference within two or three weeks of regular use.
Indigestion
Sipping a cup of spearmint tea after a meal and before going to bed will relieve you of any discomfort indigestion may bring – irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, bloating, constipation, gas, colonic muscle spasms…. Menthol and oil in spearmint also relax intestinal muscles.
Infertility
A common cause of the inability to get pregnant is PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). If a woman suffers from ovarian cysts, she may experience irregular menstrual periods and increased pain during menstrual periods themselves. This also causes issues with ovulation. The reason behind this is, again, hormonal imbalance. This time, the culprits are male hormones and androgens. While every woman has a certain level of androgens in her body, for some of them their secretion is stronger. They overpower the effect of other hormones, and that leads to infertility.
Drinking spearmint tea twice a day for five days in the ovarian calendar will regulate the menstrual cycle by soothing the ovulation process.
Pregnancy discomfort
Spearmint tea is great for pregnant women who suffer from nausea and morning sickness. However, if you wish to implement it in your daily routine, you should consult your doctor about the dosage and possible side effects it may induce.
Respiratory difficulties
As with any herb which belongs to the mint family, spearmint is great for alleviating respiratory difficulties. Menthol present in it opens nasal passages and allows easier breathing. It also has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. All this makes spearmint perfect for treating sore throat, cold, and flu.
Spearmint tea can also help people suffering from asthma. It can block the production of pro-inflammatory chemicals such as leukotrienes, break up mucus and soothe the sore throat associated with dry coughing.
Peppermint Tea Weight Loss
Peppermint tea is loved by many for its health benefits and unique flavor. Unlike the other mints, there are menthol, menthone, methyl acetate, and forty other compounds in peppermint. You can find some useful information in the following paragraphs if you are interested in knowing about peppermint tea weight loss effects, health benefits, and more.
The dry peppermint leaves are used to make refreshing teas that are very satisfying, hot, or cold. Many still love peppermint for its very refreshing aroma, natural taste, and caffeine-free content. You don’t have to worry about added sugars or calories in peppermint tea if you want to keep close tabs on these things. In fact, drinking a hot cup of peppermint tea will keep your taste bud happy without interfering with your health and weight loss goals.
Peppermint Tea Weight Loss
This tea can help in many ways if it’s included in your weight loss diet. For one, the strong aroma of peppermint tea will help to suppress your cravings and control your appetite. You could drink some tea after dinner to satisfy your cravings for a sweet treat.
Multiple studies show that peppermint tea will calm your gastrointestinal tract to allow healthy bowel movements. This can help you to lose weight as everything will move and flow naturally in your body.
Following a peppermint tea diet will help you to keep relaxed. Heightened stress can increase your cortisol levels which can have negative effects on your metabolism when you are trying to lose weight. The soothing and calming scent of the tea can help to reduce stress and get your body back on track.
Here are some of the known benefits of drinking peppermint tea:
- This tea is a good source of Vitamin C so it can play a vital role in supporting your immune system and keeping bacteria and viruses away.
- There are also high levels of manganese in peppermint. Manganese will act as an antioxidant to target the free radicals and help neutralize them. It encourages the growth of proper bone structure as well.
- It is a very good decongesting agent that can aid in clearing mucus from your air passageways.
- You could drink peppermint tea for nausea if you are having problems with an upset stomach.
- Peppermint tea contains high levels of amino acid, also called tryptophan, which plays a major role in generating serotonin – a mood-controlling chemical. This is why your mood will improve after a cup of peppermint tea.
- Omega-3 fatty acids are in peppermint as well. They can help to increase the good cholesterol levels in your body and promote excellent heart health.
If you want to add peppermint tea to your diet, water quality is a very important factor to consider when making this brew. The water must be completely free of contaminants and contain enough oxygen to enhance its natural flavor. When you use pure water to make peppermint tea, you will get a clean, minty flavor that is very pleasant.
Mint Tea Recipe
A refreshing cup of mint tea can brighter anyone’s day, even if it’s the worst one ever. If you want to know how to make this beverage, you can check the internet for mint tea recipe suggestions.
Mint tea is actually an herbal tea or tisane. Mint comes from the Lamiaceae, a flowering plant family with different species such as spearmint, catnip and peppermint. Unlike other teas, you can enjoy your mint beverage anytime because it does not contain caffeine. This tisane can be made with sweetener or without flavoring. No matter how or when you make it, fresh mint tea is a flavorful and versatile beverage to have at home.
You can grow mint easily in a garden or inside a window box container. It’s best to plant varieties such as Spearmint or Chocolate Mint in a garden because these will grow easily. Peppermint, Apple Mint, or Bowles Mint will be the ideal choice to plant in a container. When you grow your own, you are able to enjoy homemade mint tea at any time of the year.
If you are brewing this tea during the holidays, you can spice it up with some aromatics such as allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger. You could also make this versatile beverage during the summer and serve it with a lot of crushed ice, a bit of lemon, and some fresh honey.
How to Make Mint Tea
* Boil four cups of water in a tea pot or kettle, and then put one cup of the fresh mint leaves inside.
* Once the boiling water covers the mint leaves, you should leave the brew to steep for ten minutes.
* After that, you could serve the tea right away or put it inside the refrigerator to chill and enjoy as iced mint tea.
At this point, it’s worth mentioning that chocolate mint will make the best fresh herbal beverage that you have ever had. You could make the pure chocolate mint tea that is steeped in just boiling water or a hot brew with a little more flavor and cream. Adding a couple of tablespoons of chocolate-flavored soy milk will give you a delicious tasting hot mint chocolate tea.
This beverage can satisfy your cravings for chocolate and give you a healthy and low-calorie fix. You should know that you can use chocolate mint to make more than just a hot herbal tea. When added to mint iced tea, the chocolate will give a boost of flavor that will ignite your senses. This beverage will also be a good complement to your dinner meals.
Many people have been drinking mint herbal teas for a number of years to benefit from its recuperative powers. It is said that drinking mint tea can help to give relief from a number of ailments as well as to brighter gloomy or sad days. The fact that this beverage has a great taste helps to make the drinking experience a lot more satisfying. You can start making mint tea today!