These days, people have become significantly more conscious with their health and well being. Everyone is consistently looking for ways to naturally improve their health. Some people choose to stick to specific diets, or drinking food supplements to achieve their wellness goals. While these are fine, you can actually boost your health by drinking herbal teas. It’s a simple addition to your daily routine, that will provide plenty of benefits for your body.
In this article, we will discuss the different types of teas, their compositions, and how they can better your health. Before anything else, let’s define herbal tea and understand why it is more beneficial than most beverages you consume everyday.
What is herbal tea?
True “tea” all come from the same plant — the Camellia sinensis. There are five kinds of true, traditional tea — black tea, green tea, oolong tea, pu-erh tea, and white tea. These are classified according to the methods of preparation the tea leaves underwent.
However, it is not only the traditional types of teas that have become known today. There is a wide variety of herbal teas available in the market featuring different flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, or even mushrooms. Drinking herbal tea allows your body to easily absorb a plant’s nutrients and antioxidants.
Different herbal teas can be used for a wide range of purposes. Some teas can help you relax, while other teas can soothe your stomach. You can also enjoy your tea hot or cold, making it a versatile drink for everyday consumption.
What are the benefits of drinking herbal tea?
The health benefits of herbal teas highly depend on the ingredients used to prepare them. Some teas only have a single ingredient, while others use a blend of leaves, fruits, or flowers from different plants. Nevertheless, there are a lot of herbal tea varieties that share the same benefits.
Since herbal teas are made with natural ingredients, they are generally rich in polyphenols from the plants. Polyphenols load up with antioxidants that boost your health in many ways. Actually, the human body naturally produces antioxidants to fight free radicals caused by oxidative stress. These free radicals and oxidative stress are one of the key elements that grow cancer. That’s why it is very important to extinguish them with plenty of antioxidants. When the production of antioxidants in our body is not enough, this is when we the help of other external sources come in handy.
Aside from the mutual benefit of antioxidants, different herbal teas have diverse health advantages depending on the plants that are used to create them. For an instance, chamomile has a calming effect on the mind, while ginseng can help your body’s vitality. There is also hibiscus tea who contains properties that aid the balance of blood pressure.
Aside from these health remedies, regular consumption of herbal tea can significantly help reduce weight and mass. It may also help reduce the risk of a heart attack, and reduce blood sugar.
Different Varieties of Herbal Teas
Now, let us proceed with the most common herbal teas and how they can benefit you.
1. Chamomile Tea
The chamomile plant is popularly grown in gardens for its aesthetically pleasing flowers. They grow commonly in fields and other sun-drenched lands. The plant originally came from Western Europe, India, and Western Asia, but it is now popular in the United States.
Chamomile tea is an mellow drink with its bittersweet taste, and flavor with notes of honey. This is ideal for people who just started drinking tea as part of their daily routine.
This tea is best taken after a long day day, before going to bed. It can help you move to a calmer state and get a good night’s sleep due to its sedative properties. It reduces body stress and tension that will ease your mind to achieve relaxation. It also supports digestion and can be used to aid digestive problems.
2. Lemongrass Tea
Lemongrass is another plant that you can easily grow in the yard or inside your home with flower pots. This plant can be easily remembered for its gentle, sweet, and citrusy flavor that is also often used to season dishes.
This tea can give you long term health benefits that will prevent you from getting life threatening conditions. It aids your body in removing unwanted properties such as cholesterol, toxins, fats, and uric acid, which will also help reduce blood pressure.
Lemongrass is also rich in potassium that stimulates blood circulation and prevents fluid retention in your muscles by aiding the production of urine. Aside from these, it also contains vitamins A and C which is also great for your skin and hair health.
3. Green tea
Characterized for its bitter sweet and nutty flavor, green tea is one of the variants of true tea made with Camellia sinensis leaves that have not undergone oxidation process. This tea is very popular in the regions of China and Japan and is a significant part of their history and culture.
Today, green tea remains popular for its aid in reducing growth of cancer and heart diseases by keeping free radicals under control. Green tea is also very known as an aid for digestion and weight loss. It improves your metabolism so your body does not store fat, allowing consumers to lose weight faster. Aside from this, green tea also helps increase endurance during exercise.
4. Peppermint or Mint tea
Mint is widely recognized for culinary and medicinal purposes. This plant has a distinct cool aroma with a refreshing, menthol taste. Menthol, the primary component of mint, is effectively in cooling the body in cases of temperature imbalance such as fever. It is also an ideal remedy for gastrointestinal issues as it aids healthy digestion.
Aside from this, mint also contains antispasmodic properties that helps prevent urges of vomiting or nausea. Mint tea should come in handy if you are suffering from motion sickness.
5. Jasmine tea
Jasmine leaves are grown and harvested in highly elevated regions. Similar to green tea, jasmine is an integral part of Chinese culture as they often serve this drink to welcome guests.
This tea can be easily recognized for its fragrant and refreshing aroma. It is rich in catechins which helps reduce your body’s cholesterol, making this drink ideal for fighting heart diseases. They also prevent inflammation of veins and arteries that often lead to heart attack or stroke.
Aside from this, jasmine tea can also aid weight loss by boost your body’s metabolism leading to more effective exercise. It also helps metabolize glucose, which is important in preventing risks of diabetes.
6. Hibiscus tea
Hibiscus tea is a popular drink to blend with other fruits and herbs to make seasonal beverages. It is grown mostly in countries with tropical climate and it has a significant history of healing. Its taste has a resemblance of cranberry — gentle, sweet, citrusy.
This tea can help reduce anxiety by calming your nervous system. It is ideal to have this drink during office breaks to reduce stress caused by working long hours. Hibiscus also promotes weight loss by decreasing the body’s tendency to absorb sugar.
These are just six of the many varieties of herbal teas you can enjoy today. Each one of them can benefit you in more ways than one that’s why it’s ideal to start including herbal teas in your diet.
