Taking time out of your busy day to quietly sip a nice, warm cup of tea is not just soothing to your mental health; medicinal tea can also soothe the ailments in your body. Have aches and pains? There’s tea for that. Feeling chills, fever, runny nose, sore throat, and other cold or flu symptoms? There’s some for that as well.
In this blog post, we’ll teach you what medicinal tea is and its long history of health benefits, as well as how to make medicinal tea at home and then store it so you can use it again the next time you’re feeling under the weather.
What Is Medicinal Tea?
On a basic level, medicinal tea is tea that is used for medicinal purposes. It’s not infused with a prescription drug or anything artificial. It is simply tea made with herbs that are well-known to possess healing properties.
Tea has an ancient history of being used for medicinal purposes. In fact, it wasn’t until the 6th century that it became more of a social beverage in China (where it is thought tea first originated), sipped for pleasure rather than to cure an ailment. When tea first came to Britain, it was looked upon as medicine, a far cry from what it’s used for today, which is as a source of caffeine, a habit, or an excuse to socialize.
But medicinal tea has its strongest roots in native peoples across the globe. Indigenous groups in Africa, Mexico, and North America are all examples of people who scavenged and harvested local flora to soothe or even heal pains and sicknesses.
What Are The Benefits Of Medicinal Tea?
Medicinal tea has many different potential health benefits. It is purported to provide relief from symptoms including (but not limited to):
● Indigestion
● Runny nose
● Chest congestion
● Fever
● Infection
● Arthritis
● Inflammation
It has even been shown to help with more serious health problems, such as_
● Cancer
● Diabetes
● Heart disease
And medicinal tea can also_
● Lower cholesterol
● Help with weight loss
● Help you think more clearly
What Are The Different Types Of Medicinal Tea?
As we stated earlier in this article, medicinal tea is just tea that is used for medicinal purposes, so lots of different types of this beverage that we drink on a daily basis can actually be used for health benefits rather than just as something to wet your whistle.
Let’s go over some specific examples of medicinal teas and their unique health benefits.
1 | Peppermint Tea
Peppermint tea has a refreshing smell and taste, but it can also relieve digestive issues such as cramps and nausea, soothe headaches and migraines, open up congested sinuses, relieve menstrual cramps, help with allergies, and help you focus.
2 | Black Tea
Black tea is another common tea we drink hot or iced. It contains antioxidants, which are good for your body’s health on a cellular level and help prevent disease, including heart disease. Black tea can also improve gut health, reduce blood pressure and the risk of a stroke, lower blood sugar levels, and reduce the risk of cancer. And because it contains caffeine, it can also help you feel more energized and focus better.
3 | Green Tea
Green tea is incredibly beneficial to your physical health. It may improve cellular function, which in turn helps your body prevent disease, reduce inflammation, fight cancer, burn fat, improve brain function and aging, prevent type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and even help you live longer.
As you can see just by these 3 examples, tea has a host of amazing health benefits that you can harness for your own wellbeing. We’ll show you how to do that in the section below.
How To Make Medicinal Tea At Home
There are two basic ways you can make medicinal tea at home_ using fresh herbs or using a dried, pre-packaged tea blend.
Using Fresh Herbs
When you’re using fresh herbs to brew yourself a cup of medicinal tea, it’s important to get the ratio of herbs to water just right. The most common rule of thumb is to use 1 tsp. of fresh herbs to 1 cup of boiling water. Once you have your ratio, follow these steps to brew your tea:
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Put your fresh herbs in a mug or tea cup and then pour the boiling water over them.
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Stir the herbs around to ensure they are distributed throughout the water and don’t just stay collected at the bottom of the cup.
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Cover the cup and let the mixture steep for at least 15 minutes. This may seem like a long time, but it allows the tea to become as potent as possible for medicinal purposes. Remember, the longer the steep time, the stronger the brew.
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Uncover, strain the tea, and enjoy!
Using A Tea Blend
To make medicinal tea using a dried tea blend, use 1 tbsp. of dried herbs to 1 cup of boiling water, then repeat the above steps.
How To Store Medicinal Tea
If you brew a whole pitcher of medicinal tea, Mother Earth News suggests that the best way to store it is in the refrigerator. This preserves its potency longer - up to three to four days.
Dried herbs are best stored in a sealed container in a cool dry place, like your pantry. For fresh herbs, wrap them in a damp paper towel, put them in a resealable plastic bag or plastic wrap, and then store them in the refrigerator.
Brew Your Way To Good Health
Are you ready to brew your way to good health? Remember that you can use the tea blends you already have in your home or that we sell in our online shop to brew your own batch of medicinal tea. Feel better and healthier, all through the natural power of tea!