Thoughts on food and beverages – Part 60

Drink To Your Health! Drink Soothing Therapeutic Teas!

Do you feel stressed? Would you like to try a natural, delicious aromatic way to help ease common ailments? Why don’t you try therapeutic teas! They have been around since Ancient Times, and have helped people all over the world to ease dozens of different maladies. Some of the more popular ones are discussed here.

Chamomile Tea is probably the best known and most effective medicinal tea used. A nineteenth century poem said, “To ease the body’s pain, the Lord sent chamomile”. This tea obviously must have been very important to the people of that time. It’s anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic properties were highly valued, and still are today. This tea has been used to help with stomachaches, sore throats, cramps, flu and coughing, and even insomnia!

When buying the chamomile flowers to make the tea, look for German Chamomile. These flowers contain the highest concentration of the essential oils that give chamomile its healing powers. To prepare the tea, use 1 teaspoon of chamomile flowers to one cup of water. Boil until just starting to bubble, then take the tea kettle off of the heat, and let the brew cool slightly. Don’t steep the tea for more than 5 minutes. Enjoy the healing effects and natural taste of this tea regularly! (Warning, if you are a person who is allergic to such plants as ragweed, you should avoid using chamomile).

Peppermint is grown by many gardeners for its wonderful, fresh minty fragrance. But you can also use this plant to make a tea to help prevent flatulency, alleviate headaches, and ease irritable bowel syndrome. Liver and gall bladder functions can also be stimulated be drinking this spicy tea. Make sure you inhale the aroma of the peppermint! If you have acid reflex, you probably should avoid this tea as it could worsen your symptoms. But for most of us, this tea is a healthy addition to the diet.

To prepare peppermint tea, simply pick some leaves from your garden and let them dry. Take 1 tbsp. of the dried peppermint leaves and pour 1 cup of boiling water over them. Let steep for about 10 minutes. To sweeten the tea, you can add some honey or brown sugar. You can also purchase peppermint tea bags from your grocery or health food store if you don’t grow the mint in your garden.

The dandelion is a very beneficial plant that grows wild in most parts of the world. We tend to think of it as a weed growing in our lawns, but it can