Enjoying Your Garden

White Willow Bark – Uses, Benefits And Side Effects

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What Is It – Uses – Dosage – Side Effects – Benefits – Related Research – Summary

Willow bark has often been called nature’s own aspirin. The bark has some incredibly interesting properties that see great use these days in the medicinal industry. It’s often bought over the counter and simply called willow bark. These small tablets are meant to help reduce pain by stimulating the nerves. With some recent research it is reported that the willow bark is able to help effectively with arthritis. 

The bark of the white willow is quite simply a very useful ingredient for making medicine. It’s still being researched and new discoveries are coming out pretty steadily. In this article we will be diving deeper into willow bark and learning about the benefits of it.

White Willow
White Willow

What Is White Willow Bark

The willow tree family is pretty large. There are some varieties that are much more common than others. The white willow is the most cultivated one, but there are some others worth knowing about too. They share similar properties among each other. Willow trees are in Latin called Salix, that might be the name you see if you read a research report about the tree, instead of white willow. Below is a list of some of the most commonly used Salix trees.

  • Salix fragilis (crack willow)
  • Salix alba (white willow)
  • Salix purpurea (purple willow)
  • Salix pentandra (bay willow)
  • Salix daphnoides (violet willow)

Like we mentioned previously, willow tree bark is often called nature’s aspirin. The reason being that all these trees have something called acetylsalicylic acid, which is also known as aspirin. The salicin in the bark is converted in the body into this acid and that is what makes it anti-inflammatory. It helps ease the pain in nerves and muscle joints.

The white willow tree can grow in a variety of different environments. But if you want to maximize the growth and the longevity of it then you should try and find a well watered area. The soil should ideally also be very well drained. This means that the tree has an easier time growing and staying healthy. The spot should be pretty open too, so that sun can easily reach the tree and its leaves.

The Uses Of Willow Bark

Willow bark seems to have some really interesting and beneficial effects to people who suffer from arthritis. The bark from the tree is often referred to as nature’s aspirin. It has the possibility of reducing muscle and joint pain. Its anti-inflammatory and makes calms the nerves.

The chemical called salicin in the bark turns into an acid when it gets taken up by the body. But besides being converted into aspirin in the body and reducing pain, it can also act as an antioxidant. That might be the second most beneficial thing about white willow bark. Antioxidants are something incredibly important for the body. It reduces the chance you will get sick. The white blood cells in the body are able to more quickly and efficiently protect the body against colds and fever for example.

Often referred to as “free radicals”, that is what causes inflammations. Which the willow bark counteracts. Below is a short list of some of the areas where willow bark could be used.

Headaches

Since the willow bark contains antioxidants that help fight against inflammation, it’s a very effective medicine against headaches. It calms the nerves and makes the pain more tolerable. It should be mentioned that there is a risk the bark can interact in a negative way with other medicines. Meaning that you should discuss with a professional beforehand.

Osteoarthritis

Arthritis is a disease that causes a lot of pain in the muscle and nerves. This means that willow bark could be a very useful remedy for this. It calms the nerves and makes the person using it have a lot less pain basically. It was relieved that people who had serious knee pains had pretty surprising pain reliefs when using willow bark.

Lower Back Pain

Willow bark was used in research looking at the effect it has against back pain. The result was that it was directly impacting the area and causing less pain for the people. The dosage seemed to also correlate with the amount of pain relief. Meaning that a higher dose had a higher pain relief.

White Willow Bark
White Willow Bark

Doses Of White Willow Bark

There is a very high risk for people under the age of 18 using willow bark, or aspirin in general. There is an increase in Reye syndrome. Something which is correlated with the use of aspirin if the body is still developing, meaning people under the age of 18.

Even if you are a doctor you should still discuss with a professional beforehand. Aspirin is a very powerful pain relief medicine, but it should be taken in moderation to prevent long term issues otherwise. 

As for the different ways you could get the medicine, there are a few.

Capsules

This is the most common way to get willow bark medicine. They can be bought over the counter in most pharmacies. Tablets or capsules, these are effective against reducing pain in the muscles or joints. It’s recommended to not go over 240 mg of dosage per day.

Tea

There are some health food stores in the country that actually carry tea made from the bark. Often consumed to help calming the body and reducing anxiety. The downside being that it’s hard to know how much salicin you are consuming as you are steeping the bark.

Liquid

Lastly the bark can also be found in liquids. These are concentrated liquids meant to be taken in very small doses. 1 or 2 drops pers day is the recommended amount. Working the same way as the other forms, reduces pain and makes it easier to go about your day.

Are There Any Side Effects To It

People who might be allergic to aspirin should at all cost avoid the willow tree bark. It can trigger some pretty ansty effects otherwise in the body. Like a lot of medicines like this, you should consult with a professional beforehand. The risk would otherwise be that it interacts negatively with other medicines, like blood-thinners or beta blockers.

Like we mentioned previously, children under the age of 18 should not take this medicine, or asprin in general. As there is research suggesting that Reye syndrome is correlated with taking aspirin if the body is still developing. It could therefore have some long term and serious issues. 

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should also avoid using this. Since the intake you have will be shared with the baby too, increasing the risk of Reye syndrome here too. Lastly, if you are suffering from gastric ulcers there is a chance aspirin could cause stomach bleeding, so willow bark is completely off the table.

Benefits Of White Willow Bark

There are a number of areas where willow bark, especially white willow bark, proves beneficial. People who have issues with lower back pain will see that the medicine is very efficient. In fact, it seems that willow bark and the aspirin in it can help with a large amount of pain for people. 

Its anti-inflammatory meaning that it will directly impact the affected area. The antioxidants in the bark treat the “free radicals” causing the inflammation. Reduction of that means less pain. 

The use of willow bark is effective in treating muscle and joint pains. So for women who are experiencing menstrual pains then this might be a good solution against that. Again though, consult with a professional first. 

There is still a large amount of research that needs to be done in order to really learn about the true impact that willow bark could have. Nature’s aspirin could play a very important role in the future of the medical business. Since the tree is rather easy to cultivate in large quantities it’s of great potential.

But with all these things, time will tell what the long term effects are to the body when using this bark. It is however very interesting that mother nature is able to offer impressive things such as this.

Willow Tree
Willow Tree

Conclusion And Summary

White willow bark is often referred to as nature’s aspirin. The reason being that the bark has a property called allicin present in it. This gets converted into an acid when entering the body. That acid then has the same impact as aspirin to the body. 

This means that white willow bark is able to help treat muscle and joint pains rather effectively. The research is at least pointing that way. But like all medicines that can have impactful effects like this, it’s recommended to talk to a licensed professional beforehand. The impact could otherwise be quite severe. 

The ways you are able to get the bark in are many, but the most common one being in tablets or capsules. These are the ones sold over the counter in most pharmacies.

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10 Great Benefits To Drinking Cilantro Tea

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Vitamin K – Quercetin – Diabetes Management – Detox – Heavy Metals – Reduces Anxiety – Heart Health – Food Poisoning – Skin Irritaion – Colon Cancer – FAQ – Summary

Cilantro has been used for centuries in cooking and medicinal purposes. The highly aromatic and flavorful herb is a great addition to any garden at home. It’s not all for nothing that this is such a valued herb. It’s rich in a lot of important nutrients like Vitamin K and antioxidants. 

It’s easy to grow it and will provide you with plenty of harvest throughout the year if you grow it indoors. One of the best ways of enjoying this herb is by making tea from it. This makes for a very flavorful and aromatic beverage, filled with all the benefits of the cilantro. Below are some of our favorite benefits to drinking this.

10 Great Benefits To Drinking Cilantro Tea

Vitamin K

Vitamin K can be found in a number of different herbs and plants. But in cilantro it’s very concentrated. This means it’s easier to get your daily needs with a fairly small amount. Just 2 teaspoons will provide you with over ⅓ of your daily needs. 

Vitamin K is what the body needs to perform proper blood clotting, but it also aids in making your bones stronger. It helps maintain the bones and reduces the risk that they will break as you get older.

Cilantro Leaves
Cilantro Leaves

Quercetin

Quercetin is getting quite a lot of attention in recent times. It’s being researched that this property can help the body be able to not get sick as much, basically protecting the body against disease.

This nutrient is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. It makes the body healthier and it is believed it can help high performance athletes and military personnel. Drinking cilantro tea about 2 – 3 times a week will be plenty enough to get these benefits.

Diabetes Management

Cilantro can actually help people with diabetes. There are properties in the herb that will make the body basically use up more of the sugar in the body and convert that into energy instead. 

This lowers the blood sugar level and reduces the risk of high blood sugar levels for diabetic people. It can also help with the blood pressure in turn, lowering it at reducing the risk for heart disease too.

Detox

There has been testing with animals that eating cilantro can help detox the body from harmful heavy metals. It basically rids the body from these by binding them in the bloodstream and making it easier for them to go out.

This will in the long term reduce the risk for disease and sickness. It should be mentioned that there is yet to be any concrete research published yet on this for humans.

No More Heavy Metals

If you read the part above here then you would know that cilantro could potentially help rid the body of heavy metals. Metals like arsenic, lead and mercury can stay in the tissue in the body and greatly increase the risk of heart disease. 

What the cilantro basically does is help bind these metals together, making them start loosening up and releasing from the tissue. The body can now isolate these metals and rid them from the body. 

Reduces Anxiety

Prolonged and continued stress is related to a number of different serious diseases. It could affect the heart or the brain. In short, too much stress for too long will leave long term effects. 

The quercetin in the body helps protect it against oxidative stress. The high concentration of antioxidants in cilantro helps with defeating and reducing the level of free radicals in the body. Those are the culprit for inflammation and stress. Drinking cilantro tea and making that a habit seems to be able to create some serious long term benefits.

Cilantro Plant
Cilantro Plant

Heart Health

It’s been researched that cilantro can actually help the body reduce cholesterol levels. This means that the risk for heart disease is not as common anymore. Some cardioprotective nutrients in cilantro can also help prevent oxidative damage to the body. That is specifically associated with some heart related diseases.

The amount of cilantro you need to consume for this to be affected is still being disputed, but drinking tea made from about 2 – 3 times a week might be the magic amount.

Protects Against Food Poisoning

Drinking cilantro tea seems to not only be effective against reducing the risk for heart disease, it can also help detox the body and reduce the risk of food poisoning. The antibacterial properties of the herb will make it less likely to harm your body.

Food or waterborne disease will not get a grip of your body as it has a good enough protection against these things now. A fun fact is that just 2 teaspoons a day of cilantro seems to have a significant impact on the body this way.

Skin Irritation

Cilantro has not only been used in food, it’s also been used for medicinal purposes. Nowadays it can be quite common to find it in some skin care products. Applying it will help soothe the effects of some allergic reactions.

If you get stung by nettles for example, applying cilantro can help mitigate the pain and reduce the skin irritation. It can even help against sunburns. The antioxidants in the herb is what makes this all possible.

Protects Against Colon Cancer

Since cilantro is able to help the body lower cholesterol levels, this also means it’s possible for it to reduce the risk of colon cancer. There is still research to be done on this topic as the amount you need to consume hasn’t really been decided.

But drinking cilantro tea on a pretty regular basis will definitely start whosing results. We try to do it about 2 – 3 times a week. So not an exaggerated amount, but enough that we feel it has an effect.

Cilantro Plant
Cilantro Plant

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Cilantro Make You Sleepy

Cilantro seems to help people have an easier time falling asleep. What we often do is make tea from the plant and let it steep for a few minutes. Drinking this before going to bed will make for a very pleasant sleep. But we haven’t noticed any more sleepiness during the day if we eat the herb.

What Healing Properties Does Cilantro Have

Cilantro contains a lot of antioxidants. This helps the body be protected against diseases and sickness. The risk of headaches and fevers are greatly reduced because of this. 

It helps lower the blood sugar level in the body but also the blood pressure by keeping the cholesterol at a reasonable level. In the long term these are some really great benefits.

Cilantro Tea Side Effects

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of side effects with drinking tea made from cilantro. The herb is a very nutritional plant. But the obvious side effect would be if you are allergic to cilantro without knowing. It’s not completely uncommon to do this, so perhaps doing a test beforehand would be a good idea.

Summary And Conclusion

The cilantro plant is really a superfood. The plant is rich in Vitamin K and more importantly antioxidants. This has long term effects on the body. It reduces the risk for heart disease and improves the body’s cognitive ability. 

A good intake of cilantro will provide you with long term effects. The bones in your body will be stronger from the vitamin, but you will most likely experience less headaches and colds too. Drinking cilantro tea about 2 – 3 times each week seems to be a good amount for getting all these health benefits.

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Cilantro Tea – How To Make This Refreshing Drink

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What Is It – Cilantro Tea – Pairing With Other Herbs – Health Benefits – FAQ

Cilantro tea is a great option if you want to enjoy some of that havrest you have at home. It’s refreshing and very aromatic, the perfect summer drink really. Since the cilantro plant will grow pretty quickly, I will never not be able to make this tea from the fresh leaves.

It’s rich in nutrients and some very interesting properties that make cilantro a great introduction to your diet. With antioxidants and vitamins, it really is a superfood. The tea is simply made by steeping the fresh leaves in warm water for a few minutes. It will release all the nutrients and leave you with a powerful tea to drink.

What Is Cilantro

Cilantro is a pretty common herb that is grown by a lot of people. It’s one of those herbs that you either like or don’t like. Some people actually have a genetic thing that cilantro more or less tastes like soap, but it’s for a small subset of people this applies to.

It’s been used for many many years and provides a very aromatic option to your food. It will taste the best when it’s still fresh. Unlike thyme or rosemary for example, the quality and flavor of cilantro really goes down when it’s dried instead.

Growing the cilantro is very easy. It likes areas where there is a lot of sun during the day. But the soil should be pretty well watered all the time to help support the plant during the summer. Make sure the soil is well draining too, meaning that you shouldn’t see any water pool at the top of the soil.

Cilantro Plant
Cilantro Plant

Making Your Own Cilantro Tea

Actually making the tea is very easy. Like we mentioned previously, the best type of cilantro will be fresh ones. The dried cilantro really doesn’t taste that much, instead we find it much more rewarding harvesting your own and making tea from that.

Let’s look at the steps we take to making cilantro tea:

  • Pick about 2 – 3 large sprigs of cilantro
  • Boil about 2 cups of water
  • Pour the water of the cilantro and let it steep for about 2 – 3 minutes
  • Strain it and add a small amount of honey if you wish to have some sweetness

This will produce a very nice and fragrant tea for you. But we want to stress the fact that it should be consumed while still warm. It will taste much better, but the nutrition in the tea will be richer like this. Waiting for it to cool down will instead let some of the beneficial properties go away, at that point you might as well just drink water instead.

Pairing Cilantro With Other Herbs

Cilantro is a very aromatic herb that goes very well with other plants too. It wont take over and will instead just leave a more aromatic and flavorful tea if combined. Some of our favorites to pair with are thyme and basil. 

Neither of those will take over the flavor profile, instead just make a very well balanced tea. We like to divide cilantro, thyme and basil equally when making the tea, one third of each. The recipe we use is the same as the regular one, steeping the herbs in warm water for a few minutes and then straining it.

The Health Benefits Of Cilantro Tea

We mentioned in the beginning that cilantro is actually very rich in nutrients, some of these being vitamins, but especially antioxidants. These antioxidants are very important to have in the diet, it protects the body against the risk of future sickness, like colds or fevers. 

Antioxidants are meant to help mitigate “free radicals” which causes inflammation (headaches, joint pain). This makes it very valuable to have. Luckily you will get more than enough of the dose if you drink cilantro tea about 2 – 3 times a week.

Cilantro Leaves
Cilantro Leaves

Frequently Asked Questions

Diabetes Management

It’s been researched that cilantro can actually help with diabetes. There are properties in the cilantro that get released when we eat it that helps maintain a healthy blood sugar level. So drinking tea made from cilantro can actually protect you against heart diseases too. 

It helps reduce cholesterol. The leaves rich in antioxidants are great for protecting the body against future sickness like colds and fever. It should be mentioned that there is still research to be made around this topic, but going off what other people are reporting then cilantro tea seems like a great option.

Helps With Weight Loss

Cilantro tea can actually help with weight loss. It’s pretty interesting really, the cilantro can help with maintaining a lower blood sugar level. It makes the body consume more sugar and converts that into energy. It basically lowers the spare sugars in the body and makes the most of them.

A boosted metabolism is more or less what it does. This will long term make it easier to shed some weight if that’s a goal of yours.

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How To Make Your Own Elderflower Tea

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What Is It – Health Benefits – Elderflower Tea Recipe – Pros – Side Effects – Summary

Making tea from an elderflower might not have crossed your mind. It’s a lot less common to make tea from then black or green tea for example. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to take from this.

Elderflower is a very aromatic and beautiful flower when it’s freshly picked. The fresh acidity and vibrant aroma of it is hard to top. The best tea you could make from elderflower will be from fresh flowers, but you could also dry the flowers and enjoy them during the rest of the year too.

What Is Elderflower

Elderflower is a tree that can grow pretty large. The flowers are white and bloom during the early summer when the temperatures are starting to get higher and higher. 

The flowers are the most aromatic and flavorful part of the tree. They bloom in very white colored petals and a yellow center. They are almost acidic and very perfumed. After blooming the flowers will instead start turning into small buds that develop into elderberries. These are dark purple with a slight sweetness to them.

The elderflower tree will grow the best in a place where the sun is shining quite a lot. The soil should dry out too much as that will just result in the tree drying out and you wont get as many elderflowers as you might have wished for. Often it’s grown in parks and sometimes on the wild as well if you are lucky enough to find one.

Flowering Elderflower
Flowering Elderflower

Benefits Of Drinking Elderflower Tea

Drinking elderflower syrup has often been done to help with a cold or even fewer. The antioxidants that are in elderflower help alleviate the pain and also slow it down. Elderflower is also very rich in Vitamin C which is a vital property to get into the body. It will help with the overall functions of your body, like the liver and cognitive ability.

The acids from the antioxidants help mitigate “free radicals” in the body. This is what often creates inflammation, be that a headache or joint pain. So drinking elderflower is not also to cure you from a sickness, it’s also to help prevent any more coming along.

You could even use the tea as a mouth gurgle as the flavor of the elderflower is very pleasant. On top of this, elderflower tea can also help with respiratory issues. It helps clear up the throat a bit more. You might wonder how often you should be drinking this tea then. We often say about 3 – 4 times a week is a pretty good amount. Anymore you won’t really see an increase in benefits.

Our Own Elderflower Tea Recipe

There are a number of different recipes out there as to what the best elderflower tea might be. The fact of the matter is that the fresher the elderflower is, the more flavorful the tea will be. 

Below is some of the guidelines that we follow when making elderflower tea:

  • Pick one bunch of elderflower
  • Boil about 2 cups of water
  • Pour the water over the elderflower
  • Let it steep for about 3 – 4 minutes
  • Strain and enjoy while it’s still warm

If you would like, you could add some honey to the tea. This will play really well together with the acidic and aromatic elderflower. For 2 cups of tea, about 1 tablespoon of honey seems to be the best ratio.

Benefits To Drinking Elderflower Tea

There are a number of different benefits to drinking elderflower tea on a regular basis. It’s not really a drink you need to have too often to reap the benefits of it. About 3 – 4 times a week will definitely be sufficient.

Helps With Sleep

If you drink elderflower tea before going to bed, it often seems like it can really help with falling asleep more quickly. But it can also make you reach deep sleep more quickly. In the long term this means that the sleep you are getting is of better quality.

Prevents Sickness And Colds

Since elderflower is so rich in antioxidants it’s great for protecting you against the risk of getting a cold or a fever. Those are caused by inflammations, which in turn are caused by something called “free radicals” which are present in the body. The antioxidants have acids in them that help keep those levels down.

Flowering Elderflower
Flowering Elderflower

Are There Any Side Effects

There are some side effects to drinking elderflower tea, but it’s more if you do it in a surplus amount. It’s often not recommended to drink this if you are allergic to pollen. Since this might trigger your allergy quite severely. But there are also people who are allergic to elderflower specifically, or the berries since they are a part of the stone fruit family.

As elderflower is also rich in acids, there is a risk of consuming too much of this will start upsetting your stomach. This might happen if you are drinking it like twice a day or so, with a strong dose of elderflower in the tea as well.

Summary And Conclusion

Elderflower has for a very long time been used to help treat colds and fevers. Making a strong syrup or cordial from elderflower was often then used to treat the early signs of these illnesses. They are also rather effective as elderflower is rich in antioxidants, which is known to help the body fight against inflammations.

All in all, elderflower tea is a great idea to introduce into your daily life. Drinking it about 3 – 4 times a week will provide your body with a great level of nutrition and beneficial properties. It’s easy to make and lovely and cool during the summer.

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Easy Cinnamo And Bay Leaf Tea

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What Is It – Benefits – Side Effects – It Can Help With – Preparing It – Summary

Making regular bay leaf tea is a great option to get all the benefits and nutritional value from the leaves. They are rich in antioxidants which help the body be protected from harmful free radicals that end up causing inflammation and pain.

Bay leaves also contain certain acids that help maintain a healthy level of blood sugar in the body. The rest or surplus of sugars are instead turned into energy. This means that people who are diabtetic might find great use in drinking bay leaves quite regularly.

What Is Bay Leaf And Cinnamon

Bay leaf is a very old plant or tree that is native to a lot of different regions around the world. The varieties growing there are all slightly different and have differences in tastes too. The one from California seems to be more aromatic while the ones from the Mediterranean is more sweeter. 

Bay leaves have mostly been used for cooking and adding aromatic complexity to a dish. It’s often then added in a dried state as that’s the best way to preserve the leaves.

Cinnamon however is a very popular spice, often used in Mediterranean cuisine or African. It adds a very aromatic and warm spiciness to the food, while also providing sweetness. In combination with bay leaf it makes for a very nice and tasty tea that is also filled with a lot of nutrients.

Bay Leaves
Bay Leaves

The Benefits To Drinking It

Drinking bay leaf tea on its own is great for a number of reasons. If you consume it about 3 – 4 times each week it will provide you with all the health benefits. It seems like sleep will be easier and your stomach will also thank you. It helps the digestive system avoid harmful toxicity, meaning you have less risk of acid reflux and general pain. 

The antioxidants present in the bay leaves are also of great benefit to the brain. It promotes brain activity as there is an acid in the antioxidants that removes and counteracts free radicals in the brain. Those free radicals are often what causes inflammation, meaning headaches or fever.

Lets list of a few other benefits that you will experience with bay leaf and cinnamon tea: 

  • Controls blood sugar levels
  • Helps with weight loss
  • Boosts the immune system
  • Improves hair quality and growth
  • Can help with cancer treatment
  • Can reduce muscle tension
  • Helps with menstrual pain

As you can see there are a number of different things that drinking bay leaf and cinnamon tea can help with. Note however that there is still research left to be published around this topic. So the benefits we are publishing are coming from what people themselves are saying and reporting.

Side Effects Of Bay Leaf Tea

Now there are of course some negatives around drinking bay leaf tea too. Now there are far less than there are positives thankfully. Below are some of the most serious issues that could occur, but this all differs from person to person.

Heightens Blood Sugar Levels

We mentioned that drinking bay leaf tea can sometimes help with keeping a lower blood sugar level in the body. This is true for most people, but for some it can have the opposite effect. It makes it harder for the body to use up the sugar. This leaves you with a high level of sugar in the blood, which can have very serious long term effects.

Avoid When Pregnant

As we mentioned there is not a whole lot of research yet on this topic. This means you should probably avoid drinking bay leaf tea if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. You never know if it might in fact have a negative effect on the body. This could cause irreversible damage that we really don’t want.

Bay Leaf Tea Can Help With A Lot

Like we mentioned before, bay leaf and cinnamon tea will help promote a healthier body. Below are some topics that we want to highlight.

Sleep

Drinking bay leaf tea about every 3 – 4 a week will help ensure you get the benefits of it. One of these is better sleep. Drinking it before going to bed will help you fall asleep faster if that is something you have had issues with before. Your sleep during the night will be deeper and you will feel more well rested too

Blood Pressure

Not only does bay leaf tea help with maintaining a good blood sugar level in the body. It also relaxes and makes for better blood pressure in the body. A lower blood pressure reduces the risk for long term health issues like strokes or heart attacks. 

Cholesterol

Drinking bay leaf tea about 3 – 4 times each week will help lower your cholesterol levels in the body. This makes it easier to keep a healthier balance, where sickness and disease are less likely. But your heart will also be in a better state.

Cinnamon
Cinnamon

Preparing Cinnamon And Bay Leaf Tea

Let’s talk a little bit about how you should be preparing this cinnamon and bay leaf tea then. We have already mentioned all the great benefits that come along and how often you should be drinking it too.

  • Crush 1 fourth of a cinnamon stick and 4 bay leaves
  • Boil 2 cups of water
  • Pour the water of the spices and let steep for about 3 – 4 minutes
  • Strain and enjoy while it’s still warm

Letting the tea cool down too much or sit for too long will make some of the nutrients disappear. To get all the health benefits we should drink it while it’s still fresh and lively.

Summary And Conclusion

There are a number of different health benefits that come from drinking bay leaf and cinnamon tea. It will provide you with a calming and relaxed feeling on top of giving your body some very needed nutrients. 

You can expect less headaches and fevers when drinking bay leaf tea. Depending on the flavor that you want from your tea, you can either increase or decrease the amount of cinnamon in there. It’s a great companion flavor to bay leaves. But depending on your palate you might want to adjust our recipe.

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Benefits Of Drinking Bay Leaf Tea

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What Is Bay Leaf – Preparing The Tea – Health Benefits – Flavouring – Side Effects – Summary

Making tea from bay leaf is a great way of getting all the nutritional value that it offers, but also a very fragrant and flavorful beverage. Historically, making tea from bay leaves hasn’t been done that much. It’s a new trend starting to take shape instead.

Making bay leaf tea is a really simple process. The leaves are crushed and left to steep in warm water. This makes for a very aromatic and slightly sweet tea. It’s a great version on its own, but mixed with other aromatic herbs like basil or oregano. People often mention that they feel more relaxed after drinking bay leaf tea. It seems to calm the mind and reduce anxiety.

What Is Bay Leaf

Bay leaf has mostly been used in cooking to add more aroma to a dish. There are a number of different varieties of bay leaf out there. Some of the more common ones grown are the California bay leaf and the Mediterranean bay leaf. They differ a little bit in the flavor. The Californian being more intensely aromatic. A quick tip before you begin making tea is to crush the bay leaves, this will release more aromatic oils in the leaves and make for a more flavorful tea.

Around the world there are bay leaf varieties native to different areas. In India there is one and in Mexico for example there is another one. The plant really enjoys a climate where the soil is dry and not very rich in nutrients. It can’t really handle cold very well, which makes sense since it’s not native to any northern countries.

Bay Leaves
Bay Leaves

Preparing The Bay Leaf Tea

Making bay leaf tea is a very simple process. The leaves are often dried when you buy them. But if you can get your hands on some fresh leaves then that will produce a really interesting flavor too. It’s more fragrant and almost green when you drink it. But both the dried and the fresh one has more or less the same amount of nutrition in them. 

Drinking bay leaf tea has often been done for aromatherapy, meant to calm the body and reduce stress but also boosting certain areas with nutrition. Let’s look at a short guide to how you can make bay leaf at home:

  • Crush bay leaves, about 3 – 4 whole ones
  • Boil 2 cups of water
  • Pour the water over the leaves and let steep for about 2 – 3 minutes
  • Strain the liquid and enjoy the bay leaf tea you have just made

If you would like to spice up your tea a little bit then you could add either sugar or even milk to the tea. This will change the flavor a little however. Some people even like to have a small amount of salt in their tea. 

If you’re adding sugar to your tea, then you are sort of making this healthy drink unhealthy, since a surplus of sugar is not that good. Milk is often added to sort of take off the edge of the tea. It can make it easier to get into if you are a beginner starting to enjoy tea.

Health Benefits Of Bay Leaf Tea

Drinking bay leaf tea seems to have a variety of different benefits. There is yet to be any concrete research about this topic, so we are instead going by what people are reporting themselves.

Improves Heart Health

Bay leaves have something called phytochemicals. This is a very good protection against heart disease like heart attacks and strokes. Caffeic acid is also present in bay leaves, which improves the functionality and cognitive ability of the heart. Drinking bay leaves on a regular basis each week seems to lower the risk of heart diseases.

Reduces Stress

Drinking regular tea is often described as a mood booster and also something that calms the body and reduces stress. When you are using bay leaf tea in an aromatherapy sense then it can especially have an anxiety reducing effect on the body, just like both oregano and thyme can have.

Promotes Better Digestion

Drinking bay leaf tea on the regular will help improve the digestive system. It has a pretty strong effect on the gastrointestinal system. Toxicity in the body that would cause you to throw up or have a bad or painful stomach are reduced when drinking this tea. It’s caused by the antioxidants that are in bay leafs, this helps mitigate free radicals in the body that otherwise would cause harm.

A Great Option For Diabetic People

There are properties in bay leaves that help regulate the amount of sugar and glucose in the blood. It promotes the sugar being used up instead to generate energy, instead of being stored. Antioxidants in the leaves help improve the effect that insulin has on the body. Same for the other health benefits that bay leaf has, it’s recommended to drink about 3 – 4 times each week to be sufficient.

Bay Leaves
Bay Leaves

Flavoring The Tea With Cinnamon

A pretty trendy thing to pair with bay leaf when making tea is cinnamon. This will give the tea a very nice and sweet spiciness. Perhaps not something you would be drinking throughout the whole year, instead during the colder months of the year. Cinnamon is often associated with Christmas and we feel it’s also the best time of the year to make this type of tea.

It’s very easy to make this one. When you are steeping the water with the crushed bay leaves you could simply add a small amount of cinnamon. 1 fourth of a cinnamon stick would be more than enough. Be aware that cinnamon is pretty strong in flavor and we still want to be able to taste the bay leaves.

Side Effects Of Drinking Bay Leaf Tea

There are not as many side effects as there are benefits to drinking bay leaf tea. But you should still be aware of the possibility of negatives about the tea. 

It’s been reported that bay leaf tea can instead of reducing and controlling the blood sugar level in the body start doing the opposite. This seems to affect a small set of people however, but it can be a very serious issue if you aren’t aware of it beforehand.

We mentioned that there is not a lot of research on the topic of drinking bay leaf tea, so avoiding it when you are pregnant is recommended. It’s better to take the safest precautions than risking it.

Summary And Conclusion

We have gone over a lot of information that comes up with drinking and consuming bay leaf tea. It’s a plant native to a lot of regions around the world where it’s often used in cooking. But making tea will provide you with all the nutritional value in the leaves.

Drinking bay leaf tea helps reduce stress and promotes heart health and improves the digestive system. Consuming the tea about 3 – 4 times each week is the recommended amount. 

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7 Awesome Benefits Of Drinking Rosemary Tea

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What Is Rosemary – Lower Blood Sugar – Brain Health – Antibiotic – Inflammation – Eye Health – Helps The Liver – Improves Mood – Preparing The Tea – Summary

Making tea from rosemary is a rather new phenomenon. The plant carries a lot of history with it. Often used in food for flavoring, but perhaps more traditionally used in rituals and aromatherapy. The scent of rosemary is rather strong, and further enhanced when ignited. This made it a good candidate for spiritual rituals where rooms were filled with the fumes of burning herbs.

In this article however we will be discussing the possibility of rosemary tea helping with a number of different things, some notable being able to lower blood sugar, prevent eye health issues but also act as an antibiotic for the body. All in all a very good herb to take advantage of.

What Is Rosemary

Rosemary is a herb that has for a very long time been used as both a culinary and medicinal herb. It’s native to a lot of countries around the mediterranean, and it’s also here it has its strongest foothold.

Often described in flavor as rather eucalyptus-like, and almost citrusy. The plant offers a wide array of uses. It is known to have been both smoked in order to cleanse rooms for rituals, but also used for flavoring in foods.

But one of the newer ways and perhaps even better ones, the rosemary is able to be enjoyed in teas. It seems to be one of the best ways of both preserving the flavor of the herb and draining all the possible nutrients.

Rosemary Plant
Rosemary Plant

Rosemary Tea Can Help Lower Blood Sugar

Rosemary is rich in something called phytochemicals. Some of these chemicals are known to help regulate the blood sugar levels in a person, making them a vital part for people diagnosed with diabetes. Some of these chemicals are camphene, carnosol, hesperidin, borneol and lastly luteolin. 

Consuming tea made from rosemary on a pretty regular basis will help improve the blood sugar level. The way it does this is by improving and speeding up the body’s metabolism. This ensures that excess sugar is turned into energy. The base level of blood sugar is also lowered, making it less likely for diabetic people to experience any problems. This then carries on by protecting the body from high blood pressure and hyperglycemia. 

Can Help Brain Health And Stimulus

As rosemary tea is able to help regulate the body’s blood circulation like we previously mentioned, this is also true for the brain. Consuming rosemary tea will help your brain circulate blood more easily. Improved circulation then leads into further brain performance, meaning better focus and concentration.

As rosemary also contains antioxidants, it helps protect the neurons in the brain from free radicals that could otherwise cause inflammation or headaches. People who have a habit of consuming rosemary tea seem to also have a lower risk of enduring memory related diseases like Alzheimers. It lowers the risk and also prolongs the body’s cognitive functions. So drinking rosemary tea is directly and positively impacting your brain’s health.

Rosemary Is Naturally High In Antibiotic

Since rosemary is rich in antibacterial properties, some of them being carnosic acid, this means the overall health of your body will be significantly improved. The risk of health related problems are a lot smaller as the plant offers protection against these “free radicals” in the body. 

It’s been pretty well studied already that people who consume rosemary tea on a pretty regular basis, meaning about 3 – 4 times a week will see a lot less health related issues down the line. It can be a reduced frequency of migraines and headaches. But it seems like it also aids in preventing memory related diseases like Alzheimers and dementia.

Rosemary Sprigs
Rosemary Sprigs

Inflammation Treatment

We have already mentioned the fantastic chemical found in rosemary called carnosic acid. This is the reason why it’s often recommended to consume rosemary to prevent issues like headaches and muscle pain. These are all inflammatory issues. In your body you have something called nitric acid. This is the reason why you might get inflammations, as the levels of this acid gets too high. Carnosic acid from rosemary helps regulate this and also lowers it.

People who suffer from issues related to inflammations should seek our consumption of more rosemary as the benefits seem right now to be undisputed. Some of the more common inflammations might be headaches, joint disorders, hypersensitive to allergens, arthritis and lastly, hemorrhoids. 

Consuming rosemary in tea about 3 – 4 times a week should give you significantly less issues. It will most likely also help you relieve swelling and muscle pain from diseases such as arthritis and rheumatism.

Can Help With Both Vision And Eye Health

It should be mentioned early on that there is currently no research published that supports that something in rosemary can help improve eye health. The thought is that adding small amounts of rosemary in oral treatments will help slow down the progression of worse eyesight. 

Some studies revealed that the rosmarinic acid found in rosemary will help prevent the eyes from opaqueness, which is something that slowly leads to the eyes going blind.

The difficulty about all these studies however is that they are all more or less using extracts and concentrations of rosemary. That is both hard to get a hold of, but the same power does not exist in rosemary tea, which is what we are talking about in this article.

Rosemary Tea Can Help The Liver

Since rosemary is rich in beneficial properties that help reduce the risk of health issues. They act as a protection for other health issues, especially related to the liver. It prevents free radicals from scavenging the liver and causing problems. It will eventually cause your entire body to be detoxified.

Since the liver acts as a body detoxifier it’s incredibly important to keep this part of the body healthy and at peak performance. Consuming rosemary tea about 3 – 4 times a week seems to be the ideal here. It keeps the level of nutrition you are getting at a stable level.

Improves Both Mood And Prevents Fatigue

In today’s world most peoples schedules are more and more filled up causing stress and in general unhappiness. There is not a whole lot of research surrounding rosemary tea. There is some consensus that consuming rosemary tea seems to boost both the mood and memory. 

A study recently found that consuming about 500 mg of rosemary twice every day for about 1 month had significant impacts on the mood. The test persons experienced a boosted mood and had an easier time solving issues and also going through the day with reduced anxiety.

Even just smelling the scent of rosemary seems to be incredibly beneficial to the mood. It helps reduce anxiety and gives an almost calmness. Even though there is yet to be published a lot of research around this, it seems our ancestors had good reason to use rosemary so frequently throughout their daily life.

Rosemary Sprigs
Rosemary Sprigs

Preparing Rosemary Tea

Preparing rosemary tea is a pretty easy undertaking. You can either use fresh rosemary or dried rosemary leaves. The flavor will be richer and more pungent with the fresh rosemary. But the nutrients will more or less be the same. The reason you might use dried is that harvesting and preserving rosemary is often done at the end of summer. That way people had enough of it to last through winter and spring before the new sprigs came forth.

To prepare the tea you can start by boiling some water. Lay the rosemary in the boiling water and let it steep for about 2 – 3 minutes at least. This will be adequate time for the nutrients to leak out and stay in the liquid. Strain the tea and then enjoy it. If left to completely cool down, most likely the nutrients are gone. 

About 1 cup of water will need a handful or so of rosemary in order to be sufficient. That way we get a good ratio of water and also the properties of rosemary.

Summary And Conclusion

If you have come this far then you would have realized that rosemary tea might not be such a bad idea. Consuming it about 3 – 4 times a week will be sufficient to boost your mood and reduce anxiety. But it also helps with more long term health issues. 

The risk of memory related disease is reduced. Liver health will be better and help cleanse your body. In the end though, there is still no research published that has determined these things. It’s simply things that have been noted by people consuming a lot of rosemary in their everyday life.

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Mugwort Tea – Side Effects And Benefits

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Mugwort is a medicinal herb that has for a very long time throughout human history been used to treat a number of different issues and problems. The plant is native to northern Europe, Asia and some parts of North America. 

Often used to flavor beer but also used in order to prevent health issues like anxiety, digestive issues and irregular periods, but a long list of other issues too. The entire plant was used for medicinal purposes, root, stem, leaves and flowers. Extracts and oils are some of the most common products made from it, but making tea from mugwort is also common.

Mugwort Plant
Mugwort Plant

Fun Fact

Mugwort can go by many different names, some of these are:

  • Artemisia
  • Hierba de San Juan
  • Armoise
  • Vulgaris herba
  • Artemisia vulgaris
  • St. John´s herb
  • Felon herb
  • Chrysanthemum weed
  • Herbe Royale

Mugwort Tea, Side Effects And Benefits

Making tea from mugwort has been used for thousands of years for a variety of different health conditions and issues. Used through Europe and Asia it saw constant use. Besides being used for medicinal purposes it was also used instead of hops to brew beer. 

Making tea from the mugwort plant will provide you with all the nutritional value in the plant. Making tea from the plant can either be dried or fresh, the difference would be how long you would steep the leaves. Fresh leaves require slightly less time as otherwise you will have a bitter flavor and aroma.

Mugwort tea will provide you with a lot of vitamins, A, K and E to be precise. It’s also pretty rich in potassium, iron and calcium. These are all released when you are making tea from it. 

Mugwort tea can help with a variety of different issues:

  • Reduces anxiety
  • Muscles pain
  • Depression
  • Relieves headaches and migraines

The benefits are many, but there are side effects too of course. Some people might find it almost addictive to drink this tea. It provides an almost numbing feeling, but for the vast majority of people it’s not something that you will get hooked on.

Let’s highlight some of the more long term benefits that mugwort tea can help with:

Improves Eyesight And Vision Health

Drinking mugwort on the regular can in the long term help with maintaining a better vision health. It will slow down the progress of your vision getting worse. But also seems to prevent there being any issues from the beginning. Things like infections or itches are rarely seen if you drink mugwort tea regularly.

Immune System

As mugwort is very rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, for the long term health of your body it offers great value. The risk for colds, fevers or migraines are reduced and its reported people using the mugwort often experience a healthier everyday life. The vitamin C helps aid the white blood cells who have the responsibility of taking out free radicalz, which causes sickness and headaches.

Might Help With Weight Loss

Since mugwort is also very rich in Vitamin B, it will help boost your metabolism which is a passive fat burning mechanism. In the long term this can help aid weight loss and make it easier to see progress. Your body will feel more energetic and even concentrated.

The Benefits To Mugwort Tea

Mugwort is a very common plant or weed that can cover vast areas in a pretty short time if left unchecked. It manages fine in places where there is a lot of sunlight and the soil is not rich in either water or nutrients.

Nowadays the plant is often ripped out as soon as it’s spotted to not endanger the other plants. But before it was left to grow and harvested eventually when it was ready. Some of the benefits that mugwort tea can help with are as following:

  • Boosting energy
  • Helping and relieving stress
  • Improves blood circulation
  • Helps with sleep issues
  • Boosts liver health
  • Helps relieving headaches
  • Gets rid of an itch
  • Repels insects
  • Normalizes a menstrual cycle
  • Relieves muscle aches and pains
Mugwort Leaves
Mugwort Leaves

What Can It Help With

Mugwort tea can help with a variety of different issues. It should however be mentioned that there is not a lot of research on this topic yet however. Using mugwort either dried or like tea , is still a household remedy, but the plant is starting to see more and more traction and use in the commercial side.

Some of the issues that is believed to be treated or helped with mugwort tea are as the following:

  • Anxiety
  • Constipation
  • Depression
  • Diarrhea
  • Epilepsy
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Insomnia
  • Nausea and vomiting

These are home remedies though, so there are no reports supporting that mugwort are actually effective against these things.

A fun fact is that smoking mugwort has actually been used in acupuncture. Here the dried leaves of the plant would be rolled together into a joint like a cigarette. This would then be ignited and waved over the body that was meant to be treated. The effectiveness of this however is still disputed, but it was meant to enhance the experience.

Side Effects With Consuming Mugwort Tea

For the vast majority of people consuming mugwort will come without issues and side effects. But if you are pregnant, consuming this plant should be avoided. It’s known to increase the risk of miscarriages. Since there is a lack of research around the topic, giving it to people more easily affected should be avoided, that could be children or elderly.

It’s not very common to be allergic to ragweed, but if you are you should also avoid mugwort as they are in the same family. If you are feeling some types of side effects after drinking mugwort tea, here is a list describing some of these so you can help identify the one you are experiencing:

  • Rashes, itches
  • Mouth tingeling
  • Stomach pain
  • Headaches
  • Swollen lips
  • Nausea or vomiting

These are generally referred to as quite minimal allergic reactions, but you can also experience severe allergic reactions too.

  • Wheezing
  • Rapid or irregular heartbeats
  • Swelling, either on the face, throat or neck
  • Caughing
  • Faintness or lightheadedness

When you are experiencing some of these sideeffects it is highly recommended to visit a medical professional since it can lead to further issues down the line. As a final warning you should avoid mugwort altogether if you are also prone to allergic reactions from celery, carrot or birch. 

Dosage And Preparing The Mugwort Tea

We have mentioned the use of mugwort in beverages like beer already, but the plant was also widely used before to flavor food too. Everything from salads, to fish and meat, the mugwort plant offered a slightly sweet and aromatic touch to the food being prepared.

But we are here to talk about using it for tea. The leaves were often harvested at the end of the summer and then left to dry. The dried leaves are a lot easier to handle and preserve. They also have a higher dosage of the nutrients and would give more of an “effect” or “buzz”.

But the mugwort comes today in a variety of different forms:

  • Extracts
  • Essential Oils
  • Powders
  • Tinctures
  • Supplements

There is yet to be a recommended amount of mugwort that should be used when taking it. But solely smoking mugwort for example might be too much. Letting the tea sit with the mugwort for too long can also diminish the effect and nutrition in it.

Mugwort Plant
Mugwort Plant

Worth Knowing Beforehand

There isn’t yet to be a lot of research published around the use of mugwort, even though it has been used for so many years in our society. The plant is believed to offer a lot of benefits to the body, but if you are allergic or pregnant then avoiding the plant all together is probably the best option.

If you don’t have any previous medical issues, then you are most likely fine using the mugwort to either smoke or even better, to make tea from. But with all things, it’s a very good idea to consult with a medical professional beforehand to avoid any complications.

Summary And Conclusion

Mugwort tea has for a very long time been used to help treat certain medicinal issues and problems. There is no research on the topic yet, but it’s believed mugwort tea can help with reducing muscle pain and anxiety. Drinking the tea often gives you a relaxing and calming feeling that will carry throughout the day.

It was also often used to help women with their menstrual cycle, as the plant stabilized it and reduced muscle pain too. All in all the mugwort has a long history of being used and even though nothing has been proven yet, a lot of these house remedies carry both benefits and important knowledge with them.

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