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Grow Green Herbal Tea On Your Own
In the last five to ten years much as been made of the benefits of
green herbal tea, a healthful drink used by the chinese for more than
4,000 years.
Green herbal tea truly is a variety of “real”
tea common throughout Asia. Increasingly good evidence exists to speak
to green tea’s ability as a powerful anti-oxidant to help prevent
cancer, lower cholesterol, improve the immune system, relieve symptoms
of arthritis, and guard against cardiovascular disease. While some
people report difficulty sleeping when drinking green tea (which does
contain caffeine), no other side effects have been reported.
General recommendations call for the consumption of four to five cups
of green tea a day. Although there are many green tea products now
available in the American market place, the traditional method of
brewing green tea is to use one bag per cup.
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Boil the water but then
allow it to cool for three minutes before pouring it over the bag
which is then allowed to steep for three minutes. The mixture should
then cool for an additional three minutes after the bag has been removed.
Growing Your Own Isn’t So Good
The greatest chance for adverse reaction in the consumption of herbal
teas comes when individuals purchase raw herbs at natural food venues
or grow their own herbs and use them to make up their own medicinal
concoctions – often drinking unreasonably large amounts of the
resulting brew.
Herbalists study their craft for years to understand each individual
plant, its properties, benefits, and dangers. They then work to understand
how these plants work together and how they may react to prescription
medications. An understanding of herbs and their uses can’t
be picked up in ten minutes reading a chart at the health food store.
Tea companies like the popular Celestial Seasonings use a list of
250 herbs worked up by the Herb Research Foundation and integrated
with FDA guidelines. These pre-prepared teas are safe and free of
herbicides and pesticides. These assurances simply cannot be made
for herbs purchased in bulk whose provenance is not known.
Brew,
Steep, Drink
Generally herbal infusions or teas are made by using the dried or
fresh flowers, roots, or leaves of a given plant and adding boiling
water. (Amounts of plant material and water vary by herb.) The mixture
is sometimes allowed to boil for a given period or to sit away from
the heat and steep. Some teas are recommended to be allowed to return
to room temperature before consumption. All teas prepared from bulk
herbs will require straining either through a conventional tea strainer
or a kitchen sieve. Pre-prepared tea bags are available for popular
herbal teas and given the potential dangers of using raw herbs (especially
in combination with one another) these prepared teas are the safest
and best choice for the average consumer.
Centuries of evidence in folk medicine and herbalism support the use
of this or that herbal tea remedy. But in the modern world research
has improved to the point that once honored remedies are now known
to be unsafe. Do your homework; avoid the use of bulk herbs and the
mixing of such products into unknown combinations. Stay safe and use
only pre-prepared, organic, herbal tea bags.
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