Lemon Verbena Tea

Lemon Verbena Tea
Lemon verbena tea acts as a great stress reliever and also helps to correct digestive problems.
Believe it or not, but lemon verbena tea is popular in most European countries. Why? Well, just take a cup of lemon verbena tea and you will understand the reason behind it. Regarded as a health drink, lemon verbena tea is a naturally way to effectively treat ailments associated with the digestive track.

Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena is a shrub that is commonly found in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Peru. Lemon verbena tea uses, especially the medicinal ones, have been studied and well documented. The leaves of this plant that provide plenty of therapeutic benefits are used to make the herbal tea. Read more on lemon verbena plant.

Lemon Verbena Tea Benefits
Lemon verbena tea has a tantalizing taste. A few sips of this herbal tea can rejuvenate the mind and the body, and provide inner calm. Following are some of the benefits of this herbal tea:

Stress Buster
Drinking a cup of lemon verbena tea after a hard day's work, is a unique way to combat stress. This is basically a refreshing drink, and a dose of lemon verbena in the form of tea provides that much needed relaxing effect. Stress can have a negative impact on the nervous system. However, lemon verbena tea provides relaxation, which helps to calm the nerves and decrease the associated muscle tension.

Resolve Digestive Issues
To promote digestion, an inexpensive solution would be to have a cup of lemon verbena tea. People suffering from poor digestion must take this tea daily to get rid of health problems like diarrhea, flautenance and bloating. Tea that contains 100% lemon verbena is certainly the best herbal drink to maintain a healthy digestive system.

Ease Stomach Cramps
People are often asked to drink herbal teas such as lemon verbena in moderate amounts to relieve stomach aches and nausea, that occur as a consequence of indigestion.

Reduces Common Cold
Common cold is characterized by nasal congestion that is a cause of great discomfort. However, having a cup of lemon verbena tea can help to unblock these congested nasal passages and lessen other common cold symptoms such as fever.

Promotes Sleep
There are people in this world who do not get sufficient sleep due to mental disorders like anxiety and depression. An effective way to get relief from these mental problems and ensure a good night's sleep is to have lemon verbena tea.

Lemon Verbena Tea Side Effects
Lemon verbena tea is popular for its immense medicinal value, but does that give you the license to consume it in large doses everyday. Absolutely not! Herbal teas are definitely good for health, but no doctor will advice you to consume how much ever you want. One of the common side effects associated with lemon verbena overdose is stomach irritation, which can always be avoided by drinking this tea in the right amount.

Lemon Verbena Tea Recipe
Preparing this refreshing tea is very simple and as easy as making normal tea. With so many health benefits, you should not hesitate to make this tea on a regular basis. So here is the recipe to prepare this wonderful tea:

Ingredients

* Water (2 cups)
* Fresh rinsed 20 mint leaves (½ cup)
* Fresh 10 lemon verbena leaves (½ cup)

Method of Preparation
Take 2 cups of water in a vessel and heat it, until they start boiling. Now place verbena and mint leaves in the hot water and let it remain for approximately 5 minutes. Once the stipulated time is over, shut off the gas and strain the tea thus prepared.

On the whole, drinking lemon verbena tea is a delightful experience. Besides having a pleasing taste, the tea has a lot to offer, that can help us to battle stress effectively and maintain our overall health.

Tulsi Leaf Tea - Holy Basil Tea

Tulsi Leaf Tea - Holy Basil Tea
Tulsi leaf tea, also known as holy basil tea, is a caffeine-free herbal tea made from the leaves of the Ocimum sanctum plant.
Tulsi is one of many names for the plant Ocimum sanctum, which is also called holy basil. An herbal tea made out of the tulsi leaf and also often pieces of stem and flower has been used for generations in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India. Although in India, tulsi is primarily used for medicinal properties, the leaves of the same plant are used in the cuisine of other countries. In Thailand, this plant is called kha phrao.

Tulsi is not well-known in western countries:

Although tulsi tea has historically not been well known in the United States and other western countries, or widely consumed either for food or medicinal use in these areas, it is becoming better known. Herbalists are hailing holy basil as an adaptogen, meaning an herb that is safe to consume in the long-term and has a normalizing effect on the body.

Traditional use of Tulsi / Holy Basil:

Tulsi is traditionally used for a variety of purposes, including helping the body to adapt to stress, and treating diabetes, among other things. The herb is also thought to aid mental function in a number of ways.

Chemical composition of tulsi leaf:

The leaf and other parts of the holy basil plant contain a number of bioactive compounds, including eugenol, which is the principal component of the essential oil of clove. Eugenol has been studied scientifically, and is known to have potent analgesic or pain killing properties. However, tulsi also contains a number of other chemicals, which is of critical importance, because eugenol alone can be harmful to the liver. But there is evidence that the total blend of chemicals in tulsi actually has a protective effect on the liver, for reasons that are not fully understood. Because the different chemicals in the Ocimum sanctum plant interact in complex ways, the plant is usually studied as a whole, rather than isolating the individual chemical components of the essential oil.

Scientific Study of Tulsi or Ocimum sanctum

There have been a number of scientific studies conducted on Ocimum sanctum and tulsi leaf tea. Although most of the studies have been limited to laboratory experiments, in vitro, and in lab animals, there have been some controlled clinical trials in humans for certain uses. One controlled trial in humans demonstrated that the extract of the holy basil plant was effective for treating depression and anxiety, which is significant as the plant does not have the same problems with strong side-effects that plague many prescription antidepressants. Outside of these results, tulsi is also known to have antimicrobial effects. Its traditional use to treat diabetes has been validated to some degree by animal studies, which found that it actually does lower blood sugar.

What does tulsi leaf tea taste like?

Tulsi leaf tea has a pleasing spicy aroma and smooth flavor. In some ways it resembles the familiar sweet basil plant, but it has stronger tones of clove and spice in the aroma. Some people describe tulsi as having an overall flavor profile similar to masala chai or spiced tea. Appropriately, some tea companies actually blend tulsi with black tea, much in the same way black tea is blended with spices to make masala chai.