Herbal tea is so delicious and has the added benefits of helping many conditions. In Chinese Medicine we use lots of different ingredients to make up teas that can then treat specific problems. I drink herbal teas daily and feel so much better for it.
Green Tea is fantastic for people who feel the heat and want to cool down. It can calm agitation, relieve nervousness and headaches. But if you experience any nausea, avoid this tea.
Ginger is great at helping nausea and stomach upsets. Just slice a couple of pieces of fresh ginger, put them into a mug and add boiling water. Voila! An instant anti-nausea fix. It is a very warming tea and works well when you have chills or a cough with white phlegm.
We stock Ginger Root Tea here at Freedom Chinese Medicine, it is great for helping with menstrual issues, cold hands and feet.
Peppermint Tea is a helpful digestive, it is great for having after a meal, especially if you have a stomach ache.
Additionally, it is cooling so this is the tea to drink on hot days. It can also be useful for when you have a cold with a fever, cough, sore throat, headache, irritability and premenstrual bloating and pain. Once cooled the tea bags can be placed over the eyes to relieve redness as well.
Fennel is also helpful for digestion, just put some fennel seeds in with your mint tea and you can get relief from bloating, indigestion, flatulence and vomiting.
Licorice root tea tastes amazing and has a natural sweetness to it, so if you crave sweets, sugar or chocolate, then a cup of licorice tea is fantastic for stopping you reaching for the unhealthy snacks.
It can help ease a dry cough and helps fight fatigue too. If you experience high blood pressure this tea is best avoided.
A great combination for helping your periods flow easily is rose and goji berry. Put 2-3 rose buds (these can be found at Asian groceries) and about 7 goji berries into a tea pot, steep for 10 minutes and drink throughout the day, just keep topping up the water in the pot. Drink this before your period to help with pain and to improve your mood.
Here at Freedom Chinese Medicine we stock Dandelion Root Tea; this can be used for loss of appetite, upset stomach, intestinal gas, gallstones, joint pain, muscle aches, eczema, and bruises, to increase urine production and as a laxative. It is also used as a blood tonic and digestive tonic1.
We also sell Raspberry Leaf tea to our pregnant clients. Raspberry Leaf is a uterine tonic, meaning that it can help promote a smoother labour.
We have a many delicious combinations of herbal tea here at Freedom Chinese Medicine. They have been formulated to help with specific conditions such as a Hayfever Relief Tea, Super Cooling Tea for headache, eye ache and inflammation, Balancing Tea (my favourite) to alleviate hay fever and calm irritability. The Calming Tea and Energy Boosting Teas are two brews that we could all have in our cupboards at different times throughout the year!
Come in and speak to one of us and find out which tea is best suited to you.
Written by Dr. Kate Howden
Acupuncturist at Freedom Chinese Medicine
References
1https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-706/dandelion
