Drinking Your way to Good Health - with Herbal Tea
We have all heard about the health benefits of traditional tea. However, herbal teas have been used traditionally by communities around the world for centuries.
Something very special happens when certain roots, leaves, bark and other herbs are infused in hot water.
Herbal teas have been the traditional method of extracting active nutrients from nature before the pharmaceutical industry determined they could do a better job of it. But have they missed a trick by denying us the pleasure and complete nutrients obtained by going direct to the source?
What is herbal tea?
Herbal tea isn’t tea in the traditional sense, because it doesn’t contain actual tea leaves. The technical term is a tisane. The ingredients in a herbal tea can vary dramatically depending on what outcome you’re trying to achieve.
These herbs are described as ‘tea’ because of the preparation method, which again varies depending on the ingredients. But essentially, it involves diluting the herbs in water and then allowing the nutrients to be extracted into the water, either in a cold or a hot steeping process.
What are the benefits of herbal tea?
Herbal teas have a number of advantages over other methods of obtaining nutrients:
- The tea makes accessible nutrients which would otherwise not be able to be digested. This includes the active ingredients from roots, leaves and bark that humans can’t digest.
- The tea releases aromatic oils and scents.
- The tea itself is hydrating and by consuming the nutrients already infused in water they are more readily absorbed than they would be in a pill or capsule form.
- The process itself is calming and social.
- You can control the strength and flavour of the tea to suit your palate and needs.
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