Top 10 Plants to Make Herbal Teas

Drinking herbal tea on a regular basis helps digestion or sleep… simply because it is hot. This “heat” element, far from being negligible, is so active that it is sufficient in many cases, to drink hot water to improve immediately some small momentary troubles. Of course, the addition of a herbal treatment plant to the hot water can improve the cure … especially since the remedy is better absorbed by the heat.

“Herbal tea” is a improper label  because the tea leaves do not  enter in the composition. Herbal infusion or tizane are more appropriate words.

To say that herbal infusion are useless folk remedies is not entirely accurate. This reputation is justified not by a one-time therapeutic practice but daily use and supported by a consumer much like any   food.

The amateur can easily find any of these herbal teas in the right specialty pharmacies, but should  try, when ever possible, to attain these in health food stores where they are organic, because the difference in the quality of  the plants at a  Pharmacy , where the herbs are mostly treated or irradiated, is considerable.

It is also possible to pick up some easily findable plants in the nature (however, be careful if you don’t know how to recognize them properly). Here’s a post were I speak about how to dry the various type of plant for herbal tea we can find in the nature.

Here are some common plants to dry for herbal infusions

Anis: This is a great tasting herbal tea that provides for  comfortable digestion, promotes the expulsion of gas and calm aerophagia. Needed to prepare a decoction of three minutes at a rate of one teaspoon per cup. Then  take a cup ten minutes before the meal.

Basil: This herb is widely used in cooking, but quite likely to be consumed in tisanes, enables the slow digestion, and the fight against digestive spasms, abdominal wind, colic gas, stomach pain and constipation. The infusion is prepared in ten minutes at a rate of one teaspoon per cup. To be taken after meals.

Roman Chamomile: This is quite a bitter herb it is a nice aperitif before dinner, good after digestion, and also combats flatulence and gas. We will prepare an infusion for ten minutes.

Chicory: Consumed at the table in leaves form or in tea form of roots, chicory or Cichorium intybus is excellent for general tonicity. Chicory is also purgative, diuretic, and especially a powerful choleretic doubled with a relatively efficient bile duct. It is revealed primarily in renal bladder, liver and many problems in constipation, but also in cases of anorexia, asthenia, anemia, weak stomach, arthritis, or UTI … One can only advise to incorporate almost every day the chicory salad with dinner, but also to drink before each meal, a cup of decoction of chicory roots for about thirty grams per liter.

Lavender: This fragrant plant is soothing and antispasmodic, diuretic and diaphoretic. It can therefore be used in case of flu, cough, asthma, whooping cough, insomnia, headaches, dizziness, or rheumatism … The infusion is prepared by dipping a teaspoon of flowers for ten minutes in a cup.

Mint: Quite useful as a stomachic, nervous system stimulant, stomachal antispasmodic, carminative, intestinal antiseptic. Mint fights very well, especially when there is sluggish digestion, flatulence, gastric spasms, and gastrointestinal toxicity. Fresh or dried mint leaves a re infused for ten minutes, and you can drink three cups a day, after or between meals. Caution: Do not drink too late in the evening, because mint can prevent sleep if taken in high dose.

Rosemary: Excellent stimulant, rosemary is helpful in times of stress or burnout, and is ideal for respiratory infections, fevers, and uterine disorders. It regulates both the gallbladder as the liver, and facilitates, in addition, the digestion. Finally, it is a good diuretic. The tea is prepared by Rosemary decoction with a tablespoon per cup for at least two minutes, then letting it stand for five to ten minutes.

Savory: This plant is above all stimulating. Some even see it as an aphrodisiac. But it also helps to digest heavy meats and starches, and it avoids intestinal fermentation. The infusion time is about ten minutes for a tablespoon per cup. To be taken after each meal.

Sage: In tea or hot soup, the first fight against colds and respiratory infections such as bronchitis or asthma, but its other therapeutic uses are many, since it is both antiperspirant, toning the stomach, stimulating, balancing the nervous system, soothing if menstrual pain, febrifuge … The tea is prepared by decocting a tablespoon per cup, for two minutes, then let steep five minutes.

Linden: This plant is known as a very soothing sedative, hypnotic and antispasmodic. In addition, lime thins the blood significantly. So we will use in case of hyperviscosity, and hypercoagulability of blood, and in case of atherosclerosis, and, of course, insomnia, spasms … or even migraines (leaves only). The infusion should be well proportioned and not too focused on pain of becoming exciting, that is due to a pinch per cup, and we will drink two to three cups a day, including one at bedtime.

Thyme: This herbal with multiple indications, is particularly appreciated in cases of coughs, bronchitis, sore throats and flu, but also as a general stimulant (physical, intellectual, tract …), as a vermifuge and finally as a diuretic to relieve gout, arthritis and rheumatism.

Verbena: Verbena The Mediterranean is the “verbena”, or “lemon verbena,” not to be confused with the “Verbena officinalis”, which itself is odorless and has many therapeutic uses. The lemon verbena, although still digestive and antispasmodic, is especially appreciated for its taste. A ten-minute infusion at a rate of five leaves per cup at the end of the meal, especially in summer, may well replace a mint tea.