Nowadays it’s all about the coffee! It can often feel like on every street corner, in the UK, is a coffee shop. I realise that people love it but a few years ago I gave it up. There was a huge part of me that didn’t really want too. Although I love coffee, it does really like me or didn’t at that time. At that point in my life I decided to switch to herbal tea.
People have been drinking coffee for thousands of years but they have also been drinking herbal teas too. Nowadays, I often find that other people don’t enjoy tea as much as coffee. There are benefits to drinking coffee but there is also a huge variety of health benefits to drinking tea too.
Herbal teas are great for curing coughs and colds. They are brilliant for boosting iron in the body which is a nutrient a lot of people are deficient in. Tea can help to treat insomnia and sooth stomach issues. They can also promote flawless skin and relieving stress. Plus they can maintain proper kidney function and reduce infections in the body too.
With all these benefits in mind I thought I would share a few of my favourites with you. The first tea I drink on a daily basis is chamomile tea. This tea can help with menstrual pain, muscle spasms, it improves sleep and relaxation and it reduces stress too. It’s an all round great tea that can be drunk in the evening before bed or occasionally I drink it after lunch.
Peppermint contains menthol which can soothe an upset stomach and serve as a cure for constipation. It can also help irritable bowel syndrome and motion sickness. Plus it’s great at reducing your temperature as it acts as a cooling agent due to the menthol. This tea can act as pain relief from tension headaches and migraines too.
The next tea I drink every morning is ginger. Ginger is a great herb that can help to fight against morning sickness and it can be used to treat chronic indigestion as well. Over the past few years I have been suffering with constipation and stiffness in my joints. It’s also good as relieving joint pain caused by osteoarthritis.
Also I have green tea in the morning as well. Although I have given up coffee I still need a small hit of caffeine to wake me up. Green tea is very high in flavonoids that can help to boost your heart health by lowering bad cholesterol and reducing blood clotting. Other research studies suggest that green tea can help with liver, breast, prostate and other cancers too. This tea has also shown to have anti-inflammatory qualities which helps to keep your skin glowing.
The pinultimate tea I love to drink especially at night is rose tea. Rose petals contain polyphenols, antioxidants that work to protect your body from cell damage. The polyphenols in rose tea have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. As I said I like to make a mix of rose, chamomile and lavender tea before bed. I find it helps me to drift off into a deep sleep.
The final tea I enjoy is lavender. I find the smell of lavender soothing and it’s a herb that can help ease many people to sleep. It can be good for the skin, may offer a natural pain relief, can help to reduce blood pressure and heart disease and it can even help to promote hair growth too. To be honest, I don’t think I would drink this during the day but just before with chamomile and rose really helps me to relax in the evening.
These herbal teas are just a few of my favourites. The list is endless and I love that about tea. I do prefer to drink loose leaf tea nowadays but I love to look in the herbal tea section of the supermarket to see what’s on offer occasionally too. With the price of food going up I can honestly say loose leaf tea is cheaper. Plus it’s better for the environment as there is less waste as well. Personally I don’t think I’ll go back to coffee I much prefer a tea nowadays. It makes me wonder if I should start a tea shop in the high street.
Googies Kitchen Life 