Medicinal Teas

One of my grandmother's frequent dictums concerning the suitability of an herb for a particular person and condition was: "If the tea smells bad and tastes bad, it isn't right; but if it smells quite pleasant and possibly tastes bad, it can be tried out."

But not all herbs are safe to ingest (or use on the body either). Indeed, some herbs are hazardous to your health. The best method of using herbs is to learn about them one at a time, and to use them one at a time. Read up on the herbs. Evaluate them carefully. Know the herbs you use!

Some herbs appear to have long and distinguished folk medicine use and to be non toxic, and yet may still be listed as dangerous for some internal or external use by some government agency. On the other hand, many of the warnings may be appropriate and should be seriously investigated. Since there are so many safe and valuable herbs and food herbs, why take a chance with any herbs that may work negatively on the central nervous system, or other systems for that matter.

It is particularly important to use small (half or less) doses of herbs for children, and to experiment with possible allergic reactions to any herbs before using them in quantity.

Quantities/Time In using medicinal infusions or decoctions (see the next section after Infusion), especially for an acute health problem, drink only half a cup three times a day, preferably a half hour before each meal. When the symptoms of the health problems disappear, discontinue taking the tea. If no change is seen after three days, change the treatment, as three days is about what it takes for an herbal tea to work.

On the other hand, don't be discouraged if you feel "badly" after an hour or so or during the first day or so. Many herbs start to normalize the body, and detoxify and push out old wastes. This happens very often with ginger tea and in eating cinnamon sticks, both of which are extremely detoxifying. Give a tea a chance to work, but remember: Each person is different, and there is no one tea that works for everyone. You have to experiment.

Herbs for Home Table Teas

There are about twenty five to fifty delicious herbs that may be used separately, or in a variety of combinations, according to your need, mood, and the season.

In the past, I mainly used peppermint as my everyday tea because of its stimulating aroma and pleasant taste. But because peppermint has a high amount of tannin, I now vary my selection of table teas a lot more. While I am traveling, though, I never fail to take tea bags of both peppermint and chamomile, since both these teas have a benign influence on digestion. I also carry a small vial of either peppermint oil or peppermint extract. Either one of these concentrated peppermints may be used, a few drops at a time, in a cup of boiled, hot water.

Other teas that I like are linden flowers (lime flowers), alfalfa leaves and alfalfa seeds, chamomile flowers, red raspberry leaves, yarrow flowers, elderflowers, clover flowers (when I collect them myself, I use the stems and all), desert herb tea, and hawthorn berry tea.

Here are some of the everyday herbs that I either, grow, pick in the wild, or purchase in dry form:

Flowers Chamomile elderflower, clover, linden, yarrow, mullein.

Leaves, Peppermint, spearmint, pennyroyal, alfalfa, bee balm, blackberry, blueberry, catnip, costmary, horsetail, hyssop, lemon balm, oatstraw, parsley, red raspberry, rosemary, sage, thyme.

Berries Blueberry, hawthorn, juniper, raspberry, rose hips.

Seeds Anise, alfalfa, caraway, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, fenugreek.