Agri Leader
Herb teas touted as cures for what ails you
RODOLFO ROMAN
Published: January 9, 2013
With the flu season affecting the nation, there is no doubt many count on over the counter or expensive prescription medication, which can take a toll on your pocket.Published: January 9, 2013
Cases of flu have been reported in 29 states. A trip to stock up on cough syrup and drops, and medication can take a load financially, plus many side effects to an individual.
But a sick person can scratch a visit to a local pharmacy and take a walk outside to a backyard garden, where many herbs can treat everything from stress to a common cold, said Miguel A. Cisneros-Abreu, a pioneer in the field of AromaTherapy Complementary Medicine. The herbs can be used as medicinal tea.
"You are looking at tea as it was originally meant to be, medicine," said Cisneros, who drinks natural teas on a daily base.
Cisneros will be hosting a class to grow and use medicinal herbs at 12:30 p.m., Feb. 10, at the Fruit and Spice, 24801 SW 187 Ave.
"What people will learn in the class are what medicinal plant to plant and how to use it for today's health care maintenance," he said. "It's the way of knowing how to extract the nutrients from the herbs."
There are plenty of benefits from drinking natural teas.
"When you have natural herbs only, you don't have any side effects," he said.
Florida is home to many herbs that can be grown in a community or backyard garden. For example, Rosemary can be used in several medicinal natural teas. It can be mixed with lemon grass and peppermint. This mixture will help provide energy, which is a great alternate to energy drinks. Once hand-picked, cut the herbs, add water to a pot and brew for about five minutes.
"Remember, the flavor of the tea is the essential oils," he said. "Those are additional properties. You are extracting it from the water. You are drinking a health drink when you drink healthy tea."
He also added that to enjoy the drink throughout the day, after brewing, freeze it in ice cubes. Pour it in a thermos with cool water and enjoy the drink throughout the day.
If it is lacking of a sweet taste, use Stevia herb as a sweetener. Ciseros said it is better than raw sugar or regular white sugar for the healthy natural benefits. It also can be grown in a garden. The herb, which is popular in South America, is calorie-free. On the contrary to past reports, it doesn't increase blood glucose, he added.
"You want to eliminate sugar and brown sugar is white sugar with molasses," he said. "You want raw sugar. But when you do tea with natural herbs, it's naturally sweet."
Another tea he recommends for stomach pain is a mixture of mandarin and chamomile, which is credited to help with sleep. Honey would taste great with the combination.
Chamomile is also known to have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and sedative properties. So, the herb itself can be brewed and used as muscle relaxer tea.
Once brewed, the tea can last about two to three days.
For more information on the classes, visit www.fruitandspicepark.org/