Pair it with a dash of honey or add in lemongrass or mint to play up the flavor profile. Echinacea was first used by Native Americans as a herbal remedy to cure illnesses and soothe skin disorders. It was used by tribes to treat snake bites and fight infections. Today, one of the most widely recognized health benefits of echinacea tea is its ability to help treat common cold symptoms.
Echinacea has anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce swelling and irritation, which may help alleviate the feeling of a sore throat. This tea also helps boost the immune system thanks to antioxidants that help eliminate free radicals and stave off infectious bacteria. Consuming echinacea can be good for overall health and keep you in top form all year long.
Echinacea can also fight off infections including vaginal yeast infections, urinary tract infections, and ear infections. Echinacea tea contains caffeic acid, which has been shown to have antimicrobial properties 1. Polysaccharides in echinacea ta also work to prevent harmful cells from replicating and spreading infection. These chemical compounds may also increase the production of white blood cells, which are the body's natural defense mechanism against infections. Another medicinal property of echinacea tea is its ability to alleviate pain.
A study published in Natural Product Research found that a combination of echinacea and ginger helped to alleviate joint pain in knees 2.
The supplementation worked by reducing inflammation. The essential oil and fragrance of brewed echinacea tea can help improve mood. The aroma triggers the production of the happy hormone known as dopamine. It can also decrease cortisol levels, helping to reduce stress and encourage an uplifted frame of mind 3. Echinacea tea can be made from the echinacea root or flowers of your garden plant. You can use fresh flowers, leaves, stems, and roots, or dry a batch to always have some on hand.
Here well give you a basic recipe to brew echinacea herb tea at home. Echinacea flowers should be harvested just after blooming season has begun.
Your plants will self-seed and spread where you let it. You will have several options for benefiting from the medicinal properties of your plants. Tincturing the fresh plant is highly recommended for getting the most out of the herb. The amazing thing about the echinacea plant is that the entire plant plant can be dried roots, stems, leafs, flowers and used as tea, but you lose some of the benefits by drying.
The flowers or leaves should be harvested right after the flowers begin to bloom. Cut each stem right where the first set of leaves is growing.
Rinse the flowers, and hang them to dry or lay them flat on a screen. If hanging, tie a paper bag around the flower as the petals will drop. When the leaves and petals are completely dry, store them in a sealed glass jar, and keep them in a cool, dark, and dry location. Making a concentrated liquid form of an herb a tincture is a great way to take advantage of the health benefits of that herb. Echinacea tincture is easy to make and easy to take.
The tincture has a very long shelf life, and is ready to use when needed. Tinctures preserve and concentrate the properties of the herb, making them more effective and longer lasting. Be sure you rinse all the dirt off your plant roots, and make sure no bugs are hiding under the petals or leaves. You can find the specific instructions of making your tincture here. The Wellness Mama website can also recommend three distinct kinds of tinctures find here :.
Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Echinacea is a perennial plant commonly grown in North America and Europe and closely related to sunflower, daisy, and ragweed. Echinacea is a popular remedy for colds, flu, and other infections, as it is thought to help boost immunity. Some people also believe that echinacea tea can alleviate pain, prevent cancer, improve mental health, and relieve skin problems. But the scientific community does not agree on the benefits of echinacea tea and some have expressed concerns regarding echinacea's side effects.
Echinacea tea is an herbal drink most commonly made from the Echinacea purpurea plant. This is different from traditional teas —black tea, white tea, green tea, and oolong tea—which are manufactured using leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant. Other varieties, including E. Usually, the purple, cone-shaped flower of the plant is dried or cut fresh to make tea, but echinacea roots and leaves may also be used. There is no caffeine in echinacea tea.
So when you drink this herbal tea, you are not likely to get the boost of energy that you may get from drinking caffeinated teas. The taste of echinacea tea can be somewhat strong. Some describe the flavor as being earthy or floral, and its medicinal compounds often have a tongue-tingling effect. In fact, some herbal product makers regard this latter quality as evidence of the herb's effectiveness. Echinacea is commonly combined with mint or other ingredients, such as lemongrass , to make a more pleasant-tasting tea.
If you don't like the taste of echinacea tea, you might choose to consume echinacea in tablet or tincture form instead.
Echinacea has a long history of being used as an herbal treatment. American Indians were known to have used the treatment for a wide range of ailments before western settlers began using it in the s.
Because it has a long history of use, researchers have been studying the herb for decades, with mixed results. Echinacea is widely touted as an immune booster that can help prevent cold and flu.
However, in , a study in Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews analyzed 24 double-blind trials of echinacea with a total of 4, participants and found weak evidence to support the herb's effectiveness for this purpose. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health concedes on this issue somewhat, stating that this herb might help prevent colds, but only slightly.
It adds that there isn't enough proof to say that it will reduce the duration of a cold should you catch one. A meta-analysis of six different studies reported that there is enough evidence to suggest that echinacea might reduce the risk of a respiratory infection that tends to reoccur. It also indicated that taking echinacea may even reduce complications associated with these infections.
A study agrees that this herb does show promise for preventing upper respiratory tract infections, yet there are also weaknesses in study methodology and reporting, so the evidence is somewhat limited. Another study involved participants taking either 40 milligrams of echinacea twice a day or a placebo. After seven days, those taking the echinacea lowered their anxiety scores by 11 points, whereas the placebo group only lowered theirs by 3 points. This difference remained three weeks later.
A study found that, while Echinacea angustifolia didn't appear to improve anxiety, it was associated with improvements in affect and emotional wellbeing. Study results are mixed on echinacea's health benefits, with some research finding that it helps with certain issues and others finding no effect. According to the National Institutes of Health, echinacea is probably safe for most people, although some experience side effects such as stomach pain, nausea, headache, or dizziness.
In rare cases, severe allergic reactions may occur, especially in those allergic to ragweed, mums, marigolds, or daisies. People who take immunosuppressant medications or tamoxifen, have allergies or asthma, are pregnant or nursing , or who are undergoing eyelid surgery should not use echinacea.
Echinacea may also interfere with some other medications. Talk to your doctor if you are taking medication or currently managing a medical condition to make sure that echinacea is safe for you. There is no recommended daily allowance of echinacea. It is sold in capsules, tinctures, and teas. You can also purchase loose leaf echinacea tea or tea bags online and in many health food stores. To prepare loose leaf echinacea tea:.
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