The Health Advantages of Drinking Herbal Tea

Herbal tea is for both physical and medical effects and its stimulation, relaxation and sedation properties.
These properties are highly appreciated by tea drinkers all over the world. This being said, in spite of the fact
that most herbal teas are safe to drink, but some do have toxic or allergenic effects, the worst being:

Comfrey: which contains alkaloids which may permanently damage the liver:
Lobelia: which contains toxins that are considered to have the same effect as nicotine; and
Pineapple Weed: which can cause violent allergies causing analphylactic shock and even death.

There are many types of herbal tea and these include that of: Anise tea, Bissap, Catnip, Chamomile,
Chrysanthemum, Citrus, Echinacea, Essiac, Wong Logat, Woodruff, Yarrow, Yuen Kut Lam Kam Wo Tea (from
Hong Kong), Fennel, Ginger, Hibiscus, Honeybush, Gentian, Horehound, Kava, Labrador, Lapacho, Lemon,
Licorice, Lime blossom, Mate, Mint, Nettle, Red Raspberry, Rooibos, Rose Hip, Sage, Sassafras, Skullcap,
Thyme, Tulsi, Valerian, Vetiver, and Tan Ngan Lo Medicated Tea.

Even Hercule Poirot, famous detective from Agatha Christie’s crime novels was known to be an avid herbal tea
and hot chocolate drinker. In many stories he drank herbal teas to soothe his nerves as well as to recover from
the ill effects of weather.

The use of herbal tea is as old man and has been chronicled ever since writing first evolved and has been in use
for longer than that. At first it was primarily used for medicinal purposes and later to enjoy. Many health
benefits can be deriven from drinking herbal tea, even though not all herbal teas are healthy.

Drinking herbal tea is one organic way to avoid the ill effects of drinking caffeine laden beverages. Spices can
be added to get that extra zing, or even for a particular medicinal benefit. From the many studies conducted, the
effects of drinking herbal tea have been found to actually lower the risk of gastric, esophageal and skin cancer,
simply by drinking four to six glasses each day.

The Dangerous nature of some Herbal
Teas, and how they can be detrimental
to your health.

Herbal tea is different from normal tea
in that it is an infusion of herbs and is
not the leaves of the tea bush. Herbal
tea is prepared from fresh or dried
leaves, seeds or roots, mostly by
pouring boiling water over the dried
herbs of the plants and letting them
steep for a as long as 10 minutes.

With seeds and roots, it is also
possible to boil them after which they
may be strained and sweetened,
according to taste. There are also
companies offering herbal tea bags
with the infusion of herbs, if you prefer.

The Health Advantages/Disadvantages of Herbal Tea