TOP 10 most useful and aromatic herbs for replacing tea leaves

Fragrant herbs for tea can be found in fields, meadows, forests and even in the garden at the cottage. And if the summer is long gone, then you can buy dry raw materials in a pharmacy.

Do you know that classic black tea appeared in Russia only in the XVI-XVII centuries? Before that, people gathered and harvested local plants for the winter, prepared infusions and decoctions. Today herbal drinks are gaining popularity again.

We offer you to find out what is better to use as a tea leaves instead of a tea leaf.

Chamomile

Chamomile is one of the most popular herbs for brewing tea. It contains a large amount of mucus, which gently envelops the walls of the digestive tract.

The drink has the following healing properties:

• relieves intestinal colic;
• relieves gastritis symptoms;
• serves as the prevention of colds;
• relieves headaches caused by overwork and stress;
• relaxes the psyche;
• improves skin tone.

Doctors recommend chamomile tea to people who often take drugs with acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). It protects the walls of the stomach from erosion.

How to make tea? Pour 1.5 teaspoon of dry chamomile with a glass of boiling water. Insist 10 minutes. If desired, add lemon juice and honey to a warm drink.

Linden blossom

Tea made of linden flowers has a rich taste with sweet fruity notes. It contains phytoestrogens, which behave in the body like female sex hormones. Therefore, with the use of such a drink, a hormonal background normalizes in a woman.

Also, linden tea has a calming, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effect. This is an excellent drug for acute respiratory viral infections, influenza and other viral infections.

To make tea, pour 8–10 dry linden flowers with a glass of water heated to 90 degrees. Insist 15 minutes.

Mint

Mint contains a large amount of menthol. This substance enhances perspiration and has a cooling effect. Therefore, mint tea is useful to drink during colds.

A drink from peppermint leaves has other useful properties:

• eliminates bloating;
• helps to cope with nausea, which is especially valuable for pregnant women;
• relaxes the muscles of the throat and chest, relieving dry cough;
• makes breathing fresh due to the destruction of bacteria that live in the oral cavity;
• promotes outflow of bile;
• reduces appetite;
• calms nerves.

For the preparation of mint tea, it is better to use fresh leaves, but dry ones are also suitable. Pour 1 tablespoon of crushed raw materials with a glass of boiling water and leave for 20 minutes.

Fireweed

People call the grass of fireweed Ivan-tea. It has 5 times more vitamin C than lemons. A drink from fireweed has a mild sweet taste and brings the following benefits to the body:

• relieves different types of pain: headache, muscle pain, in the abdomen, joints;
• helps to cope with insomnia;
• normalizes the menstrual cycle in women;
• removes harmful compounds from the body.

To make tea, it is customary to collect and ferment the leaves of the plant or use flowers. Ready raw materials (1 tablespoon) are poured with a glass of boiling water and brewed for 10 minutes.

St. John's wort

St. John's wort is part of many herbal antidepressant drugs that are officially sold in pharmacies. Herbal tea from it helps protect the psyche from stress, drive away fatigue, bad mood and insomnia. In addition, St. John's wort increases the acidity of gastric juice, facilitating the process of digestion of food.The plant is contraindicated in hypertensive patients, as it raises blood pressure.

How to make tea from St. John's wort? Pour 1 teaspoon of dry grass with hot water (90 ° C) and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

Thyme

Tea producers like to mix thyme with plain black tea. But the grass can be collected on the field and used as the only component of the drink. Due to its high content of essential oils, it has a strong spicy aroma.

Tea from thyme reduces inflammatory processes in the body, accelerates recovery from acute respiratory viral infections, and destroys pathogenic microflora in the intestine. It is often prescribed to patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

To prepare a drink, pour half a tablespoon of dried raw materials (flowers, leaves or twigs) with a glass of water at a temperature of 90 degrees. Insist 10 minutes.

Lingonberry

Lingonberry leaves are used in traditional medicine as an antiseptic and diuretic. They drink tea from inflammatory processes in the kidneys and bladder (cystitis, urethritis, pyelonephritis).

Leaves need to be collected either in the spring before the lingonberry blooms, or in the fall, when the fruits depart. To make tea you need to pour 2 tablespoons of dried leaves with a glass of water and keep in a water bath for 30 minutes. Then strain. Dissolve the resulting infusion in a glass of water at room temperature.

Raspberries

Raspberry tea has an antiviral, diaphoretic and antipyretic effect, removes toxins from the body. No wonder they drink it with colds and flu.

You can brew both dry and fresh leaves: 1 tablespoon (chopped) in a glass of boiling water. The infusion time is 10 minutes. However, raspberry leaves do not have a pronounced taste. Therefore, it is better to add some crushed berries, raspberry jam or honey to the finished tea.

Cherry

Cherry leaves contain a lot of volatile and antioxidants. When brewed, they help the body fight viruses and bacteria, relieve inflammation and swelling of the soft tissues, slow down the aging process, and prevent cancer.

To prepare a drink, pour 1 tablespoon of fresh or dry chopped leaves with a glass of boiling water. Insist 10 minutes. Cherry tea has a strong fruity aroma and astringent taste.

Dandelion

Instead of tea leaves, you can use dandelion root. It must be thoroughly washed and dried in the sun until the milky juice ceases to stand out. Then dry in the oven at a temperature of 55-60 degrees, fry in a dry pan and grind in a coffee grinder.

The dandelion root drink is a bit like coffee. In a glass of hot water you need to dilute 1 teaspoon of the powder. The drink invigorates, improves intestinal motility and helps to lose weight.

The herbs for tea listed in the article have many health benefits compared to traditional tea leaves. They do not contain caffeine. Therefore, they are not addictive and do not increase the load on the heart. Medicinal plants saturate the body with vitamins and other beneficial substances. To make the tea really tasty, brew the herbs in glass, ceramic or porcelain dishes.