The Health Benefits Of Chamomile Tea Will Make You Drink It Regularly
Chamomile Tea is one of the most loved teas around the world. This flavorful and aromatic herb has several health benefits. The health benefits of herbal chamomile tea have helped a lot of people around the world. As suggested, this popular beverage is consumed because of its various health benefits.
Chamomile Tea is obtained from the chamomile herb, belonging to the Asteraceae plant family. It has been consumed for centuries because of its health benefits. Since it is caffeine-free, many people prefer consuming chamomile tea over black tea and green tea. What’s excellent about chamomile tea is it tastes a bit sweet.
Furthermore, the antioxidants of chamomile tea also reduce the risk of heart diseases and other chronic problems. It also aids digestion and boosts sleep.
What is chamomile tea?
Chamomile tea is a tea made from daisy-like Chamomile flowers. These flowers are dried and steeped in warm water. The chamomile flowers have a sweet fragrance and appear small with a yellow central disc surrounded by white petals.
The sweet, gentle smell of chamomile gives chamomile tea an apple-like fragrance. No wonder chamomile tea is widely used as a herbal tea and even for aromatherapy.
Chamomile is derived from the Greek word “chamaimelon,” referring to ‘ground apple.’ Hence, the apple-like aroma. Over the centuries, it has been used extensively as a medicinal tonic and even a topical remedy.
Ancient Egyptians mainly consumed chamomile tea, and later on, it shifted to Romans too. However, in modern times, Chamomile tea is one of China’s most popular beverages and East Asian cultures apart from hibiscus tea.
Chamomile is available in two types: Anthemis nobilis (Roman chamomile) and Matricaria Chamomile (German or wild chamomile). The Roman Chamomile has a sweet taste, while German chamomile has a strong taste with a pungent smell.
A lot of people in India prefer chamomile tea over chai tea because of its soothing aroma. Chamomile plants are widely grown across Egypt and Eastern Europe. However, German chamomile is wild in nature. The flowers are dried for long hours to ensure long shelf life.
What Are The Primary Health Benefits Of Black Tea
Nutritional Value of Chamomile Tea
Chamomile Tea is one of the most nutritious teas. No wonder is one of the most beneficial ones too. It is due to these benefits that there are so many health benefits of drinking chamomile tea. Hence the nutritional value of chamomile tea includes the following.
- Calories: 2.4g
- Total Carbohydrate: 0.5g
- Vitamin A: 47.4 IU
- Folate: 2.4mcg
- Calcium: 4.7mg
- Iron: 0.2mg
- Magnesium: 2.4mg
- Potassium: 21.3mg
- Fluoride: 30.8mcg
Chamomile Tea Caffeine Content
Like most teas, such as oolong tea and jasmine tea, chamomile tea is completely free of caffeine. Hence, it plays an important role in inducing sleep. Chamomile tea, unlike chai tea and black tea, can be consumed during the afternoon and evening. Moreover, drinking a cup of chamomile tea before going to bed can benefit from relaxing sleep.
Health Benefits of Chamomile Tea
Chamomile tea is rich in antioxidants, flavonoids. Hence, it plays an important role in boosting all benefits. The multiple health benefits of drinking Chamomile tea include the following.
Chamomile tea benefits for Weight loss
Chamomile tea plays an important role in boosting weight loss. This tea helps to avoid bloating and reduces the risk of unwanted aspects. Furthermore, chamomile helps to speed up the production of gastric juices.
These gastric juices play an important role in enhancing the digestion process, thereby breaking down the food.
The benefits of chamomile tea weight loss lead to faster breaking down of food. The better the food breaks, the better will be your chances to reduce weight.
One of the most important things to note is that one should be careful about chamomile tea consumption. You should know when to consume chamomile tea so that you can get maximum benefits.
Chamomile tea benefits your brain.
Chamomile tea consumption can have extra calming effects. Since it acts as a natural sedative, one can be sure of getting chamomile tea health benefits. The chamomile affects the brain by calming the nerves. A lot of people prefer drinking a warm cup of chamomile tea if they are stressed. The sedative impact leads you to feel calm for a long time and eventually promotes sleep.
Chamomile tea benefits for your heart
Chamomile tea is a great source of antioxidants, flavones. This group of antioxidants can have an important role in boosting your heart health. Studies have shown that flavonoids help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol level.
It is one of the most significant markers of heart disease risk. Low levels of blood pressure and cholesterol levels eventually help to boost heart health.
A study conducted on 64 diabetic people showed that drinking chamomile tea and their meals help lower total cholesterol, bad LDL cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels. Chamomile tea, instead of water with meals, can boost an important role in boosting the overall impact on heart health.
A lot more research needs to be done to determine the impact of chamomile tea on heart health. However, including chamomile tea in your diet can be helpful for your diet too.
Chamomile tea benefits against cancer
Chamomile tea plays an important role in fighting against chronic diseases, especially certain types of cancer. The antioxidants of chamomile tea help to fight against different types of cancer. Furthermore, it also helps to lower the risk of developing cancer.
Apart from flavonoids, chamomile tea is also a great source for antioxidant apigenin. Some studies show that apigenin helps to fight against cancer cells. As a result, it protects against different types of cancer like the digestive tract, prostate, skin, uterus, and even breast.
One of the studies conducted among 537 people showed that people who consumed chamomile tea 2–6 times every week help lessen thyroid cancer risk compared to those who did not drink chamomile tea.
Although this research is a breakthrough, further research needs to be done. Hence, it can be concluded that chamomile tea consumption can play an important role in preventing cancer.
Chamomile tea benefits against diabetes
Drinking chamomile tea helps to lower blood sugar levels. The anti-inflammatory characteristics of chamomile tea can help to prevent pancreas cell damage.
The pancreas cell damage often results in high levels of blood sugar. However, consumption of chamomile tea can help to reduce the high levels of blood sugar.
A healthy pancreas boosts the production of insulin, which helps to remove excess sugar from the blood. One study showed that people who consume chamomile tea daily for four to eight weeks could lower blood sugar levels than water.
Besides human studies, animal studies also confirm chamomile tea's impact in lowering high blood sugar levels. Most of these are animal studies, so more human studies must be done to prove the impact.
Chamomile tea benefits for sleep
Are you having trouble sleeping? Chamomile tea sleep benefits include boosting sleep. It has a calming impact on the nerves, which is why it helps to fall asleep faster.
The unique characteristics of chamomile tea are what contribute to improved sleep quality. The apigenin of chamomile tea helps to bind the brain receptors. This binding further helps to promote sleepiness, thereby reducing the risk of insomnia. Even if you have insomnia, you should prefer having a cup of chamomile tea before bed.
One study showed that postpartum women who consume chamomile tea for two weeks noticed improvements in sleep quality. Also, drinking chamomile tea will resolve sleep problems in postpartum women and help ease the symptoms of depression. Consumption of 270mg of chamomile extract twice a day for around four weeks can fall asleep 15 minutes faster.
Like all other benefits, to determine the exact impact, more human studies need to be conducted. However, if you have trouble sleeping, you should prefer consuming a cup of chamomile tea before sleep.
Chamomile tea benefits for your skin
Drinking chamomile tea not only rejuvenates your mind and body but also helps to treat skin conditions. Furthermore, drinking chamomile tea can also help to heal the wounds.
Chamomile tea is a prominent part of aromatherapy, which is why it is used in baths. This helps to treat different skin conditions, especially scaly skin and itchy skin.
The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics of chamomile tea have relaxing effects on skin conditions like eczema and rosacea. If you have scars or wounds, consuming or applying chamomile tea on the affected area can heal them soon. This is mostly due to the polyphenols and phytochemicals found in chamomile tea.
These characteristics also play an important role in fighting breakouts and wrinkles — the polyphenols in chamomile tea help avoid premature aging. The uses of chamomile tea for skin require it to be topically applied for extra advantage.
Chamomile Tea benefits for hair
Like white tea, chamomile tea has several benefits for hair. The topical application of chamomile tea helps to boost the shine in your hair. It helps to restore the original shine and glow of the hair.
The anti-inflammatory characteristics of chamomile tea help to avoid the risk of dry and itchy scalp. Itchy scalp is the root cause of dandruff. But washing or massaging your hair with chamomile tea will help to overcome this. Furthermore, chamomile tea also helps to make hair light and even highlights certain areas.
As a result, brewing chamomile tea on the scalp can help to get maximum benefits. While drinking chamomile tea helps strengthen the hair strands, taking a shower with cold chamomile tea helps brighten hair strands.
Chamomile tea benefits for your mental health
People prone to anxiety will experience heart palpitations, short breaths, and even profuse sweating. These can, however, make situations uncomfortable often. As a result, the experts have often recommended consuming a cup of chamomile tea whenever one faces anxiety attacks.
However, chamomile tea is only beneficial for those who are mildly prone to anxiety. The aroma and fragrance of chamomile tea tend to have a calming effect on the brain. Thus, it helps to overcome the risk of anxiety.
Chamomile tea benefits for kids
Should kids be given chamomile tea? This is one of the most asked questions. Well, chamomile tea is free of caffeine, which is why it is entirely safe to give chamomile tea to kids.
Chamomile tea is beneficial for growing children as it strengthens the muscle. Furthermore, giving a cup of chamomile tea to your child before bedtime can improve their sleep quality. It is also beneficial for your kids to overcome emotional and physical distress. Needless to say, a lukewarm cup of chamomile tea helps to treat severe stomach cramps in kids.
Chamomile tea benefits for men
Chamomile tea consumption can help to reduce stress in men. Compared to women, men are more prone to stress because of workload and family pressure. Starting your day with a cup of chamomile tea will undoubtedly allow you to feel less stressed throughout the day. It also plays an important role in boosting productivity.
Chamomile tea benefits for women
For women who are prone to severe menstrual cramps, make sure to drink a cup of lukewarm chamomile tea during your initial days of menstruation. Menstrual cramps are very uneasy and painful. Hence, consuming chamomile tea will help to overcome severe cramps. Furthermore, it also helps to lessen PMS.
One of the studies conducted in 2010 showed that chamomile tea consumption for a month reduces menstrual pain severity. The women associated with the study showed fewer signs of anxiety and distress, often resulting from severe menstrual cramps.
Chamomile Tea and Your Diet
If you haven’t made chamomile tea a part of your diet, make sure to do so immediately. Undoubtedly, chamomile tea, like all the other teas, can be a great addition to your diet. However, it is necessary to know when to consume and how to consume for exact benefits.
How to add chamomile tea to your diet?
As far as drinking chamomile tea is concerned, it would help if you either drank it with your breakfast or meals. Drinking chamomile tea with meals helps produce gastric juices, which ensures a faster breakdown of food items.
Apart from that, chamomile tea can be consumed individually too to ease headaches. Like chai tea, chamomile tea, too, can form to be a great part of the diet because of the sweetness.
What is the best time to drink chamomile tea?
What time of the day you drink chamomile tea completely depends on what benefits you want. As per experts, if you want to induce sleep, you should consume a cup of chamomile tea 45 minutes before sleep. It allows your body to metabolize the tea, and thus, the sedative feeling kicks in.
But, if you want to boost your immune system and keep your body energized throughout the day, you should drink chamomile tea in the morning.
Moreover, the health benefits of herbal chamomile tea include boosting skin fairness and promoting heart health. Well, you can also prefer consuming a cup or two of chamomile tea throughout the day.
But, never overdose on chamomile tea.
How many cups of chamomile tea should I drink a day to lose weight?
As stated earlier, the number of cups and the best time of drinking chamomile tea completely depends on the benefits you want to enjoy. If you want fast and effective results, you should drink a cup of chamomile tea every day before your meals.
Where to buy Chamomile tea?
Want to get your hands on the best chamomile tea? Well, the internet is full of it. Hence to decide which one is the best can often be tough.
Amazon and Etsy are the most reliable places where you can find high-quality chamomile tea for consumption. Apart from that, as mentioned earlier, you can also check the official websites of Twinings and Art of Tea to grab the best chamomile tea.
Side Effects of Chamomile Tea
Anything that has many benefits is bound to have certain side effects because not everything can be perfect. As a result, you need to consider the side effects of chamomile tea too.
Excessive chamomile tea can bring about side effects that may negatively harm the body. Some of the side effects of chamomile tea include the following.
Allergy
How would tea cause allergies? Since chamomile tea is obtained from daisy-like flowers, it can have a high risk of causing the allergy. If you are allergic to flowers belonging to the daisy family, you should refrain from consuming chamomile tea. Any person allergic to flowers like daisies, marigold, ragweed, chamomile, or chrysanthemum should avoid consuming chamomile tea.
Pregnancy
As stated earlier, a lot of research needs to be done regarding chamomile tea. Although they have enough claims, not all of them are strong. Hence, experts recommend avoiding chamomile tea during pregnancy.
It is best to consult your doctor before starting chamomile tea consumption during pregnancy. Though not proven, chamomile tea can have counter effects during pregnancy, potentially harmful to the baby.
Surgery
Chamomile tea contains coumarin in small amounts. It may not be big, but it can have counter effects. Coumarin often acts as a blood thinner, so it is best to avoid chamomile tea after surgery.
Coumarin can have fatal impacts only if it is consumed in a high dosage. It is always suggested to avoid chamomile tea at least two weeks after surgery to avoid any medicine interaction.
Takeaway
Chamomile tea is a magical beverage. This sweet fragrant tea is home to several powerful antioxidants that can boost your immunity system and even enhance the skin glow.
Although researches are stating the health benefits of herbal chamomile tea, more research needs to be done to determine the exact impact. These studies aren’t enough to act as strong claims because they are test-tube studies or animal studies.
But, chamomile is a healthy and safe beverage to enjoy. Apart from consumption, you can topically apply chamomile tea too. Make sure to give chamomile tea a try and include it in your diet. You are sure not to be disappointed.
Note: This article contains affiliate links that help me to create more content
This article published at https://east-asian-cultures.com/health-benefits-of-chamomile-tea/
