Brewing water with various herbs is a choice for many health preservation and beauty enthusiasts. Adding some wolfberries to brighten the eyes, some red dates to enrich the blood, drinking lemon water to whiten the skin, adding some chrysanthemum tea to reduce internal heat... But are you drinking these health teas correctly?
【Lemon Water】
Better for Appetite than for Vitamin C
For supplementing vitamin C, lemon water is indeed not the best choice. It is said that the vitamin C content in lemons is about one-third that of kiwifruit and less than one-tenth that of fresh jujubes. The vitamin C content is even less when brewed with one or two slices. However, drinking lemon water can effectively stimulate gastric acid secretion, increase appetite, and also aid digestion after meals.
Consumption Reminder:
1. Brew with warm water
Lemon water doesn't necessarily have to be brewed with cold water. Brewing lemon with hot water, under the protection of an acidic environment, results in higher stability of vitamin C and less loss. If still unsure, use warm water.
2. Buy fresh lemons
Dried lemon slices retain almost no vitamin C. It is recommended to buy fresh lemons or freeze-dried products to brew water.
3. Do not exceed 1L per day
Drinking large amounts of lemon water daily can easily lead to excessive gastric acid, harming the stomach. It is recommended not to exceed 1L. Use 1~2 slices of lemon per 1L of water.
4. Those with gastric ulcers should drink less
People with excessive gastric acid secretion, prone to acid reflux and gastric ulcers, should try to drink lemon water after meals or drink less.
Recommended preparation: Marinate washed and thinly sliced lemons with honey, store in the refrigerator, and take one slice each morning with a clean spoon to brew directly in water.
【Wolfberry Water】
Better to Eat Directly than to Brew in Water
With simple soaking, it is difficult to fully absorb the vitamins, carotene, etc., in wolfberries. Moreover, most of the vitamins in wolfberries are water-soluble and easily destroyed by heat. Therefore, a better way to eat wolfberries is to incorporate them into porridge, soups, and dishes like ordinary food, which is not only nourishing but also prevents internal heat.
Consumption Reminder:
1. People with internal heat, such as those with phlegm turbidity, or those with colds, fever, or diarrhea should avoid eating.
2. Do not consume too much to avoid over-nourishment. Professor Chang Zhangfu from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine recommends 10-20 grams per day.
Recommended preparation: It is recommended to soak dried wolfberries slightly and use them as an ingredient when stir-frying, making porridge, or even when steaming buns or boiling dumplings. You can also add a small handful of wolfberries when making soy milk with a soy milk machine.
【Chrysanthemum Tea】
Do Not Exceed 5 Flowers per Day
White chrysanthemums have a sweet taste and are good for calming the liver and improving eyesight. If your eyes are dry and uncomfortable, you can choose them, but their heat-clearing ability is slightly weaker. Yellow chrysanthemums taste slightly bitter and have strong heat-clearing ability, often used to dispel wind-heat. If you have internal heat or oral ulcers, brewing them in water can help reduce heat.
Wild chrysanthemums are effective in preventing and treating epidemic encephalitis and influenza. However, wild chrysanthemums are bitter and cold in nature. Long-term use or excessive dosage can damage the yang energy of the spleen and stomach, causing stomach discomfort, poor appetite, bowel sounds, loose stools, and other adverse reactions. Therefore, people with deficient cold spleen and stomach and pregnant women should not use them.
Consumption Reminder:
1. If you drink chrysanthemum tea every day, it is best not to exceed 5 flowers.
2. Since chrysanthemum is cool in nature, people who are physically weak, have spleen deficiency, stomach cold, or are prone to diarrhea should not drink it regularly.
3. Chrysanthemum has the effect of lowering blood pressure. Elderly people with low blood pressure and those with normal blood pressure should not drink chrysanthemum tea every day. They can drink it every few days, with no more than three flowers per day.
【Rose Tea】
Don't Overstate the Beauty Benefits
Drinking water brewed with dried rose petals has the effects of soothing the liver, relieving depression, regulating qi, and activating blood. People who are prone to anger and depression can drink some rose tea. However, doctors believe that there is no need to exaggerate the beauty benefits of drinking rose tea. Currently, the dried petals available for brewing lose their limited nutrients after sun exposure. Therefore, they cannot directly provide nutrition to the skin. However, it is undeniable that the fragrant scent of roses can calm the nerves, relieve stress, and relax the mood. Therefore, brewing rose petals in water can take advantage of their aroma to improve disordered autonomic nerves, regulate the endocrine system, and achieve the effect of "nourishing from within." A good mood will also have a certain effect on the skin.
Consumption Reminder:
1. It is not suitable for people who often feel tired and physically weak. The more they drink, the less "qi" they have, and they are prone to diarrhea.
2. Rose tea can activate blood circulation, remove blood stasis, and promote qi movement. It has a certain effect on dysmenorrhea caused by abnormal qi and blood operation and stasis in the uterus, but it is particularly unsuitable for people with heavy menstrual flow.
Recommended preparation: Brew 3 grams each of osmanthus and rose flowers with boiling water and drink. 2-3 times a day. It is particularly effective in harmonizing the stomach, regulating qi, and warming the stomach to dispel cold.
【Boat-Fruited Sterculia Seed】
Drinking Too Much Affects the Body's Resistance
There are many causes of hoarseness. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, it is divided into several types, such as wind-cold, wind-heat, lung-kidney yin deficiency, and qi stagnation and blood stasis. Boat-fruited sterculia seed is mainly suitable for hoarseness caused by wind-heat evil toxins, such as sudden hoarseness accompanied by cough, thirst, and sore throat.
Consumption Reminder:
1. Boat-fruited sterculia seed is cool in nature. Drinking too much can damage the yang energy of the stomach and intestines, and long-term drinking can affect the body's resistance. Therefore, drinking boat-fruited sterculia seed must be done in moderation. Use it for 3~5 consecutive days and stop immediately when symptoms improve.
2. People with cold constitution should not drink boat-fruited sterculia seed. People with a red tongue, especially a red tongue tip, can generally drink it.
Things about drinking "herbal tea":
1. Consult a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner before long-term drinking of "herbal tea." Ask the doctor for advice on how much to drink and how to drink it.
2. People with a hot constitution should choose cool-natured flowers and plants; people with a deficient cold constitution should use warm-natured flowers and plants; flat-natured flowers and plants can be used by most people.
Cool-natured edible flowers and plants mainly include prunella spike, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, pagoda tree flower, etc.; warm-natured edible flowers and plants mainly include plum blossom, jasmine, rose, Chinese rose, saffron, etc.; flat-natured flowers and plants mainly include albizia flower, corn silk, hibiscus, lavender, etc.
3. People who drink herbal tea love to "mix and match." It is recommended not to mix more than 3 types of herbal tea. Here are some reasonable "mixes" of herbal tea:
Rose + California juniper berry: Specifically eliminates excess body fat, making the figure slimmer; Verbena + Lemon grass: Can decompose fat, diuretic, and slim the lower body; Rose + Apple blossom: Can regulate menstruation, enrich blood, remove acne, and whiten; Rose + Jasmine: Nourishes beauty, tonifies the liver and stomach, and soothes nervous tension.