Medicinal Herbal Tea

Two  herbal tea formulas I occasionally like to drink from her Healing Herbal Teas book  Brigitte Mars are:

Mineral-Rich Tea
These herbs provide the minerals needed for nourishing bones, teeth, hair, and nails

• 2 parts alfalfa leaf
• 2 parts dandelion leaf
• 2 parts nettle leaf
• 2 parts oat seed and/or oatstraw
• 2 parts raspberry leaf

Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the herbs. Cover and let steep for ten minutes. Add raw honey or stevia to sweeten.

Liver-Loving Tea
Help your liver perform its myriad of functions with these supportive herbs:

• 2 parts catnip herb
• 2 parts dandelion root
• 1 part burdock root
• 1 part fennel seed

Bring the water to a boil. Add the dandelion and burdock root, cover and simmer for twenty minutes. Remove from heat and add the remaining herbs. Cover and let steep for ten minutes. Strain.

Comments

[NANCY]

When purchasing herbal teas in health food stores, are the ones with "senna" harmful to your body? Thank you.

[Nancy Desjardins]

Hello Nancy,
Using senna on a daily basis is not safe because the herb is a "stimulant laxative" that works by irritating the colon to empty its contents.

Stimulant laxatives should not be used for more than one week because prolonged use can make the muscular walls of the colon weak and sluggish.

This means that your colon may no longer function properly on its own and you may not be able to go to the bathroom without the tea.

The other danger of using stimulant laxative teas is the excessive loss of water from chronic diarrhea. This can lead to dehydration and the loss of electrolytes and minerals like calcium, magnesium and, most importantly, potassium.

Hope this will help!

Nancy