Chamomile tea is so beneficial that even small children are advised to drink it. Helps in the treatment of many diseases, from insomnia to stomach pain. Many healing properties of the drink were known hundreds of years ago.
Chamomile was used by ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians.
American scientists have proven the beneficial properties of German chamomile. Compared to the Roman variety, it is more efficient and better studied.
- From insomnia and stress. Most often, people resort to the help of chamomile tea when they need to calm their nerves. The drink has pronounced sedative properties due to the content of the chrysin flavonoid.
- Strengthens immunity. According to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2005), 5 cups of tea for 2 weeks increases hippurate levels in the body. This is due to the action of plant phenols, which strengthen the immune system and fight bacteria. The study helps explain, on a biochemical level, the legendary effectiveness of chamomile tea in fighting bacteria and viruses.
- For menstrual pain. American chemists found an increased level of the amino acid glycine in the body of volunteers who took chamomile tea for 2 weeks. Glycine is known to reduce uterine cramps and relax the nervous system in PMS.
- For skin diseases. Topical or oral application of the drink will be useful for eczema, contact dermatitis and diaper rash. In Germany, the government officially recognized chamomile as a remedy for dermatological diseases. Unfortunately, in some patients, chamomile tea causes allergies and can exacerbate existing problems. The good news is that it only takes one glass to determine how your body reacts to chamomile.
- For children's health. Warm chamomile tea is a traditional and quite safe remedy for babies suffering from colic, diarrhea, or fever. At least that's what the American Academy of Family Physicians thinks. However, pediatricians warn against dosage errors. Children under 5 years of age can drink no more than ½ cup of this herbal tea per day.
- Against aphthous stomatitis and sores in the mouth Chamomile tea has been used for a long time, although relying on traditional medicine. Doctors do not prohibit herbal rinses, but they advise adding sage to the drink for a greater effect. Optimal rinse schedule: 4-6 times a day.
- For digestion. Chamomile tea is suitable for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and chronic stomach pain. Acts gently, helps cleanse the gastrointestinal tract of toxins that cause discomfort. It will be useful for gastritis, diarrhea and stomach ulcers.
Research justifies the use of chamomile tea to reduce anxiety, as a sleep aid, and for attention deficit disorder. This is an excellent remedy for panic attacks, causeless fears, increased anxiety, tantrums and nightmares.
For medicinal purposes, doctors advise drinking 3-4 cups a day. For each glass of water, lay 2-3 tsp. dry grass.
Other useful properties of chamomile tea: from back pain, hemorrhoids, toothache and headache, to relieve swelling of the sinuses with hay fever.
During pregnancy
At the moment, not enough research has been done to state with certainty whether chamomile tea is good or bad during pregnancy.
Until the situation clears up, you can brew and drink tea with lemon balm or mint.
Harm and contraindications
In addition to the already mentioned allergies, the drink has several other harmful properties.
- Overdose may cause nausea and vomiting.
- Chamomile thins the blood, so it should not be combined with anticoagulants such as warfarin, heparin, clopidogrel, ticlopidine, or pentoxifylline.
- For pregnant and lactating women, patients with kidney and liver diseases, the safety of chamomile tea remains in question.
Chamomile tea: benefits and medicinal properties, popular recipes and contraindications for use.
Chamomile as a medicinal plant has been known to mankind since ancient times. The healing properties of this unpretentious flower were discovered more than two thousand years ago: people noticed that chamomile tea calms the nerves and helps get rid of insomnia. Today, the plant is widely used in folk medicine, and in pharmacology, and in cosmetology.
The composition and medicinal properties of chamomile
Benefits of chamomile tea
Benefits for the nervous system
The fragrant drink contains the antispasmodic apigenin, which has a positive effect on the psycho-emotional state of a person. Irritability, insomnia, depression, overwork, nervous exhaustion, stress - all these problems will help to defeat healing drinks from chamomile.
Benefits for the gastrointestinal tract
Chamomile tea stimulates the secretion of bile, treats ulcers, gastritis and liver diseases, helps with violations of the intestinal microflora and cholelithiasis. And this healing drink is also useful for people who take drugs based on acetylsalicylic acid, as it is able to protect the gastric mucosa from its destructive effects.
Chamomile tea for diabetes
The benefits of chamomile tea for people with type 2 diabetes have been proven: the plant contains substances that lower blood sugar levels. This miraculous property of chamomile allows you to use it as an additional tool in the fight against a serious illness: chamomile, in addition to its therapeutic effect, also helps prevent complications that diabetes can cause.
Properties of chamomile for colds
With flu, tonsillitis, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases, chamomile tea is useful due to its diaphoretic, expectorant, antimicrobial and analgesic properties. Healing broth is drunk as tea, used for gargling, baths and inhalations are made from it.
Skin Health Benefits
It is believed that chamomile tea, if drunk every day, can give a fresh and healthy look to the skin. And the healing broth can be frozen. Chamomile tea ice cubes have an antiseptic effect, refresh and rejuvenate the skin, eliminate irritation. Chamomile is especially useful for baby's delicate skin; its extract is added to baby creams, shampoos and toothpaste. Chamomile decoction will give health to hair: both blondes and brown-haired women can use it to rinse curls after washing.
Chamomile tea for weight loss
With daily use of chamomile tea, you can lose up to 4 kg per month, the main thing is not to ignore physical activity and proper nutrition. The following properties of the plant provide weight loss. Firstly, chamomile controls appetite, has a positive effect on digestion and promotes better absorption of nutrients. Secondly, the medicinal plant has a calming effect, which is especially important for people who are accustomed to "jam" stress. And thirdly, chamomile provides a diuretic effect, which means it helps the body get rid of excess fluid.
Chamomile tea for children
Chamomile tea is also useful for children: it is indispensable when a baby is teething, a tummy hurts or a cold begins. Chamomile tea relieves pain, improves digestion, helps the baby calm down, and normalizes sleep. But small children can only be given a very weak decoction.
Women's Health Benefits
The substance bisabolol, which is contained in chamomile drinks, has a positive effect on women's health. Chamomile tea improves the work of the endocrine system, soothes pain during women's days, helps in the treatment of gynecological diseases, in particular, it is recommended to drink it with inflammation of the appendages. In diseases of the genitourinary system, chamomile tea is used not only inside, but also externally - in the form of compresses, baths and douches.
Chamomile tea for pregnant women
Expectant mothers should also make friends with chamomile tea. Even in such a crucial period as bearing a child, this sunny flower is desirable and useful. Chamomile-based drinks will help the expectant mother cope with an impending cold, because herbal treatment is a safe alternative to drug therapy. Headaches, apathy, depression, stomach cramps, toxicosis - all these problems can be alleviated and even eliminated by ordinary chamomile.
Pregnancy Precautions
Outwardly (in the form of baths, compresses, inhalations), chamomile tea during pregnancy can be used without fear, unless, of course, there is an allergy to the plant. As for the use inside, expectant mothers can drink no more than 2 glasses of weak infusion per day. Abuse of medicinal tea can provoke premature birth. Drinks based on chamomile contribute to the production of estrogen by the ovaries, which leads to the tone of the uterus, as a result, there may be a threat of miscarriage.
Contraindications
Chamomile, although it has anti-allergic properties, is itself capable of causing allergies. Before drinking a medicinal tea, make sure that you are not allergic to the plant. If you decide to be treated with chamomile decoctions, do not be overly zealous. Overdose may cause nausea, dizziness, weakness, headache, palpitations. It is not recommended to combine chamomile drinks with artificial sedatives, diuretics, and blood thinners (including aspirin) without first consulting a doctor.
Chamomile Tea Recipes
Recipe 1. Classic chamomile tea
2 full teaspoons of chamomile flower baskets - dried and crushed, pour a glass (200 ml) of hot boiled water, cover with a saucer and leave for 20-30 minutes, filter, squeeze the flowers and drink warm. Such an infusion can be consumed on its own or added to green or herbal tea.
Recipe 2. Chamomile Tea with Peppermint
Crushed mint and chamomile are taken in equal proportions - 1 teaspoon each, pour a glass of hot boiled water, let it brew and filter. This tea soothes well, helps to alleviate the course of gallbladder diseases and prevent the appearance of gallstones. If you are preparing a soothing drink, you can add cumin in addition to mint and chamomile.
Recipe 3. Chamomile tea with lemon balm
If you take the previous recipe, but replace mint with lemon balm, you get a wonderful medicine not only for the nervous system, but also for the stomach. And this drink helps with colds: take it warm, 1 glass 2-3 times a day. To recover faster, supplement the fragrant drink with natural honey, but it’s better not to add it to tea, but to eat it as a bite.
Recipe 4. Chamomile tea with herbs
Medicinal plants - peppermint, sweet clover, St. John's wort and chamomile are taken in equal proportions - one coffee spoon each, pour the mixture with a glass of hot boiled water, cover with a saucer, and filter after half an hour. This herbal tea has a cleansing, rejuvenating and appetite-reducing effect.
How to choose flowers for tea
To benefit from chamomile tea, prepare it from natural dry raw materials purchased at a pharmacy. Give preference to natural placers, it is better to refuse crushed flowers in bags. You can prepare healing baskets with your own hands, the main thing is not to confuse chamomile with other varieties of the plant (there are about 50 of them in total). When collecting inflorescences on your own, pay attention to the petals: in chamomile, they always look down, and the yellow part of the flower has a conical shape.
The value of chamomile as a medicinal plant is very high. We turn to this sunny flower with many of our problems, and he is really able to help us say goodbye to them. Stock up on fragrant sunny baskets, prepare a healing drink that will fill your home with the aroma of a blooming summer meadow, and give its inhabitants warmth and comfort. Drink chamomile tea and be always healthy!
The healing properties of chamomile tea have been known since antiquity. The peoples of ancient Greece and Rome used chamomile decoction to treat many ailments. Chamomile tea for children is also beneficial. What are the benefits of chamomile tea?
Chamomile flowers are not only very beautiful, but also have useful properties. Chamomile can be brewed for medicinal purposes, as well as take a bath with it. A decoction of this plant is useful for both adults and children.
Benefits of chamomile tea
The properties of a decoction of chamomile have an anti-inflammatory effect, have a beneficial effect on the nervous system, fight insomnia, improve immunity, defeating various bacteria and viruses. But this is not all that chamomile tea is useful for. It also helps with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, has an analgesic effect in gastritis and stomach ulcers. It is also recommended to take with urolithiasis.
Chamomile tea is useful to give to children from the age of six months. This drink will help eliminate colic in babies (after all, children often suffer from abdominal pain), and the decoction can also eliminate diarrhea and relieve fever. Babies can't tell where it hurts. Often parents have to “guess” what is wrong with the baby, sometimes it is extremely difficult to make the child stop crying.
If children do not calm down within three hours, then there is a high probability of intestinal colic or constipation, and possibly increased gas formation. In this case, chamomile tea can come in handy (reduce pain, soothe, help sleep). Of course, the main thing is not to overdo it. It is worth remembering the right dosage. Chamomile tea for children is prepared in different proportions than for adults. It is necessary that the chamomile decoction for the child is not strong.
For cooking, chamomile can be used both loose and in bags. If the child is under five years old, he should be given no more than half a cup of chamomile tea per day. In any case, this warm decoction can be an excellent alternative to one or another drug, this is the safest remedy.
The following recipe for chamomile tea will help soothe the pain of teething in children, as well as eliminate colic. This will require: three teaspoons of chamomile, two hundred milliliters of water, a little honey (to taste). Chamomile must be poured into a cup, pour hot water, covering the top with a terry towel. It is necessary to let it brew for about fifteen minutes, then strain the broth and add honey to it.
About the dangers of chamomile tea
In fact, chamomile tea is practically harmless. Allergic reactions are extremely rare, which indicates an individual intolerance to this plant. Parents for children should purchase only high-quality chamomile. The main thing to remember about dosages. In addition to allergic reactions (rashes), the drink has some more unpleasant features. An overdose of chamomile tea can lead to headaches, dizziness, nausea, or even vomiting. Also, chamomile helps to thin the blood, so it is impossible to take anticoagulants along with chamomile broth.
Despite the fact that children's chamomile tea helps to eliminate colic, you should not give a child a lot of drink. Tea containing chamomile or mint can affect how iron is absorbed in a child's body. Babies under one year of age need iron for brain development. There is quite a bit of iron in breast milk, and if herbal chamomile tea interferes with the absorption of such an important component for the child, this can have negative consequences. It is important to control the dosage of the drink, then chamomile tea will benefit.
Chamomile tea is the only tea that is allowed for children from the first months.
Chamomile tea is almost the only drink that is allowed for babies in the first months of life. Chamomile flowers have many useful qualities, the tincture contains trace elements and vitamins, which are so necessary for the normal functioning of all vital systems of the body. It is useful for:
- digestive;
- circulatory;
- nervous;
- immune system.
Chamomile is sold in the form of a collection of dried flowers. It is necessary to prepare tea immediately before use; it is not recommended to use the decoction the next day for young children. You can bathe newborn babies in chamomile tincture - it has a beneficial effect on the skin, moisturizing it, relieves irritation caused by a diaper, and helps with sweating. Couples of infusion of chamomile when bathing soothe the baby and promote sound sleep.
Beneficial features
Chamomile tea is useful, it:
- has an anti-inflammatory effect;
- relieves nervous tension in children;
- effective for insomnia;
- normalizes the work of the gastrointestinal tract;
- eliminates increased gas formation in the intestines;
- effectively fights many bacteria and viruses;
- strengthens the immunity of children;
- has some analgesic functions, especially for gastritis and stomach ulcers;
- effectively removes stones from the gallbladder.
The most important property of chamomile tea is that it helps with infant colic. The very concept of colic does not have clear definitions - it is discomfort in the intestines, both adults and babies suffer from them. But most of all they are exposed to infants who have not yet formed intestinal microflora, and food is poorly digested. As a result, increased gas formation, constipation or, conversely, diarrhea accompanied by colic.
The child constantly cries, is nervous, does not sleep well and is slowly gaining weight. If the pediatrician has not found other causes of this condition, then you can give the baby chamomile tea to drink. Numerous studies have proven its effectiveness.
Chamomile tea benefits and harms
Instructions for use
To brew healthy tea from chamomile flowers, it is recommended to purchase pharmacy fees, since collecting it yourself, without knowing all the subtleties, can be hazardous to health. For example, flowers grew along the highway and are polluted with exhaust gases, or there may be radioactive substances, chemical waste, etc. nearby. You need to know in what period of flowering chamomile has the best healing properties.
Ready-made pharmacy fees can be sold in various forms:
- in loose form;
- dosed, like tea bags. This option greatly simplifies the process of preparing a drink - do not worry and worry about how many inflorescences are needed for one cup of water;
- granulated - this form is common for baby food. The granules contain chamomile extract and dissolve quickly in warm water. Sometimes such a drink is slightly sweetened with maltodextrin to improve its taste characteristics. It is this option that should be preferred when preparing a drink for infants.
To avoid allergies, a baby aged 1 to 5 years can be given regular chamomile tincture only half a cup a day.
How to brew?
Each package contains a recipe according to which tea should be brewed for a child:
- for oral administration:
- a teaspoon of a scattering of dried flowers must be poured with one glass of boiling water. Cover with lid and kitchen towel. Leave to infuse for 15 minutes. If the child refuses to drink in its pure form, you can add a little honey or sugar. You should be careful with honey, because from its use in a child up to a year old, an allergy may occur.
- mouthwash:
- three teaspoons of dried flowers should be poured with a glass (200 ml) of boiling water and let it brew for 15-30 minutes. If the child does not know how to rinse his mouth on his own, then you need to moisten gauze with tincture and wipe problem areas;
- for the bath:
- three tablespoons of dried flowers pour 1 liter of boiling water and put on fire, as soon as the broth boils - set aside and cover tightly. After 30 minutes, strain, then can be diluted in 10 liters of bathing water.
How to brew chamomile
Age restrictions and contraindications
Tea from chamomile flowers is useful and recommended for adults and children from the first month of life. Therefore, as such, he has no age restrictions. The only condition is compliance with the proportions and brewing technology. It is necessary to act in strict accordance with the instructions, and also make sure that there is no individual intolerance to this drug.
An infusion of chamomile is prescribed as a prophylactic and as a treatment. For infants, you need to pay special attention to the cooking process and follow the instructions given by the pediatrician.
Are there any contraindications
Of course, as with any drug, there are cases when drinking tea is not desirable and can harm the body:
- individual intolerance - often an allergy occurs unpredictably. The body reacts in this way to an increased intake of any substance or group of vitamins. If an allergy to chamomile tea was previously detected, then you should not provoke its occurrence again and refrain from drinking;
- you can not drink chamomile tea at the same time as other drugs, such as sedatives and diuretics. This is due to the fact that a drink made from chamomile flowers also has sedative and diuretic properties, an overdose may result;
- you can not engage in self-treatment, even prevention, brew a drink "by eye", use personally collected grass;
- breastfed babies do not need to give such a drink in large quantities. This is due to the fact that chamomile prevents the absorption of iron, which is already very small in breast milk. If you actively feed the baby with chamomile infusion, then you can include vitamins containing iron in the diet, especially when its deficiency is detected.
- like all medicines, it must be used in accordance with the prescription and recommendations of a specialist;
- to calm the child and relieve pain from colic, it will be enough to give 15 ml of tea after each feeding (after 30-60 minutes);
- a child up to a year old can drink no more than 100 ml of such a drink per day;
- stop drinking if an allergy occurs until the cause of its occurrence is clarified.
The benefits of chamomile tea for children are undoubtedly great, but it is necessary to use it correctly, follow the advice of a pediatrician, choose a quality product, and give the child water in accordance with the recommended dosages.
During the period of treatment or prevention, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the baby so that allergies do not occur.
Video: Chamomile tea
Tea today is the drink without which almost no day can do. Someone likes strong, someone loves the taste of green tea, and for some this drink is a whole ceremony, so they buy only the best varieties in specialized stores. But there are also people who care about their health and understand the medicinal properties of herbs. They prefer, for example, chamomile or linden tea. As you know, chamomile is very useful, the drink from it turns out to be tasty, invigorating and healing. Let's talk about this in more detail.
Chamomile tea: benefits and harms
Green tea with chamomile
Ingredients: two spoons of green tea, one spoon of chamomile, five hundred grams of water, two slices of lemon.
Cooking
This chamomile tea during pregnancy is very useful, as it contains many useful substances, has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, and relaxes. But it is recommended to use it no more than twice a day.
So, the teapot for brewing is poured with boiling water, green tea and chamomile flowers are poured into it, poured with boiling water and insisted for fifteen minutes. The finished drink is filtered and poured into cups, in each of which they put one slice of lemon and honey to taste. This drink turns out to be light yellow in color, mild in taste with a slight bitterness.
Lithuanian chamomile tea
Ingredients: one spoonful of chamomile flowers, one spoonful of cumin, two tablespoons of mint, five hundred grams of water. Or take the following ingredients: one spoon of chamomile flowers, two tablespoons of cumin, two tablespoons of calendula, five hundred milliliters of water.
Such chamomile tea, the benefits of which we already know, helps to restore immunity, which has been weakened due to stress, hypothermia or a cold.
Cooking
Put all the ingredients in a container and pour boiling water over them, cover with a lid and leave for twenty minutes. After that, the drink is filtered and poured into cups, honey or sugar is added to taste.
If you drink it at night, it helps with insomnia, causing a sound restful sleep. In addition, it can replace aspirin.
Chamomile tea with mint
Ingredients: one spoonful of chamomile inflorescences, one spoonful of mint, half a liter of water.
Cooking
Herbs are poured into the container and poured with boiling water, covered with a lid and allowed to brew for ten or fifteen minutes. The finished drink is filtered and poured into cups, adding sugar or honey to taste.
If chamomile tea is infused for twenty-five minutes, then such a drink can be drunk with overwork, oversaturation of the body with nicotine or alcohol, or as a general tonic. Tea should be drunk warm.
A few words about chamomile tea
The drink is usually consumed twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. A morning portion of the drink invigorates the body, prepares the nervous system for work, and improves immunity. Its taste freshens the breath, and the remains are used as a face refresher. For this, a cotton swab is dipped in brewed chamomile and wiped over the face.
Chamomile tea, the benefits of which are known to almost everyone, has a specific, slightly bitter taste, so some people brew it together with other plants, adding honey. This, in turn, enhances the beneficial properties of this plant.
Chamomile tea with oregano
This drink allows you to reduce the formation of gases, remove them from the body, preventing bloating.
Ingredients: one spoonful of chamomile inflorescences, one spoonful of oregano, five hundred grams of water.
Cooking
Herbs are put in a teapot and poured with boiling water, then they are insisted for fifteen minutes, filtered, honey is added and drunk. It is recommended to drink chamomile tea twice a day.
Tea for colds
Ingredients: one part chamomile flowers, one part yarrow flowers, half a liter of water, honey to taste.
Cooking
Tea is prepared in the same way as we discussed above. The flowers are poured with boiling water and infused for ten to twenty minutes, then the drink is filtered and poured into cups. This tea is very useful for colds, as it has a double effect on the body.
Chamomile tea for weight loss
Due to its positive effect on the digestive system, as well as the removal of toxins from the body, chamomile tea has gained immense popularity among women who seek to lose weight. Thanks to this drink, you can easily control your appetite, improve metabolism, stabilize blood glucose levels, remove excess fluid from the body.
Ingredients: two spoons of chamomile flowers, five hundred grams of water.
Cooking
The flowers are placed in a bowl, poured with boiling water and infused for twenty minutes, then filtered and consumed three times a day half an hour before meals.
Chamomile is also often used in combination with other herbs to enhance its effect. Consider another drink recipe for weight loss.
Chamomile drink for weight loss
Ingredients: one spoonful of chamomile, one spoonful of dill, one spoonful of motherwort and one spoonful of senna, as well as one and a half tablespoons of lingonberries and one and a half tablespoons of wild rose, you will need two more tablespoons of mint, two tablespoons of oregano, half a spoonful of yarrow, half a spoonful of string, half spoons of dandelion and kelp.
Cooking
All of the above herbs and flowers are mixed, the resulting mixture is taken only one spoon, pour it with one glass of water and leave for eight hours. Drink a ready-made drink half an hour before a meal, one hundred grams.
Tea with chamomile and lemon
Ingredients: five hundred grams of water, one spoon of chamomile, juice of one lemon.
Cooking
Chamomile is placed in water and placed in a water bath. After twenty-five minutes, the broth is filtered and lemon juice is added to it.
This drink helps to cleanse the body, but it is not recommended for those who have diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys.
A few words about the benefits of chamomile tea
The properties of chamomile tea are known to many. One cup of this drink can relieve anxiety, calm the nervous system. Chamomile tea is known as a disinfectant and antiseptic. Its regular use helps to remove negative substances and excess fluid from the body. Thus, chamomile is a plant with many positive qualities.
