Monday, 10 March 2014

Relieve Stress with Herbal Tea

Lemongrass and Lemon balm brewed into a delightful lemon flavored pleasant tasting calming herbal drink



  Herbs contains excellent healing powers due to the presence of a number of important phytochemicals and flavonoids. Since historical times they have been used for medicinal and culinary purposes. Regular use of  herbs in everyday cooking and consumption is a natural way of staying healthy and find remedy and precaution against many disease and ailments.


I experimented  today brewing a herbal tea picking some of the herbs growing in my Kitchen Garden. With all the medicinal benefits of Lemon balm, Lemon grass, lemon juice and honey. This concoction is totally relaxing after a hard working day or to replace all the sugary and carbonated bottled and tinned drinks with meals.






 I have picked a big bunch of lemon grass and put that in electric kettle filling 1.5 litres of water. While it was boiling filling the entire house with the fresh lemony fragrance, I have added a teaspoon of tea in a 2 litre jug (use any green team, or normal breakfast tea). In an another tumbler, I have added slices of lemon, 1 teaspoon honey and the washed leaves of lemon balm (Omit honey if you don’t want it sweet).

 

Once the lemon grass water is boiled I have poured the water into the jug containing tea to brew for 5 min, and then poured it carefully in the tumbler that has honey, juice and lemon balm leaves, taking care no tea leaves or any remains of boiled lemon grass gets into it, stirred it few times so the honey and lemon juices gets mixed with tea . 


Here a delightful lemon flavored pleasant tasting calming herbal drink packed with health and wellness is ready to sip hot or chilled as iced tea to relieve stress, tension and fatigue.



Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis): from the mint family is known for its calming  effects on nerves. Beside being a rich antioxident, researches showed that lemon balm have been used for centuries to reduce anxiety, promote sleep and improve symptoms of indigestion. 



Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus) is a perennial grass also called citronella. Contains very strong antioxident and anti-inflammatory properties. It contains luteolin one of the flavanoids that slows the growth of cancer cells specially in liver, breast cancer. One of its common use and effects is relief of headache. Lemongrass is also a good detox agent, helps the body eliminate toxic substances including cleansing of the kidney, pancreas, liver and bladder.