Why should you drink Lavender tea?

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Have you ever looked at a lavender flower? Did it anytime occur to you that tea can be made from lavender flower buds? It is surprising and amazing at the same time. Lavender is a beautiful flowering plant, with a lovely eye soothing purple color and aroma. The extracts from the flowers are used to make soaps, essential oils, and teas. This beautiful floral plant can calm down your soul with its astounding health benefits.

Lavender green tea is made from the dried buds of Lavandula angustifolia and is a typical form of herbal tea. It helps in soothing excited nerves promoting peaceful sleep, reduces swelling, and promotes improved functioning of your immune system. Lavender tea even detoxifies your entire system by flushing out all the harmful unwanted wastes. It supports proper digestive functioning and aids in improved respiratory functions.

You will find this plant in the native Mediterranean region, along with northern Africa and southern Europe. Nowadays you may see the cultivation of this plant worldwide, mostly in the United States. You will most commonly witness the prevalence of lavender plant in household gardens. From the garden, you can easily pluck the buds for making exotic lavender tea. You may often find the presence of lavender extract in various cosmetics, beauty and other body care products. Why do you think lavender is a part of beauty products? Lavender extract prevents loss of hair, boosts your cellular wellbeing, as well as protects your skin texture and tone.

What are the advantages of lavender tea?

  1. Improves your sleeping cycles.

Lavender tea has a surprisingly calming effect on your nervous system. It triggers your brain cells by facilitating the release of certain chemicals called neurotransmitters, to ease brain functioning at rest. Lavender tea specifically boosts the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which brings down the level of cortisol (stress hormone).

  1. Says ‘no’ to inflammation.

Lavender tea contains very rich levels of anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, it can easily reduce inflammation as well as prevent the chances of severe ailments. Inflammation can lead to serious health disorders like cardiovascular diseases. Heart attacks are very common, in terms of inflammation-induced ailments. When your arteries swell up, blood clots easily form within them restricting the free flow of blood. Drinking lavender tea can reduce such serious risks like cardiac arrests. It also helps you evade pain due to swelling in your joints and muscles, soothing muscular spasms.

  1. Boosts your immunity.

Lavender tea is a rich source of various antibacterial compounds and antioxidants. Not only that, supporting nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, vitamin C can keep you away from-

  • Flu
  • Common cold
  • Bacterial, viral, fungal, and other pathogenic infections
  1. Removes toxins from your body.

As water helps in detoxification, lavender tea works in the same way in flushing out toxic elements from your body. If unwanted waste remains in your body for a long time, it will pose serious health threats. Sometimes you may not feel like drinking regular water for hydrating and detoxifying your body. In that case, you can say ‘yes’ to lavender tea as it effectively removes all toxic compounds from your system. Antioxidants present in lavender tea can reduce the oxidative stress of your cells. Oxidative stress or generation of free radicals often happen due to exposure to smoking, dirt or pollutants acting as xenobiotic. Reducing oxidative stress, in turn, reduces the risk of cancer and unwanted acceleration of aging.

  1. Improves digestion.

Lavender tea can help you get rid of digestive problems like constipation, diarrhea and associated nausea and vomiting. Anti-inflammatory effects of lavender tea ensure that your stomach muscles are relaxed, thereby alleviating stomach cramps. The beautiful aroma of lavender tea acts as a stimulus for bile production, promoting the efficient breakdown of foods. Certain antispasmodic effects also aid in preventing gas formation, bloating, and indigestion.

How to prepare proper lavender tea?

To make authentic lavender tea, you need to first take 8 ounces of filtered or spring water in a large saucepan. Bring the water to boil and keep it aside. In a cup, place a tea infuser and add 2 tablespoons of dried flower or fresh lavender buds.

Pour the boiled water in it, and let the lavender extract steep into the infusion for around 10 minutes. The more you keep the flowers or buds infused, the greater will be the aroma and flavor of the tea. Take a fresh strainer and remove the flowers and tea infuser. To add other flavors to your lavender tea, you may use flavorings like lemon, honey or sugar.

Side effects and dosage:

Anything that is not taken in the suggested amount can prove to be a health threat. The same theory applies for lavender tea as well. When you are taking lavender tea or using its essential oils, you need to take care of the ideal dosage. Take to a certified aromatherapist before you expose your body to lavender oils and teas. What if you are allergic to it? You would never know if you have never tried lavender extracts, for any sort of brew or topical application.

Certain negative possibilities may include:

  • Hormonal imbalance- In a lot of studies, you will find that lavender is associated with gynecomastia. This disorder involves the growth of breast tissues in males before hitting puberty. Another study shows that if you are pregnant, it is not quite suggested to consume lavender tea. Certain phytochemicals within lavender tea have the ability to mimic estrogen, a female reproductive hormone. So if you are really interested in drinking lavender tea while breastfeeding or pregnancy, always consult a doctor.
  • Allergies- It can be a possibility that you are allergic to lavender flowers. In that case, you can really not opt for lavender tea even if you wish to. If you are sensitive to the flower, you may develop rashes, breathing issues or throat irritation.

Essentials oils of lavender are very much concentrated, which means one drop can contain many pounds of infused flower buds. To check if you are coming across any negative effects, you should first try out smaller doses of lavender extract.