Editor’s note: This content is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any illness. If you have any health condition, see a licensed healthcare professional in person.
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You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing about matcha tea. This potent little green powder has taken the health and fitness sector by storm in the west and is being added to all kinds of foods and drinks.
But matcha isn’t the only top tea out there, far from it. In fact, there are many teas in a similar position to matcha, teas that are huge in one or two countries but have yet to be discovered by the rest of the world. These are the super teas of the future, the ones you’ll be hearing about as soon as our obsession for matcha, turmeric, and acai berries fades and is replaced by the next big thing.
4. Sideritis Scardica Tea
Also known as Greek mountain tea, Sideritis is a tea enjoyed through Greece and the Balkans, where it grows on mountainsides. It has been consumed for hundreds, if not thousands of years and was mentioned in many early Greek medical texts.
The greatest doctors and scholars in history, including Hippocrates and Aristotle, spoke about the apparent miraculous benefits of this super tea and after a couple thousand years, those benefits are being rediscovered by modern scientists.
Sideritis scardica is one of the healthiest teas on the planet and could help with everything from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to digestive distress and more. It also tastes great, with a fresh and fragrant flavour that is enjoyable both hot and cold, especially with a little honey.
Greeks drink Sideritis when they have a cold or the flu; they turn to it when they have headaches and migraines, or when they just feel a little under the weather. It is considered a cure-all, a panacea, and they swear by it. The best thing is that many of these claims have been backed by peer-reviewed studies, suggesting that it really is as healthy and as amazing as the Ancient Greeks believed.
3. Dandelion Tea
This may seem like a strange inclusion, but bear with us on this, because while the dandelion is a weed that many of you are eager to get rid of, it’s also a very healthy and misunderstood plant. Dandelion leaves form a major part of many healthy diets, including the Mediterranean diet, where they are consumed with lots of lemon and oil in a dish known as Horta.
They are packed with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant compounds and they can also help with weight loss and water retention. Dandelions have also been linked with pain reduction, specifically in sufferers of inflammatory conditions like IBS and arthritis.
All these benefits and more can be found in a strong cup of dandelion tea. Dandelion coffee has become popular lately and this provides some of those benefits, but due to the processing involved and the fact that only the root is used, it simply isn’t as effective as a tea made from the leaves and the root.
The main purpose of dandelion coffee is to provide a naturally caffeine-free alternative to coffee and it serves that purpose perfectly. If you want a healthy drink, however, then get your hands on some dandelion tea instead.
2. Cistus Incanus Tea
Cistus has received a lot of attention in recent years as it has been linked with a plethora of health benefits. Cistus Incanus may help with lyme disease and is also a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.
Cistus is even rarer than Sideritis at the moment, but that seems to be changing as more people discover these benefits and try the tea for themselves. It’s not widely available in the US or even in Europe, but there are a few leading herbal tea suppliers that stock it and you can also buy it direct from suppliers in southern Europe, as well as the Middle East and parts of North Africa.
Cistus is also a beautiful plant and as a result it has become very popular with gardeners. If you’re looking for something that is relatively easy to grow, looks great and can produce a healthy crop, it’s worth considering.
1. Chamomile Tea
The benefits of chamomile are already well known, to an extent. This tea is often consumed for its relaxing properties and it’s said to aid with a relaxing sleep. These benefits of chamomile are backed by science, but they are far from the only ones.
In fact, the most notable benefits of chamomile concern its soothing effect on the gut and its ability to reduce pain and balance blood sugar. It’s a true super tea, and it’s also widely available and relatively cheap. Organic varieties are best, but it’s worth noting that these varieties can contain the odd bug as a controlled release of bugs is used to protect the fragile organic crop.
Chamomile isn’t a tea you should leave for when you’re feeling a little stressed or overworked; it’s one that you should look to consume all day long, one that can alleviate your anxiety, soothe digestive distress and even help with those abdominal aches and pains.
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This content is sponsored by Michael J. Smith.
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