Instead of the usual black tea, I wanted to create more of a therapeutic tea made from Burdock root, green tea, hibiscus and stinging nettle. Once you have all the ingredients in hand, this is easy to pull together a wonderful, healthy cup of hot tea.
Tea Ingredients:
- Burdock root is very high in anti-inflammatories, high in antioxidants and anti-bacterial. It is great for the skin and can even be used topically for acne and eczema. It also addresses high blood pressure, protects the liver and improves kidney function (it helps them do their jobs), cancer fighting, aids in cholesterol and reduces LDL. Further, it helps with gout, sciatica, calms stomach issues, and assists in inflammatory bowel distress. Burdock root is a bitter tea, more so than green tea. The astringent qualities are very healing in an overall diet. It is similar and not unlike adding bitter foods, like bitter greens for digestion into the diet.
- Green tea has a lot of the same characteristics as burdock root with a few additions. It boosts metabolism and mood and helps with weight management.
- Hibiscus tea has a light floral lightly sweet taste and is a beautiful color of reddish pink. It is reputed to also help with high blood pressure. Very high in Vitamin C, it has other similar properties to the burdock root tea and green tea. You could also substitute blue butterfly tea if you have it. It is a beautiful blue tea also very high in vitamin C.
- Stinging nettle tea is a gentle diuretic and helps flush toxins, supports eye health, inhibits oxidative stress, urinary track, addresses prostate inflammation, arthritis, blood sugar and is high in polyphenols. It may help breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Black tea has benefits as well, but I was trying to boost the flavor and the nutrition a bit and find a way to implement the lesser known benefits of burdock root into the diet.
To brew, I use a big herbal tea pot recommended from a Chinese medicine practitioner. It is so much easier and it generally and naturally strains the bits of tea flakes and bits as I pour a large cup from the spout. (Then you don’t need to buy the large oversized tea bags that look like small pillows. In absence of this, you can use a large metal saucepan or some other teapot to steep the tea.)
Instructions:
Fill pot with water
2+ heaping tbsp. of organic (e.g., Mountain Rose Herbs) burdock root in bulk
4 bags of organic hibiscus tea
4+ tbsp. best organic green tea in bulk you can find
3 tbsp of stinging nettle tea
Bring water and tea to just under a boil and let sit until it is a desired dark strength, like a black tea (about 5 minutes) allowing the herbs to steep. To one large mug of tea, (don’t fool around, pour a good-sized cup!) add:
- 1 heaping tbsp. SugaVidaTM Turmeric Latte
1 tbsp. of SugaVidaTM Palmyra Tree Blossom Sugar - AND…1/2 tsp of Midwest Mermaid Muse’s SeaShroom Beverage Booster
(Cacao or original) - Optional: For a bit of a savory and earthy hint of flavor, add 1 tsp of Midwest Mermaid Muse’s Land & SEAsoning to cup
- Add a splash of favorite style of milk if desired. Chai usually has some sort of milk added for creaminess. That can be your choice. I prefer most of the time to skip the carbs.
Sip and savor with happy healing thoughts for a “Mindful Mouthful” reminder for making better choices with very little effort (unless you can get someone to make it for you!).
Notes:
Before adding the SugaVidaTM and the other additives, any leftover tea can also be used as a liquid addition to smoothies to increase benefits. SugaVida products are available at: https://miraclenoodle.com/
The recipe could also have this pumpkin spice added for Thanksgiving, here’s how you can make your own batch of pumpkin spice:
https://drlowdog.com/spices-heal-closer-look-pumpkin-spice
Kathleen Foland
The Midwest Mermaid Muse