Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

World’s Most Popular Healer

Family: Theaceae; (includes Camellia)

Genus and Species: Camellia Sinensis

Also known as: Green Tea, Black Tea

Parts used: Leaves

Tea is the world’s second most popular beverage (after water) and the world’s most widely used herbal medicine. Most people drink it as a mild stimulant, but this herb also may help treat diarrhea, prevent tooth decay, and act as a bronchial decongestant.

Tea Time Goes Way Back

Tea has been used in Chinese medicine for at least 3,000 years to treat headache, diarrhea, dysentery, colds, cough, asthma, and other respiratory problems.

By the 8th century, it was a favorite in India and Indonesia.

The Dutch East India Company first brought it to Holland in 1610, and by 1640, black tea had become popular with the English upper class. They drank it as an afternoon stimulant around 4 o’clock, which is still known as tea time.

The Chinese called black tea pekho, and the British adopted the term as pekoe. They considered the beverage so divine, they named it tea from the Greek thea, meaning goddess.

Tough Time for Tea

Demand for tea spurred England’s colonization of India, Ceylon, and Hong Kong. By the late 18th century, tea was an integral part of English culture, and around the world, the English simply would not tolerate any threat to their tea supply. In 1773, the British Parliament levied a tax on tea imported into her North American colonies. Outraged by this price hike, the residents of Massachusetts rioted. They stormed tea ships in Boston harbor and dumped enormous quantities of the herb overboard. The Boston Tea Party helped trigger the American Revolution.

In Europe and North America, tea has always been used primarily as a stimulant beverage. Herbalists also adopted all of its Chinese medical uses. Folk healers still recommend tea for headache, diarrhea, colds, coughs, and respiratory problems.

Ironically, few contemporary herbals even mention the world’s most popular Healing herb. In fact, most people don’t even consider tea an herb. They typically ask, “Would you like coffee, tea, or herbal tea?” Of course, coffee and tea are herbs, so all these beverages are herbal teas.

Tea contains three stimulant chemicals-caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline-that help account for scme of its uses in herbal Healing.

Colds, Congestion, Asthma - All the stimulants in tea are bronchodilators that ease breathing by opening the bronchial passages, thus supporting its traditional use in respiratory problems. Physicians often prescribe pharmaceutical preparations of theophylline to treat asthma.
‘
Diarrhea - Tea contains astringent tannins, which help account for its binding action in diarrhea.

Tooth Decay - Tea is also a good source of fluoride, which helps prevent tooth decay. Both green and black teas contain more fluoride than fluoridated water, according to a report published in the University of California, Berkeley, WeI/ness Letter. The tannins in tea also may help fight the bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Radiation - Among the tannins in tea are substances called catechins that may help prevent tissue damage from radiation. One study shows tea helps keep radioactive strontium 90 out of bone marrow. This means it may help prevent cancer in people who have been exposed to nuclear fallout and some experiments show tea helps prevent leukemia in animats exposed to radiation.

Intriguing Possibility - Coffee may raise cholesterol, but an animal study published in the Journal of Nutrition Science shows tea may [ower it The herb may have a similar effect in people.

Tannins have some antiviral action, and Chinese reports claim tea helps treat hepatatis. Hepatitis is a serious disease that requires professional care, but during convalescence, tea does no harm, and it might do some good.

Rx for Tea

For a pleasantly bitter infusion that may prevent tooth decay, help ease breathing, or help treat diarrhea, use 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried herb per cup of boiling water. Steep 10 to 15 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day.

Weak tea preparations may be given cautiously to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

A cup of tea contains about half as much caffeine as a cup of brewed coffee. Caffeine is a classically addictive drug that causes nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, and many other potentially problematic effects.

Many studies show tannins have both pro- and anti-cancer effects. Tannins’ role in human cancers, if any, remains unclear; however, population studies show unusually high rates of throat cancer among some peoples who drink large amounts of tea. On the other hand, the tea-loving British show no increased risk of throat cancer. Authorities generally agree that the British custom of adding milk to tea exerts a protective effect. The milk neutralizes the tannins. So you might want to do as the Brits do-take your tea with milk.

Other Cautions

For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults, tea is considered safe in amounts typically recommended.

Caffeine has been linked, however, to an increased risk of birth defects. Pregnant women should not consume it. Large amounts of tea may cause gastrointestinal upsets.

Tea should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If tea causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Always Imported

Tea is not a garden herb in North America. It is cultivated primarily in India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Tea is a small evergreen tree that grows to 30 feet in the wild. In cultivation, however, it is pruned into a bushy shrub. Its leaves are processed into both green and black (pekoe) tea. Green tea is simply the dried leaf. Black tea is dried and then fermented.