Fight Inflammation, Weight Gain, and Disease with This Delicious Tea
Inflammation is the body’s normal response to invaders. When harmful substances enter our body, the immune system reacts to create an inflammatory response that helps protect us from infections and diseases. However, chronic inflammation is a whole other ball game. When we’re chronically inflamed, the body starts to attack healthy cells, making us more susceptible to issues like weight gain, fatigue, bloating, and a number of other serious health conditions. Luckily, supplementing our diet with natural, anti-inflammatory foods is a great way to nix inflammation and restore our good health. Enter raspberry leaf tea.
While it comes from the same plant that gives us those sweet, delicious berries, raspberry leaf tea tastes more like black tea than the red fruit. And while it’s most often touted for boosting female fertility, solving menstrual issues like cramping and heavy bleeding, and improving contractions in the later stages of pregnancy, drinking it can be beneficial for a woman of any age! Read on to find out about the many benefits this delicious sip has to offer.
The Benefits of Raspberry Leaf Tea
Raspberry leaf tea is rich in a few key vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It contains high amounts of B vitamins which impact our energy levels, brain function, and metabolism. It also boasts a hefty dose of vitamin C, which affects our immune system and helps us maintain healthy skin, blood vessels, bones, and cartilage.
On top of that, this powerful brew is rich in important minerals like potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron. Potassium, which is considered an electrolyte, helps us maintain fluid balance in the body while promoting good heart and nervous system health. Magnesium, another electrolyte, is involved in hundreds of biological processes that affect protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood sugar control, and blood pressure regulation. Phosphorous helps us build — and keep! — healthy bones and teeth. It also influences how the body uses carbohydrates and fats. And last but not least, iron — which many women are deficient in — helps our bodies make hemoglobin, a protein in blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body.
Raspberry leaf tea also contains antioxidant plant compounds called tannins and flavonoids, which fight oxidative damage to our cells that cause chronic inflammation and other serious health conditions like heart disease, autoimmune disease, and even cancer.
Foods that fight inflammation are a crucial part of any weight loss diet, since inflammation causes pounds to pack on. On top of that, raspberry leaf tea is also a natural diuretic, which means that it helps the body get rid of excess sodium (salt) through urination, which has a deflating effect on our tummies! What’s not to love about that?
So do yourself a favor this summer — brew up a delicious cup (or jug!) of raspberry leaf tea — but always talk to your doctor first. Some side effects have been reported with use of raspberry leaf tea, such as loose stools (it can act as a mild laxative) and increased urination.
You can buy raspberry leaf tea bags at your local health food store or online. To brew, simply steep your tea bag in hot water for three minutes, or to your liking. You can serve your tea hot or iced, sweetened or unsweetened! For one we love, try these tea bags from FGO (Buy on Amazon, $14.99).
Love boosting your health with tea? Then you need to try this one made from cinnamon and bay leaves!
This article originally appeared on our sister site, First For Women.
