Tisane (Herbal Tea)

From Wikipedia

A tisane, ptisna, or herbal "tea" is any herbal infusion other than from the leaves of the tea bush (Camellia sinesis). The English word "tisane" originated from the Greek word πτισάνη (ptisanē), a drink made from pearl barley.

Tisanes can be made with fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds, or roots, generally by pouring boiling water over the plant parts and letting them steep for a few minutes. Seeds and roots can also be boiled on a stove. The tisane is then strained, sweetened if so desired, and served. Many companies produce herbal tea bags for such infusions. The term is most often used to refer to linden (lime leaf) tea.

Many blends of real tea are prepared by adding other plants to an actual tea (black, oolong, green, yellow, or white tea); for example, the popular Earl Grey tea is black tea with bergamot. Such preparations are varieties of tea, not tisanes.

Varieties

Varieties of herbal tea include:
Anise tea, made from either the seeds or the leaves.
Roasted barley, known in Japanese as mugicha and Korean as bori cha. The roasted flavor can be reminiscent of coffee (without coffee’s bitterness and caffeine). It is often drunk cold in the summer.
Bissap, consumed in the Sahel.
Cannabis, used in the preparation of Bhang.
Catnip tea is used as a relaxant, sedative and to calm.
Cerasse, a Jamaican bitter herb 1 (Jamaican Bush Tea)
Chamomile tea is used as a sedative. In Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Peter’s mother gives him chamomile tea.
Chrysanthemum tea, made from dried flowers, is popular with Chinese Dim sum.
Citrus peel, including bergamot, lemon and orange peel.
Roasted corn, known in Koreas as oksusu cha.
Echinacea tea, often consumed to prevent or alleviate the cold or flu symptoms.
Essiac tea, a blended Native American herbal tea.
Fennel
Gentian
Ginger root
Ginseng
Greek Mountain Tea (Tsai tou Vounou – Tea of the Mountain), a very popular tea in Greece and other areas of the Mediterranean region. Made from a variety of the Sideritis Syriaca plant which grows in warm climates above 3000 feet. The tea (or more properly Tisane) has a reputation as a cure-all, but is specifically used against colds. Records of its use date back 2000 years.
Hibiscus (often blended with rose hip), a popular tea alternative in the Middle East and is drunk hot or cold. Hibiscus tea is also consumed in Okinawa, where the natives associate Hibiscus tea with longevity. (See Bissap)
Honeybush is related to rooibos and grows in a similar area of South Africa, but tastes slightly sweeter.
Horehound
Jiaogulan
Kava root, from the South Pacific, is popular for its effects in promoting talkativeness and relaxation.
Labrador tea, made from the shrub by the same name, found in the northern part of North America.
Lapacho (also known as Taheebo) is the inner-lining of the bark (or cambium) of the Red or Purple Lapacho Tree which grows in the Brazilian jungles. It is boiled to make an infusion with many and varied health benefits.
Lemon grass
Licorice root
Lime blossom, dried flowers of lime tree (Tilia in Latin).
Lotus flower, from the stamens of Nelumbo nucifera.
Mate (or yerba mate) is a shrub grown mainly in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil from which a caffeinated, tea-like brew is prepared.
Mate de coca (sometimes called "coca tea"), made from coca leaves. Authentic mate de coca contains very small amounts of cocaine and similar alkaloids (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
cmd=Retreive&db=PubMed&list_uids=8819993&dopt=Abstract). In some countries where coca is illegal, products marketed as "coca tea" are supposed to be decocainized, i.e., the pharmacologically active components have been removed.
Mint, especially peppermint (also mixed with green tea to make mint tea)
European mistletoe (Viscum Album), (steep in cold water for 2-6 hours)
Neem leaf
Nettle leaf
Red Raspberry leaf
Toasted rice, known as sungnyung in Korea.
Rooibos (Red Bush) is a reddish plant used to make an infusion and grown in South Africa. In the US it is sometimes called red tea. It has many of the antioxidant benefits of green tea, but because it does not come from tea leaves, it has no theine.
Rose hip (often blended with hibiscus)
Rosemary
Sage
Sassafras
Skullcap
Staghorn Sumac
Stevia can be used to make herbal tea, or as a sweetener in other tisanes.
Thyme
Tulsi
Uncaria tomentosa, commonly known as Cats Claw
Valerian
Vervain
Vetiver
Roasted wheat is used in Postum, a coffee substitute.
Wong Logat a medicinal tea with several herbs
Woodruff
Yarrow
Yuen Kut Lam Kam Wo Tea composed of thirty Chinese herbs, made in Hong Kong.
Tan Ngan Lo Medicated Tea-a herbal concoction formulated by a Chinese immigrant from mainland China in the early 20th century, made in Malaysia.
Ho Yan Hor Herbal Tea-made of a concoction of 24 kinds of all natural herbs ion a cGMP certified manufacturing plant in Malaysia.

Medicinal concerns

Herbal teas are often consumed for their physical or medicinal effects, especially for their stimulant, relaxant, or sedative properties. The medicinal effect of certain herbs is discussed under herbalism. The medicinal benefits of specific herbs are often anecdotal or controversial, and in the United States and elsewhere, makers of herbal teas are not allowed to make unsubstantiated claims about the medicinal effects of their products.

While most herbal teas are safe for regular consumption, some herbs have toxic or allergenic effects. Among the greatest causes of concern are:

Comfrey, which contains alkaloids that can cause permanent liver damage with chronic use.
Lobelia, which contains toxins similar in effect to nicotine.
Pineapple weed, which is sometimes sold as chamomile, is closely related to ragweed and can cause violent allergic reactions in hay fever sufferers, up to and including anaphylactic shock and death.

Herbal teas can also have different effects in different people, and this is further compounded by the problem of potential misidentification. The deadly foxglove, for example, can be mistaken for the much more benign (but still relatively hepatotoxic) comfrey.

Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tisane

Bojenmi Chinese Tea

Bojenmi Tea (Baojianmei Jianfei, Cha; literally, maintain health and nice appearance, reduce fleshiness tea) is a popular product of China that has been used mainly for weight loss for the past twenty years. It is produced under the Egret River Brand of the Xiamen Export Corporation (XMEHECO) in beautiful Xiamen, an island of Fujian Province. This herb formulation is provided in the form of loose tea and easy to use tea bags. The main ingredient is tea leaf from Fujian Province (reported to be 50% of the product contents), which have been shown to help lower blood lipids. An extract of other herbs is sprayed onto the tea leaf to make the finished beverage product, which is prepared by steeping in boiled water for 3-4 minutes.

The other ingredients are:

• Crataegus (shanza)


• Malt (maiya)


• Pharbitis (qianniuzi)


• Pogostemon (huoxiang)


• Hoelen (fuling)


• Citrus (chenpi)


• Alisma (zexie)


• Cassia (juemingzi)


• Phaseolus (chixiaodou)


• Shen-chu (shenqu)


• Raphanus (laifuzi)

These herbs are traditionally used to enhance digestion, remove food stagnation, resolve accumulations pf phlegm and moisture, and provide a slight laxative action. The combination includes the four primary therapeutic actions relied upon by Chinese doctors to promote weight loss and reduce blood lipids. Malt, (barley sprout), shen-chu (fermented wheat with artemisia herb), crataegus (hawthorn fruit), raphanus (radish seed), citrus peel, and pogostemon (patchouli herb) invigorate the digestion of foods in the stomach; hoelen mushroom, cassia (red bean), alisma (water plantain rhizome), citrus, and pogostemon remove excess fluid; cassia (senna seed) and pharbitis (morning glory seed) provide a laxative effect. Crataegus, lisma, and cassia reduce blood lipids. The combination of malt, shen-chu, crataegus and raphanus was shown, in a clinical trial, to alleviate symptoms of abdominal distention, intestinal gurgling, eructation, acid regurgitation and intestinal cramping in patients with sluggish bowel function.

The recommended dosage for Bojenmi Tea is 3-6 grams each time (one tea bag contains 3 grams), to be taken three times daily, thus 9-18 grams of tea leaves carrying the herbal extracts is taken in one day (3-6 tae bags). According to the package information, if no dietary changes are made, one can still lose weight, though it is best to have a low calorie diet for continued weight loss. Bojenmi tea has a mild taste, something like ordinary black tea, with a slight added spicy-bitter taste. A small amount of sugar (or other sweetener) can be added to alter the taste, if desired.

A story about the value of ordinary green tea in removing fat was told this way: “In the Chinese restaurants, to clean up the spilled greasy food left after a meal, some of the remaining tea is poured onto the table top and then the grease dissolves and is easily cleaned up.” Chinese physicians point out also that alisma counteracts the “greasy quality” of herbs; because of this property, it was thought to reduce excess grease (fat) in the body, which has since been found to be true, based on laboratory and clinical evaluations.

Baojenmi Tea is a derivative of the traditional formula Baohe Wan (maintain harmony pill) a prescription of Zhu Danxi, originally recorded in Danxi Xinfa (The Fundamental Methods of Zhu Danxi; 1481 A.D.) This formula, available also as a patent remedy, contains the following ingredients in common with Baojenmi Tea: crataegus, shen-chu, raphanus, citrus, hoelen, and malt. The traditional formula was indicated for treating stagnant food, eructation, diarrhea, and thick coating on the tongue, indicating the phlegm excess resulting from food stagnation related to overeating. Bojenmi Tea treats the same conditions as Baohe Wan. It contains a small amount of mild laxatives, so that it can treat constipation, but it will still alleviate diarrhea that occurs from overeating and impaired digestive functions. In addition to rectifying the digestive disturbance that leads to accumulation of fat and water with resulting weight gain, it also helps conduct out excess fats from the blood.

Baojenmi Tea has its origin in the coastal island city of Xiamen, known as Egret Island, because of the many egrets that used to ride there; the river is called Egret River, inspiring the brand name for this product. Xiamen is also known as the Garden of the Sea and the Green Island, because of its luxuriant plant life.

People began to settle on this island during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). During the Ming Dynasty, it came to be called Xiamen, meaning that it was a gate (men) to the grand mansion (xia) of the mainland. Today’s Xiamen, with a population of over one million, is a famous scenic and historic spot, and has become well-known as commercial center. There were countless ships and boats sailing in and out of the port there. Since 1980, when Xiamen was opened as a special economic zone, skyscrapers and new factories sprung up, including production and export of Bojenmi Tea, which won an award in France in 1986.


Article Retrieved from www.itmonline.org/jintu

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