Anise tea is a fragrant and unique drink that can be enjoyed year-round. It is filled with many nutrients and is good for your health. What are its advantages? Is it really useful to everyone, or is it capable of harming some?
What is he like?
Anise plant is a wild grass. Seeds (fruits), oil, sometimes leaf and root are used to produce drugs.
Anise is used to treat indigestion, intestinal gas, runny nose, and as an expectorant to enhance productive cough. It is used both as a diuretic and as an appetite stimulant. At the same time, women use anise to increase milk flow during feeding, to establish menstruation, to cure menstrual discomfort or pain, to facilitate labor and increase sexual desire. Men use this plant to treat the symptoms of male menopause. Other options include treating seizures, nicotine addiction, sleep problems (insomnia), asthma, and constipation.
In food, this plant is used as a flavoring. It has a sweet taste reminiscent of black licorice. Most often, the seed is used in liquors and alcohols, as well as in jelly, dairy products, sweets, meat and breath fresheners. Anise (dried seeds), which is added to various dishes, is also widespread.
In industrial production, anise is often used as a flavoring in soap, creams and perfumes.
What is this tea?
Anise tea is an herbal drink made from the seeds and leaves of a plant, which is scientifically called Pimpinella anisum. Anise has been grown and widely used in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region for millennia, both as a culinary ingredient and as an element of traditional medicine. As a medicinal component, it is used in the form of tea, less often - seed essential oil.
Anise has a very recognizable taste, similar to licorice, tarragon and fennel, and although this makes it unattractive to some people, it remains widely popular.
Benefits of Anise Drink
What is anise tea good for? The most important health benefits of the drink are alleviation of digestive problems, treatment of cough, asthma and sore throats, increase immunity, stimulate appetite and alleviate inflammatory conditions.
For digestion
One of the oldest reasons for drinking anise tea is its mild laxative. Drink this drink as soon as you begin to observe a violation of the stool. It will help to quickly stimulate movements in the colon and relieve symptoms of constipation.
Relieves inflammation
Aniseed tea contains a number of active ingredients and anti-inflammatory components that make it soothing and relaxing (both psychologically and physically). Therefore, it is recommended to use it in conditions such as arthritis, gout, headaches and the effects of injuries.
Improves the immune system
Due to the presence of powerful antiviral and antibacterial components in the seeds, a cup of this tea provides excellent stimulation of the immune system in addition to the various antioxidants contained in this drink. It can be especially useful in the midst of an influenza epidemic and SARS.
Treats respiratory diseases
Functioning as an expectorant and anti-inflammatory, anise tea can alleviate any airway irritation, relieve coughing and soothe sore throat, and also neutralize the underlying infection or pathogen that causes these symptoms. Therefore, the drink is used for colds, along with a decoction of licorice.
For lactation
Although the use of any herbal medicine during pregnancy or breastfeeding should be careful, there is strong evidence that aniseed tea can increase milk production and lactation. Therefore, even doctors recommend it.
Stimulates appetite
There is plenty of unofficial evidence that aniseed tea can help stimulate appetite. In doing so, it helps people who recover from surgery or illness and are suffering from an eating disorder.
Maintains hormonal balance
Anise has the ability to regulate hormonal fluctuations in the body, helping to establish many processes, from sleep problems to PMS. A drink from it can even stimulate menstruation.
Some scientific studies show that taking a specific product containing anise, saffron and celery seeds reduces the severity and intensity of pain on certain days of the menstrual cycle.
How else can it be useful?
According to reviews of anise tea, it helps to make you feel better with a number of diseases. Some of the properties attributed to it are not scientifically confirmed, but at the same time it is still actively used in traditional medicine. In particular, a drink from a plant is used for the following diseases and conditions:
- Asthma. It is believed that the use of 1 cup of tea, containing anise, saffron, German chamomile, fennel, licorice, caraway and cardamom reduces cough and discomfort during sleep in people with allergic asthma.
- Lice. Older studies have suggested that using anise, coconut, and ylang-ylang oil when applied to the scalp can help get rid of lice.
- Scabies.
- Psoriasis.
- Cramps.
However, more evidence is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of using anise for these purposes.
Side Effects and Safety
Anise is absolutely safe for most adults when ingested in quantities that are usually found in foods. However, there are special precautions that must be observed:
- Pregnancy and lactation. Anise is generally safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women when used as tea. However, it is not known whether it can be consumed in large quantities, so the main thing is to observe moderation.
- Childhood. Anise is generally considered safe for most children. It can be used both in the form of tea, and as an external remedy. However, moderation also does not hurt, since the child's body may not respond to the plant in the best way.
- Allergy. Anise can cause allergic reactions in some cases. If you are allergic to plants such as asparagus, caraway seeds, celery, coriander, dill and fennel, it is best to refrain from using it.
- A hormone-sensitive condition (for example, cancer of the breast, uterus, ovaries, uterine fibroids, or endometriosis). In this case, anise may act as estrogen. If you have any conditions that may worsen from exposure to estrogen, do not consume anise.
How to make tea from this plant?
Making anise tea at home is quite simple and requires only dried seeds. You can also make decoctions or tinctures with dried leaves or fresh seeds. The preparation of the drink is as follows:
- Crush star anise seeds, but do not crush them into powder.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and put a handful of crushed seeds in a tea cup.
- Allow the mixture to brew for 10-12 minutes, allowing you to release as many active ingredients as possible.
- If desired, strain the anise seeds, although they should remain at the bottom of the cup.