Drinking tea is a traditional Chinese custom and social etiquette that has existed since ancient times. The difference between health teas and regular tea lies in their greater emphasis on the health-preserving and wellness effects of tea. Moreover, most health teas are made in the form of tea to exert the effects of medicine. Teas that contain tea, Chinese herbs, or ingredients that are both food and medicine, all made for the purpose of health preservation, are collectively referred to as health teas. This health tea is meticulously blended with green tea, lophatherum, and lotus flower. It has a high fragrance, mellow taste, and rich color. After drinking, it leaves a light and elegant fragrance, clears heat and quenches thirst, and refreshes the mind. It is an ideal natural health beverage.
I. Nourishing Blood for a Healthy Complexion: Longan and Red Date Tea
Ingredients: 100g red dates, 50g longan.
Method: Place all ingredients in 1000g of water, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it steep for 10 minutes.
Office Secret: Place all ingredients in a thermos, pour in 1000g of boiling water, and let it steep for 20 minutes.
Effects: Has the effects of nourishing the heart to calm the mind, nourishing yin and enriching the blood. Suitable for women who are weak and frequently ill, suffer from palpitations and insomnia, or have a sallow complexion.
II. Beauty, Qi-Boosting, and Skin-Moistening: Red Date Fermented Rice Tea
Drink black tea to prevent the flu
In winter, black tea is the best choice. Black tea is sweet and warm, and can nourish the body's yang energy. Black tea is rich in protein and sugar, which generates heat to warm the abdomen, enhances the body's ability to resist cold, and also aids digestion and removes greasiness. In some parts of China, it is also customary to drink black tea with sugar, milk, and sesame, which can not only generate heat and warm the abdomen but also add nutrition and strengthen the body.
III. When You Have "Heatiness," Turn to Green Tea
The winter climate is dry, and people tend to eat greasy and spicy foods, making "heatiness" a common health problem for many, leading to constipation, dry mouth and throat, and even mouth sores. At this time, you can turn to green tea for help. Green tea is unfermented, has a cold nature, and can clear heat. Therefore, it is best for reducing "heatiness," promoting saliva production to quench thirst, aiding digestion and resolving phlegm. It also has an effect on accelerating the healing of mild gastric ulcers, lowering blood lipids, and preventing vascular sclerosis. Therefore, people who are prone to "heatiness," often smoke and drink, and those who are overweight (generally with excess-heat body constitution) are more suitable for drinking green tea. However, people with weak and cold stomachs should not drink green tea.
IV. For a Dry Mouth and Throat, Oolong Tea is the Answer
Oolong tea is a semi-fermented tea, falling between green and black tea in terms of fermentation, with a bluish-brown color, hence it is also called "green tea." In terms of taste, oolong tea has the fresh fragrance and natural floral notes of green tea, as well as the mellow taste of black tea. It is neither too cold nor too hot, but moderately warm. Therefore, it has the effects of moisturizing the skin, soothing the throat, promoting saliva production, and clearing internal heat, allowing the body to adapt to changes in the natural environment. In winter, indoor air is often dry, and people easily suffer from a dry mouth, throat, and chapped lips. At this time, brewing a cup of oolong tea can relieve the discomfort of dryness. Additionally, oolong tea has a good effect in breaking down proteins and fats, preventing fat accumulation in the liver, and for those who fear gaining weight in winter, oolong tea also has a certain weight-loss effect.
V. For Depression, Try Flower Tea
Flower teas include jasmine tea, magnolia tea, osmanthus tea, rose tea, etc., which are made by scenting green tea bases with different fragrant flowers. Generally, flower teas can nourish the liver and gallbladder, strengthen the limbs, and unblock the meridians. Taking jasmine tea as an example, it can clear heat and relieve summer heat, strengthen the spleen and calm the mind, and has good effects on treating dysentery and preventing stomach pain. Honeysuckle tea, on the other hand, can clear heat and detoxify, refresh the mind and quench thirst, and has a relatively ideal effect on treating sore throat and preventing the flu. Therefore, it is appropriate to choose flower teas in winter, especially for women who are prone to depression and irritability during and around menopause, drinking flower tea can be a good way to alleviate these feelings.
Osmanthus Tea to Suppress Depression
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that osmanthus has significant medicinal value. The ancients said that osmanthus is the "chief of a hundred medicines," so wine made from osmanthus can achieve the effect of "drinking it for a thousand years of life." Osmanthus is warm in nature and pungent in taste, entering the lung and large intestine meridians. When taken as a decoction, tea, or infused wine, it has the effects of warming the middle jiao to dispel cold, warming the stomach to relieve pain, and resolving phlegm and stasis. It has certain therapeutic effects for poor appetite, phlegm-cough, hemorrhoids, dysentery, and menstrual pain with abdominal cramps. Many gastric patients experience a cold and painful feeling in winter, and drinking some osmanthus tea at this time can effectively relieve these symptoms.
Method: In autumn, harvest osmanthus flowers before they bloom. Wash the flowers and dry them in the shade, then seal and store them. You can add them to tea to brew. When drinking, use about seven to ten flowers, add an appropriate amount of black tea and brown sugar, and steep with hot water.
Qi-Boosting and Mind-Refreshing: Ginseng and Red Date Tea. Ingredients: 5 red dates; 1 qian (approx. 3g) of American ginseng. Method: Place the red dates in 350g of boiling water and simmer for 3 minutes on low heat. Place the ginseng slices in a cup, pour in the red date water, cover, and let it steep for 10 minutes. Office Secret: Place all ingredients in a thermos, pour in 350g of boiling water, and let it steep for 20 minutes. Effects: Can supplement the qi and also nourish the blood. Clears heat and promotes the production of body fluids. Used for qi deficiency and yin depletion with internal heat.
Relieving Menstrual Pain: Motherwort and Brown Sugar Tea. Ingredients: 1 qian (approx. 3g) motherwort; 1 qian (approx. 3g) Cyperus rotundus; appropriate amount of brown sugar. Method: Place motherwort and Cyperus rotundus in 500g of boiling water, simmer for 5 minutes on low heat, and add an appropriate amount of brown sugar. Office Secret: Place all ingredients in a thermos, pour in 500g of boiling water, and let it steep for 30 minutes. Effects: Has the effects of activating blood circulation, removing stasis, regulating menstruation, and reducing edema. Motherwort can promote the rapid recovery of local blood microcirculation disorders.
Mint and Licorice Tea
Effects: Relieves fever and dryness, has a cooling and detoxifying effect, and has a remarkable effect in preventing colds. Ingredients: More than 10 fresh mint leaves, 5g licorice, 5g green tea, 10g ginseng. Method: Use 500mg of boiling water to steep for 10 minutes, then filter out the dregs. Add an appropriate amount of sugar, mix well, and drink. Take once in the morning and once in the evening.