Some people insist on drinking some dried flower tea with the function of clearing heat and detoxifying every day to nourish their appearance and maintain health. However, relevant experts remind that some dried flower teas have pharmacological properties and certain toxic side effects, and should not be consumed arbitrarily.
Professor Mei Qianyin from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine introduced that some women heard that drinking dried flower tea not only invigorates blood to regulate menstruation and improves complexion, but also clears heat and detoxifies. So, they prepared their own honeysuckle, rose, and chrysanthemum, with a daily consumption reaching 2500 milliliters. To their surprise, not only did their complexion not improve, but they also experienced symptoms of continuous menstrual bleeding, forcing them to seek gynecological treatment. Doctors analyzed that these adverse symptoms were largely caused by drinking large amounts of dried flowers. Dried flower teas have pharmacological properties and are suitable for specific populations and must be consumed under medical guidance. For example, "Shuanghua" (a combination of flowers) has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, reducing swelling, and relieving pain, but it should not be commonly used by those with weak spleen and stomach. Safflower has the effect of invigorating blood to resolve stasis, but improper use can lead to continuous menstrual bleeding or cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It can especially cause miscarriage in pregnant women. Rose has the effect of invigorating blood to regulate menstruation, but improper use can cause continuous menstrual bleeding. Honeysuckle has the effect of reducing swelling and relieving pain, but it is not suitable for common use by those with a weak spleen and stomach. Chrysanthemum is not very suitable for people with a yang-deficient constitution.
From the perspective of whether they are beneficial to the human body, flowers can be divided into four categories. The first category is flowers that are beneficial and harmless to the human body, such as chrysanthemum. The second category is poisonous flowers, such as peony flowers, which should absolutely not be used. The third category is flowers that are neither beneficial nor harmful, and are only for ornamental purposes. The fourth category is flowers that can be used as medicine for specific indications, such as Chinese rose, lotus, and rose. For flowers that can be used as medicine, they should only be used for specific symptoms under a doctor's guidance after a certain disease has developed. "All medicine has some toxicity," so flowers cannot be arbitrarily consumed as health drinks. Eating and drinking flowers should be done "for specific symptoms" under a doctor's guidance.
In addition, people's constitutions vary individually, with distinctions between deficiency and excess, cold and heat. The ancient Chinese medical book "Compendium of Materia Medica" clearly states that all flowers are of a cold nature. Women belong to the yin category, and yin is cold. This means that cold-natured medicine treats hot diseases, and people with a cold constitution should not drink too much flower tea, unless other medicinal materials are added. For example: add goji berries to chrysanthemum tea; add a few drops of red wine to rose tea; add licorice to osmanthus tea. In short, do not drink a single type of flower tea, otherwise, women drinking too much will become physically weak, which can easily lead to allergies, coughing, or increased vaginal discharge.
For pregnant women, there are even more taboos. Teas made from ginseng, Job's tears, red dates, angelica, cassia seed, rose, mint, chrysanthemum, jasmine, etc., may increase uterine contractions or bleeding, so they should not be consumed in large quantities. Aloe vera, raspberry, angelica, saffron, cowitch, black cohosh, water celery seeds, cinnamon, hyssop, fern, datura, rosemary, tansy, etc., also have the effect of stimulating the uterus or invigorating blood, and are similarly not suitable for pregnant women. Black or green tea can prevent cancer, but during pregnancy, the fetus is in a period of cell differentiation and growth, so it is better to drink less.