Herbal tea

Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions and less commonly^[2] called tisanes (UK and US /tɪˈzæn/, US also /tɪˈzɑːn/),^[3] are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Oftentimes herb tea, or the plain term tea, is used as a reference to all sorts of herbal teas. Many herbs used in teas/tisanes are also used in herbal medicine. Some herbal blends contain actual tea (e.g., the Indian classic masala chai).

Steeping "Hibiscus Delight", made from hibiscus flowers, rose hips, orange peel, green tea, and red raspberry leaf^[1]

The term "herbal" tea is often used in contrast to traditionally caffeinated teas (e.g., black, green, white, yellow, oolong), which are prepared from the cured leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Unlike true teas (which are also available decaffeinated), most tisanes do not naturally contain caffeine.^[4][5] There are a number of plants, however, that do contain caffeine or another stimulant, like theobromine, cocaine or ephedrine. Some have the opposite effect, acting as a sedative. Some common infusions have specific names such as mate (yerba mate) and rooibos (red bush).

Etymology

 

Herbal tea in a glass teapot and cup

Some feel^{[clarification needed]} that the term tisane is more correct than herbal tea or that the latter is even misleading, but most dictionaries record that the word tea is also used to refer to other plants beside the tea plant and to beverages made from these other plants.^[6][7] In any case, the term herbal tea is very well established and much more common than tisane.^[2]

The word tisane was rare in its modern sense before the 20th century, when it was borrowed in the modern sense from French. (This is why some people feel it should be pronounced /tɪˈzɑːn/ as in French, but the original English pronunciation /tɪˈzæn/ continues to be more common in US English and especially in UK English.)^[3]

The word had already existed in late Middle English in the sense of "medicinal drink" and had already been borrowed from French (Old French). The Old French word came from the Latin word ptisana, which came from the Ancient Greek word πτισάνη (ptisánē), which meant "peeled" barley, in other words pearl barley, and a drink made from this that is similar to modern barley water.^[8]

Composition

See also: List of plants used in herbalism and List of culinary herbs and spices

Herbal teas can be made with fresh or dried flowers, fruit, leaves, seeds or roots. They are made by pouring boiling water over the plant parts and letting them steep for a few minutes. The herbal tea is then strained, sweetened if desired, and served. Many companies produce herbal tea bags for such infusions.

•  
  This retail mixture contains rooibos, coconut, ginger, cinnamon, apple, cardamom, black pepper and almond.
•  
  Dried elderberries ready to be steeped into tea
•  
  Coffee blossom tea
•  
  Apple, rose hips, orange zest, papaya, peppermint, liquorice root, lemon grass, cinnamon, blackcurrants, rose and mallow blossoms
•  
  Bottled ginseng tea
•  
  Close-up of a rooibos blend in a tea bag being steeped

Varieties

While varieties of tisanes can be made from any edible plant material, below is a list of those commonly used for such:

• Anise tea, made from either the seeds or the leaves
• Asiatic penny-wort leaf, in South Asia and Southeast Asia
• Artichoke tea
• Bael fruit tea^[9]
• Bee balm
• Boldo, used in South America
• Burdock; the seeds, leaves, and roots have been used
• Cannabis tea, used in the preparation of bhang
• Caraway, tea made from the seeds
• Catnip, tea used as a relaxant, sedative, and to calm
• Chamomile
• Che dang, bitter tea made from Ilex causue leaves
• Chinese knotweed tea
• Chrysanthemum tea, made from dried flowers
• Cinnamon
• Clover tea, made from the blossoms
• Coca tea, infusion made from coca leaves. Contains trace amounts of cocaine and similar alkaloids.^[10] 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 from the leaf using the same chemicals as manufacturing cocaine.
• Cacao bean tea
  • Hot cocoa is not a herbal tea because the plant material is dissolved in water (or milk), but cacao bean can be used to make a tea.
• Coffee-leaf tea, coffee fruit tea, and coffee blossom tea are herbal teas made using the leaves, fruits and flowers of the coffee plant
• Cerasse, bitter Jamaican herb
• Citrus peel, including bergamot, lemon and orange peel
• Dandelion coffee
• Dill tea
• Dried lime tea, made from dried limes common in western Asia
• Echinacea tea
• Elderberry
• European mistletoe (Viscum album), (steep in cold water for 2–6 hours)
• Essiac tea, blended herbal tea
• Fennel
• Gentian
• Ginger root can be made into herbal tea, known in the Philippines as salabat
• Ginseng, a common tea in China and Korea, commonly used as a stimulant and as a caffeine substitute
• Goji
• Guayusa, caffeinated tree of the holly genus, native to the Amazon rainforest.
• Hawthorn
• Hibiscus (often blended with rose hip), a common tea in the Middle East or Asia
• Honeybush, similar to rooibos and grows in a nearby area of South Africa, but tastes slightly sweeter. Has a low tannin content, no caffeine.
• Horehound
• Houttuynia
• Hydrangea tea, dried leaves of hydrangeas; considerable care must be taken because most species contain a toxin. The "safe" hydrangeas belong to the Hydrangea serrata Amacha ("sweet tea") cultivar group.^[11]
• Jiaogulan (also known as xiancao or "poor man's ginseng")
• Kapor tea, dried leaves of fireweed
• Kava root, from the South Pacific, can be made into a tea for stomach upsets and other minor illnesses. The traditional form is a water-based suspension of kava roots.
• Kratom, dried leaves of the kratom tree.
• Kuzuyu, a thick white Japanese tea made by adding kudzu flour to hot water
• Labrador tea, made from the shrub by the same name, found in the northern part of North America
• Lemon balm
• Lemon and ginger tea
• Lemongrass
• Luo han guo
• Licorice root
• Lime blossom, dried flowers of the lime tree (tilia in Latin).
• Mate South American caffeinated tea made from yerba mate
• Mint (mint tea), especially peppermint (also mixed with green tea)
  • Maghrebi mint tea
  • Meadowsweet herb
  • Korean mint tea
• Mound of termites tea in Merauke
• Moringa
• Mountain tea, common in the Balkans and other areas of the Mediterranean region. Made from a variety of the Sideritis syriaca plant which grows in warm climates above 3,000 feet. Records of its use date back 2,000 years.
• Neem leaf
• Nettle leaf
• New Jersey tea
• Noni tea
• Oksusu cha, traditional roasted corn tea found in Korea
• Olive leaf tea
• Oregano tea
• Osmanthus tea, dried flowers of the sweet olive tree, are used alone or blended with tea leaves in China.
• Pandan tea
• Patchouli tea
• Pennyroyal leaf, an abortifacient
• Pine tea, or tallstrunt, made from needles of pine trees
• Poppy tea, consumed for its sedative and analgesic properties
• Qishr, Yemeni drink with coffee husks and ginger
• Red clover tea
• Red raspberry leaf
• Barley tea, East Asian drink with roasted barley
• Roasted wheat, used in Postum, a coffee substitute
• Rooibos (red bush), 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 characteristics of green tea, but because it does not come from tea leaves, it has no caffeine.
• Rose hip (often blended with hibiscus)
• Roselle petals (species of hibiscus; known by other names including bissau and dah), consumed in the Sahel and elsewhere
• Rosemary
• Sagebrush, California sagebrush
• Sage
• Sakurayu, Japanese herbal tea made with pickled cherry blossom petals
• Salvia
• Sassafras roots were steeped to make tea and were used in the flavoring of root beer until being banned by the FDA.
• Scorched rice, known as hyeonmi cha in Korea
• Skullcap
• Shallot peel tea from Kalimantan
• Serendib (tea), tea from Sri Lanka
• Sobacha
• Spearmint
• Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) leaves used to make a tea by some native peoples of eastern North America
• Spruce tea, made from needles of spruce trees
• Staghorn sumac, fruit can be made into a lemonade
• Stevia, can be used to make herbal tea, or as a sweetener in other beverages
• St. John's wort
• Thyme, contains thymol
• Tulsi, or holy basil
• Turmeric tea
• Uncaria tomentosa, commonly known as cat's claw
• Valerian is used as a sedative.^[12]
• Verbena (vervain)
• Wax gourd in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
• Wong Lo Kat, a recipe for herbal tea from Guangdong, China since the Qing Dynasty
• Woodruff
• Yarrow

Health risks

See also: List of herbs with known adverse effects and Controversies regarding the use of plastic in teabags

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 which may be harmful to the liver from chronic use, and particularly is not recommended during pregnancy or when prescription drugs are used; comfrey is not recommended for oral use.^[13]
• Lobelia, which contains alkaloids and has traditional medicine uses for smoking cessation, may cause nausea, vomiting, or dizziness at high doses.^[14]

Herbal teas can also have different effects from person to person, 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 toxic to the liver) comfrey. Care must be taken not to use any poisonous plants.

The US does not require herbal teas to have any evidence concerning their efficacy, but does treat them technically as food products and require that they be safe for consumption.

Fruit or fruit-flavored tea is usually acidic and thus may contribute to erosion of tooth enamel.^[15]

Adverse herb‑drug interactions

See also: Grapefruit–drug interactions and Cytochrome P450 (CYP)

Some phytochemicals found in herbs and fruits can adversely interact with others and over the counter or prescription medications, among other ways by affecting their metabolism by the body. Herbs and fruits that inhibit or induce the body's Cytochrome P450 enzyme complex function can either cause the drug to be dangerously ineffective, or increase its effective absorbed dose to potentially toxic levels, respectively. Best known examples of adverse herb‑drug interactions are grapefruit or St John's wort, contraindicated for several medications including Paxlovid and oral contraceptives, but other herbs also affect the CYP enzyme family, showing herb‑drug interactions.^[16][17][18]

Contamination

See also: Health effects of pesticides

Depending on the source of the herbal ingredients, herbal teas, like any crop, may be contaminated with pesticides or heavy metals.^[19][20] According to Naithani & Kakkar (2004), "all herbal preparations should be checked for toxic chemical residues to allay consumer fears of exposure to known neuro-toxicant pesticides and to aid in promoting global acceptance of these products".^[19]

During pregnancy

In addition to the issues mentioned above which are toxic to all people, several medicinal herbs are considered abortifacients, and if consumed by a pregnant individual could cause miscarriage. These include common ingredients like nutmeg, mace, papaya, bitter melon, verbena, saffron, slippery elm, and possibly pomegranate. It also includes more obscure herbs, like mugwort, rue, pennyroyal, wild carrot, blue cohosh, tansy, and savin.^{[medical citation needed]}

See also

•  Drink portal

• List of hot beverages
• Tea culture
• Health effects of tea
• Tincture, the often more concentrated plant extracts made in pure grain alcohol, glycerin, or vinegar
• Yerba mate
• Hot chocolate
• Coffee substitute

References

1. "Hibiscus Delight (Loose Leaf Tea Blend) – 1/2 lb". Lone Star Botanicals. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
2. "Google Ngram Viewer". Retrieved 2018-05-29.
3. "tisane". Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
4. "Herbal tea". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
5. Center, Garfield Medical. "Different Types of Tea and Caffeine Content". Garfield Medical Center. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
6. "tea". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
7. . Lexico. Archived from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
8. . Lexico. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
9. Manjeshwar, Harshith, Nandhini, Farhan, Shrinath Baliga, P. Bhat, Joseph, Fazal (August 2011). "Phytochemistry and medicinal uses of the bael fruit (Aegle marmelos Correa): A concise review". Food Research International. 44 (7): 1768–1775. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2011.02.008.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. Jenkins AJ, Llosa T, Montoya I, Cone EJ (1996). "Identification and quantitation of alkaloids in coca tea". Forensic Science International. 77 (3): 179–89. doi:10.1016/0379-0738(95)01860-3. PMC 2705900. PMID 8819993.
11. C.J. van Gelderen; D.M. van Gelderen. 2004. Encyclopedia of Hydrangeas. Timber Press. 280 p.
12. Boullata JI, Nace AM (2000). "Safety issues with herbal medicine". Pharmacotherapy. 20 (3): 257–69. doi:10.1592/phco.20.4.257.34886. PMID 10730682. S2CID 36757144.
13. "Comfrey". Drugs.com. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
14. "Lobelia". Drugs.com. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
15. O'Toole, S.; Mullan, F. (2018). "The role of the diet in tooth wear". British Dental Journal. 224 (5): 379–383. doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.127. PMID 29471309. S2CID 3797429.
16. Zuo, Hua-Li; Huang, Hsi-Yuan; Lin, Yang-Chi-Dung; Cai, Xiao-Xuan; Kong, Xiang-Jun; Luo, Dai-Lin; Zhou, Yu-Heng; Huang, Hsien-Da (2022-01-14). "Enzyme Activity of Natural Products on Cytochrome P450". Molecules. 27 (2): 515. doi:10.3390/molecules27020515. ISSN 1420-3049. PMC 8779343. PMID 35056827.
17. Cho, Hyun-Jong; Yoon, In-Soo (2015). "Pharmacokinetic Interactions of Herbs with Cytochrome P450 and P-Glycoprotein". Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015: 1–10. doi:10.1155/2015/736431. ISSN 1741-427X. PMC 4302358. PMID 25632290.
18. Smith, Dallas J.; Bi, Huichang; Hamman, Josias; Ma, Xiaochao; Mitchell, Constance; Nyirenda, Kumbukani; Monera-Penduka, Tsitsi; Oketch-Rabah, Hellen; Paine, Mary F.; Pettit, Syril; Pheiffer, Wihan; Van Breemen, Richard B.; Embry, Michelle (2023-07-12). "Potential pharmacokinetic interactions with concurrent use of herbal medicines and a ritonavir-boosted COVID-19 protease inhibitor in low and middle-income countries". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 14. doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1210579. ISSN 1663-9812. PMC 10368978. PMID 37502215.
19. Naithani, V; Kakkar, P (2004). "An evaluation of residual organochlorine pesticides in popular Indian herbal teas". Archives of Environmental Health. 59 (8): 426–30. doi:10.3200/AEOH.59.8.426-430. PMID 16268119. S2CID 31026817.
20. Naithani, V; Kakkar, P (2005). "Evaluation of heavy metals in Indian herbal teas". Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 75 (1): 197–203. doi:10.1007/s00128-005-0738-4. PMID 16228893. S2CID 41011619.

External links

•   Media related to tisanes at Wikimedia Commons
•   Learning materials related to infusion maker at Wikiversity
• Variety of Teas review from https://www.happyleaf.co.uk

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