[luba (OP)]

Hey!

I recently found out about medicinal teas. What do you guys think about them? Are there any good tea brands that you'd recommend?

Thanks!

[Bored chemist]

If they worked, they would be regulated as drugs.
Some of them are known to be poisons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatic_veno-occlusive_disease

[Danne]

I certainly disagree with the post above.

Your position is too westernish and consumerish, lol.

For instance, check this basic fact - raspberry tea has almost the same substance as aspirin. That means it has anti-inflammatory properties: causes your febrile temperature to drop, mildly relieves pain, relieves other inflammatory responses.

Medical teas CAN have a benefit. However, you should know what you're drinking and in what concentrations.

Look up silymarin, it is a registered drug which is proven to help liver health and is prescribed by gastroenterologists.

[Nika2003]

Hey. Oh, that's my favorite subject. I read that some teas can help with cancer, heart disease and diabetes; promote weight loss; lower cholesterol; and bring mental alertness. Tea also has antimicrobial properties.
I think this is a great alternative to coffee. First, tea has less caffeine. It is well known that compounds in tea - their flavonoids - are good for the heart and can reduce cancer.
All teas also contain caffeine and theanine, which affect the brain and appear to enhance mental alertness.
Remember: all herbs are a medicine, regardless of whether they are in the form of "tea", tincture or capsule.
Who does not like a good cup of mint or chamomile tea? But did you know that peppermint is a strong intestinal medicine (maybe too strong for some, especially for children), but the mint is much softer and tonic for the stomach, and not for the whole system?
While peppermint is a good tonic for long-term complaints of digestion, it is better to have a piercer after eating, because it stimulates digestive enzymes and helps to digest the protein in such a way that peppermint does not.
Next to black tea, chamomile is the most popular tea in the world. Most everyone knows that chamomile is a soothing herb suitable for capricious children (and moody adults), but the chamomile also cools and dries. If you are already chilled or suffering from a dry condition, chamomile can aggravate your complaints. In addition, as a member of the ambrosia family, people can sometimes have an allergic reaction to a camomile flower.
So, as you can see, the herbs are a medicine, regardless of whether they are served after lunch or give herbal practice. Choose your tea and drink to your health.

[Bored chemist]

It is true that many teas contain active drugs, though this statement,needs clarification

All teas also contain caffeine and theanine

The teas made from camellia sinensis (the stuff we usually refer to as Tea) do, but many don't. Raspberry and rooibos tea for example don't contain caffeine.
However, it is important to realise that plants are very variable.

You are taking a drug- but you have no idea of the dose.

Does that look sensible?

[TheMoon]

I think that herbal teas have a lot to offer in terms of medicinal research.  I would advise though, generally,
caution should be taken over articles intended to hype interest in products, e.g., those derived from coconut and partially tested theories which suggest that one should consume a regular amount of something - to cure or stave off illness.  One of the benefits of herbal teas that I found, was not in the consumption, but in the external application of green tea and lemon, of a well-known brand.  For at least three years, I had suffered with a painful skin ailment.  I had tried lots of remedies to cure it - I even sought medical advice but was told ultimately that there was no prescription, since the ailment did not appear as the result of infection.  I tried almost everything from manuka honey, to sea salt and bi carb soda.  But one day, I prepared myself some green tea - infused with lemon and vitamin C.  Instead of drinking it, I used it to bathe the affected area.  The temperature of the tea was very hot, though not boiling and when it touched the area, began to sting, while also easing the pain.  After the first two days of this treatment there was noticable change.  In 4 days, the ailment was gone.  This was around 2 years ago and this unsightly and painful thing has never come back, so yay for green tea!

[Bored chemist]

For instance, check this basic fact - raspberry tea has almost the same substance as aspirin.

The key word there is "almost".
I haven't checked but my guess is that the tea contains salicylic acid. Many plants do.
Aspirin, on the other hand, is acetylsalicylic acid.
The purpose of the acetyl group is to reduce the damage done to the stomach by the phenolic OH group.

So, what you are saying is "Raspberry tea contains a more toxic chemical than aspirin".

Well, thanks for the warning.
As It happens I get gout, and both aspirin and other sources of salicylate are bad for that so, once again, thanks for reminding me to stay off the raspberry tea.

Medical teas CAN have a benefit. However, you should know what you're drinking and in what concentrations.

How do you usually measure the salicylic acid content of your tea?
(or do you not practice what you preach?)

Look up silymarin

Do you mind awfully if I don't bother?
It's a messy mixture of materials which makes it hard to get a consistent dose.

Interestingly, if you look at the active ingredients you discover this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silibinin#Toxicity
It's a liver poison.

[alancalverd]

Beware particularly of St John's Wort. Very popular antidepressant but strongly contraindicated in conjunction with many conventional pharmaceuticals, and withdrawal effects can be debilitating.

Also be very certain of the scientific name of any herbal infusion you imbibe. There were several deaths in the UK  in the 1950s attributed to US recipe books citing "laurel" as a herb for stews. It is the common name for a small-leaf fragrant bay tree in North America, and for a large-leaf, acutely poisonous hedging bush favored in urban Britain for its tolerance of sulfurous air. Just to add to the confusion, the laurel wreaths on classical statues of emperors and athletes, are bay.   

Natural does not mean safe.

[syhprum]

Like fertilizers I like my drugs to be produced in a carefully controlled and tested environment.

[AnnaLudvigovna]

How is "did Stalin think he was doing good" not a relevant question?  Why did you respond to someone asking this question with I ignore you, because your statements are not relevant?