You might regularly use sage in culinary dishes, but you can also brew it into a tasty and healthy tea. Sage tea offers an enveloping scent that attracts your senses and attracts taste. Drinking this yummy tea is not just a delightful experience; it's likewise great for you.
Sage tea has been used to increase weight loss and ease digestion issues. The tea boasts soothing properties that make it an excellent beverage to curl up with after a long day. Keep reading to learn more about sage tea and how you can make the perfect hot cup of this organic tea.
What Is Sage Tea?
Sage tea is made from the leaves of the common sage plant known by the botanical name Salvia officinalis. The leaves of the plant are typically used to make cooking herbs and essential oils. This perennial evergreen shrub belongs to the mint household and boasts a revitalizing taste when instilled in hot water. The plant is belonging to the Mediterranean area and functions with somewhat grey leaves. Given that sage tea does not contain leaves of the actual tea plant Camellia sinensis, it is considered a natural tea.
Sage has long been utilized in Italy and Greece as a herbal remedy for digestion problems and enhancing the body's immune system. It's also often used in Chinese and Indian traditional medication. Sage tea contains high quantities of antioxidants, including ellagic, which can be discovered in berries.
Other vital components include phenolic acids such as rosmarinic acid and flavonoids, including luteolin and apigenin. According to research studies in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, these flavonoids can assist deal with inflammation-related illness (1 ).
Sage tea is naturally caffeine-free, so you can enjoy it whenever of the day without interrupting sleep patterns. Drinking sage tea before bed can enhance sleep thanks to its warming and relaxing properties.
Why Do People Drink Sage Tea?
Sage tea is purported to assist with a range of health conditions, consisting of:
Age-related cognitive decline.
Extreme sweating (hyperhidrosis).
Heartburn.
Hot flashes.
Insomnia.
Sore throat.
Rinsing with sage tea has long been used as a remedy for aching throat and coughs.
Sage Tea Benefits
While research study on the health impacts of sage is highly restricted, there's some evidence that drinking sage tea might provide particular advantages. Here's a take a look at some findings from the offered research.
Hot Flashes and Sweating Associated With Menopause
There's some evidence that sage leaves might be advantageous for reducing hot flashes, night sweats and excessive sweating connected with menopause. In a preliminary study published in the journal Advances in Therapy, scientists appointed 71 ladies to 8 weeks of treatment with a once-daily fresh sage leaf tablet. Outcomes showed a decrease in hot flashes by 50% within 4 weeks and 64 per cent within 8 weeks. These outcomes were self-reported, and future studies are called for with control versus test subjects to remove the placebo result.
Oral Mucositis
Among the most common adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy in cancer treatment, oral mucositis occurs when the lining of the mouth breaks down and forms unpleasant mouth sores or ulcers.
A pilot research study published in Complementary Therapies in Medication in 2016 suggests that a sage mouth rinse may help relieve oral mucositis in individuals undergoing chemotherapy.3 For the research study, individuals getting chemotherapy were prescribed standard oral care plus swishing with a sage tea-thyme-peppermint oral rinse or usual care alone and were examined on days 5 and 14.
The incidence of oral mucositis was lower in the group swishing with the rinse than those who didn't use the rinse. Most people utilizing the organic rinse in conjunction with primary oral care didn't develop oral mucositis on day 5. More studies are necessitated to confirm sage for oral mucositis.
Hair Health
Supporters recommend that using a hair and scalp wash made from a mix of sage tea and black tea or rosemary can promote hair development or darken grey hair as an option to hair colour. Although there is no clinical assistance for these claims, the tannins found in black or sage tea might momentarily colour grey hair.
When used for hair, supporters suggest making the tea, allowing it to cool, and spritzing it on grey hair. It is typically left in for five to 10 minutes and after that cleaned as usual. (Note that the tannin in tea can stain towels and clothes.).
High Cholesterol
Preliminary research recommends that sage tea might help reduce cholesterol levels. According to a bit of study released in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences in 2009.4 After 4 weeks of regular usage of sage tea, individuals decreased LDL cholesterol and an enhancement in overall cholesterol levels. Nevertheless, there was no result on blood sugar levels.
Other Types of Sage
Common sage (Salvia officinalis) is the kind of sage offered in most supermarkets and utilized to make most commercial sage tea bags. It ought to not be confused with other types of sage species. For instance, Diviner's sage (Salvia divinorum) is a plant with hallucinogenic homes used in indigenous cultures for spiritual purposes. White sage (Salvia apiana), a plant native to Southern California and parts of Mexico, is burned as incense during native filtration events.
How to Make Sage Tea
To make sage tea:
- Attempt adding two tablespoons of fresh typical sage leaves (or one tablespoon of dried leaves) to a mug.
- Fill the cup with almost boiling water.
- Cover and let it steep for a couple of minutes.
- Strain the tea to eliminate the leaves.
Widely offered for purchase online, sage tea bags can be found in numerous natural-foods stores. Sage tea is also found in tea blends such as blackberry sage tea.
Possible Side Effects
Sage is commonly used in cooking, which might lead you to believe that it's safe. While sage is typically thought about safe when used in the amounts generally found in food dishes, sage contains thujone and camphor, essential oils that can be harmful if taken orally in adequate high quantities, with severe adverse effects such as seizures and organ damage.
While a widely accepted safe upper limit has yet to be developed, the EU European Medicines Firm Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products report advises a safe ceiling of 6 mg of thujone from items utilized for medicinal functions.
A preliminary study released in Chemical Central Journal suggests that three to 6 cups of sage tea could be consumed daily without reaching toxicological limits.5 Another study, nevertheless, recommends daily consumption to be lower based on their findings that the typical thujone and camphor material is 4.4 mg/L and 16.7 mg/L, respectively, in food tea and 11.3 mg/L and 25.4 mg/L in medical tea. The amount of thujone, camphor, and other substances drawn out in sage tea varies extensively depending on factors that affect strength, like the manufacturing process (e.g., gathering, drying, and extraction approaches) and steeping time.
Pregnant ladies shouldn't take sage above the quantities generally utilized in cooking. High intake of thujone may trigger uterine contractions.
Although sage tea is sometimes suggested to decrease the breast milk supply in nursing moms dealing with an oversupply of milk (or for those attempting to wean their baby), breastfeeding women must consult their medical professionals before using it the thujone content.
Side effects of sage consist of mild digestion complaints, nausea, throwing up, agitation, wheezing, skin rash, high or low high blood pressure (depending upon the species), allergies, and reduced blood sugar level levels in individuals with diabetes.
There's likewise concern that some varieties of sage, such as Spanish sage (Salvia lavandulaefolia), may have an estrogen-like impact. Individuals with hormone-sensitive conditions should not take sage. In significant amounts, sage may connect with different medications, consisting of sedatives, anticonvulsants, and diabetes medication.
Prevent sage tea if you have allergies to sage or other plants in the Lamiaceae plant family (such as peppermint and oregano).
The Takeaway
Sipping sage tea on occasion may help enhance your general health by keeping you hydrated and increasing your antioxidant intake. However, there isn't sufficient research on the advantages of sage tea to use as a treatment for any condition. Likewise, beware to avoid drinking routine or extreme amounts due to the thujone (and camphor) material.
