Herbal tea is a fragrant herbal drink, which is made by boiling or brewing roots, stems, leaves, flowers or skins of plants. Known as herbal tea in Europe, it has been circulating for hundreds of years. Herb in HerbTea comes from Latin herb, which means green grass. So far, people are used to including all kinds of plants with curative effects, whether they are roots, leaves, flowers or fruits.
Herbal tea has long occupied an important position in western folk medicine formulas. In the past two or three hundred years, the French gradually developed HerbTea into a leisure drink, which spread to Europe, the United States, Japan and other places, and then to Taiwan Province Province, China. As early as the middle of18th century, experts in some countries claimed that excessive drinking of coffee and tea would damage nerves and cause diseases such as trembling, paralysis and depression. Unfortunately, few people believe this suggestion. When people realize the possible harm of caffeine and theophylline to human body, the healthy formula of herbal tea suddenly rises. One of the characteristics of herbal tea is that it comes entirely from plants and contains no synthetic elements. People's attention to herbal tea stems from people's understanding and pursuit of the concept of healthy life, and herbal tea has begun to play an increasingly important role in people's healthy life.
The ingredients of herbal tea are rich and colorful. You can choose a single product or use a reasonable combination to achieve the rich taste of medicinal tea. Compound herbal tea can enrich the taste and aroma of tea and make its health care effect more obvious. When tasting herbal tea, you can drink it clean, add sugar, honey, milk, or put some fresh fruit slices (lemon, citrus, etc. ) and spices (cinnamon, vanilla, etc. ) to enhance or soften the taste of herbal tea. In addition to brewing herbal tea with water, you can also choose to brew with milk or wine.
Therefore, the world of herbal tea has its colorful fun. In the west, herbal tea is a family drink, which is usually tasted in the morning, before going to bed or after meals. In China, it is known as a natural healthy drink, a healthy lifestyle and an elegant leisure mood. Imagine, on a summer afternoon, how pleasant it is to invite some friends to drink herbal tea and talk about life at home!
The history of herbal tea
The history of people using herbs can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians using herbs to incense or treat diseases. At that time, flowers and plants were necessities of life. The ancient Romans traveled around the world, carrying herbs with them and planting them along the way. When a plague or infectious disease is prevalent, they cook or drink herbs to prevent the epidemic. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, analyzed flowers and plants through scientific observation and began to make herbs into medicines. In A.D. 1597, an Englishman John Jerome introduced Mediterranean flowers and plants to Britain. According to his own personal experience, he guided and expounded the practical value of flowers and plants. The published A Brief History of Herbal Medicine is widely circulated among the people and has become one of the earliest herbal books in Britain.
With the recent progress of science and technology, people gradually rely on synthetic western medicine to treat symptoms quickly, but forget the ancient and natural secret recipe of flowers and plants. Healthy herbal tea only rediscovers these ancient natural ingredients and provides a balance for people's daily life. Until today, the fragrance of flowers and plants is considered to be of great help to calm the mood and nerves, and can gently regulate the body and mind, so herbal tea has become a popular drink. For modern people who are stressed and lack of exercise, herbal tea is really a delicious and natural choice.
Herbal tea producing area
The original origin of flowers and plants is actually almost all over the world. Moreover, the vitality of flowers is generally very strong, not only in the original producing areas, but also in the cultivation areas with suitable soil and climate, becoming a large number of cash crops. However, due to the different climate and environment in different places, not only are there many kinds of medicinal materials produced, but the characteristics of different places are also different.
This area along the Mediterranean coast is the hometown of many commonly used flowers. The word Herb comes from the Latin old saying herb (meaning grass and herbs). Because the local sunshine is bright and there is little rain in summer, in order to reduce water evaporation, most of the growing herbs are lobules, such as lavender, rosemary, sage and thyme in Labiatae. At the same time, in order to adapt to the dry climate, there are aromatic essential oils in the leaves to retain water, so they not only become the raw materials of natural flavors, but also have more functions. In addition, this dry and warm Mediterranean climate zone is naturally an excellent environment for natural drying of flowers and plants. These conditions, combined with farmers' organic farming, have produced high-quality herbal tea.
In addition to the Mediterranean coastal areas in the south, central and northern Europe are also major producing areas. The local area belongs to a relatively cool continental climate. In addition to the original varieties such as purple flower, chamomile and dill, we are also committed to cultivating exotic herbs with economic value. With strong R&D and economic and trade capabilities, Europe has become the most important distribution center for herbal tea products and the main force for promoting and consuming herbal tea.
China and India in tropical Asia are both ancient civilizations, and plants have a long history of being used as medicine, which makes them the most common areas to use flowers in life. Because of the high temperature and humidity here, all kinds of flowers and plants produced are often fragrant and of good quality. Because of its vast territory and rich varieties of edible flowers, China is gradually becoming an important raw material supplier of herbal tea.
After discovering the new continent, American Europeans introduced American Indians' knowledge and application of flowers to Europe, so stevia, primrose, lemon verbena, madai tree and so on became more and more familiar to outsiders. Comparatively speaking, South America mainly produces flowers and plants, which are directly used; The United States, Canada and other North American countries are keen to develop drugs based on natural herbs after more and more feeling the side effects of chemicals.
The closer tropical Africa is to the original species of herbs, the stronger its pharmacological effects, while Africa still retains many wild flower species. The proportion of flowers and plants in this area is limited, but they have been used by local ethnic groups for hundreds of years. The flowers and plants in this area lack fragrance, so they are less used as raw materials for herbal tea.
Nutritional components and efficacy of herbal tea.
Component analysis:
Aromatic oil: also known as volatile oil or essential oil, although the content is not high in terms of the proportion of flowers and plants, its value is extremely high. In different kinds of flowers and plants, the composition of aromatic oil is also different, which can give all kinds of herbal tea a unique fragrance.
Tannin: also known as tannic acid, is the source of astringency and bitterness in herbal tea, and has astringent, antidiarrheal and anti-infection effects.
Vitamins: Flowers and plants contain many vitamins. Drinking herbal tea and absorbing water-soluble vitamins A and C can not only promote digestion and beauty, but also help to fundamentally improve physical fitness.
Minerals: Flowers and plants contain many minerals, such as magnesium, calcium and iron. , is the basic nutrient for human health care.
Flavonoids: this is a kind of pigment, which often coexists with vitamin C in flowers and plants, and has an influence on the color of flowers and plants. In addition to diuresis and strengthening the circulatory system, its function of inhibiting cancer (preventing free radical formation) has been paid more and more attention.
Bitter element: It brings bitterness to some herbal teas, but it also promotes digestion.
Herbal tea has natural aroma and special taste by boiling or brewing, and it contains no caffeine and cholesterol at all. At the same time, flowers and plants are rich in nutrients, which can give human body nutrition, enhance energy, regulate the body and beauty beauty, and play a health care role. Tannin and picroside, which are rich in flowers and plants, are healthy elements beneficial to human body, and are also the main reason for the bitterness of herbal tea. Many people will feel uncomfortable with this bitter taste when they first taste herbal tea. At this time, adding some rock sugar, honey, milk or lemon slices can not only soften the bitter taste of herbal tea, but also form an unexpected unique flavor.
In addition, the taste of some functional compound herbal teas may change a little because of the collocation of different flowers and plants. Try adding one or two dried roses. The aroma of roses can make the whole pot of tea more mellow and delicious, and roses are neutral, so don't worry about conflicts with other flowers and plants.