Tea is one of the premier beverages in the world that has been used in countless situations to improve our health and rehydrate us. Drinking tea has been a common practice across numerous cultures and societies, with a few societies having special ceremonies and traditions surrounding tea. The biggest examples of tea in cultural settings can be seen in China and Japan, where tea became a sacred beverage in societal and religious (Buddhist) settings.
The cultural and societal significance of tea is less important in Western and modern societies, especially in America. Nevertheless, the drink has become popular amongst American citizens and remains one of the country's most commonly consumed drinks, next to coffee and water. Part of tea's popularity stems from the fact that it can be made from various plants that generate different flavors.
One of the lesser-known tea varieties is lemongrass tea, which is not commonly consumed since green or black teas are more popular with casual consumers. Despite the lack of knowledge surrounding lemongrass tea, it has several characteristics that make it extremely valuable to those who consume it. The problem is that most people are not told what lemongrass tea can do for them and therefore do not use it.
Unfortunately, this deprives them of potential benefits that can improve their health and appearance. While lemongrass tea does offer benefits, you might want more details before you add it to your diet. Fortunately, there is evidence supporting the claims that lemongrass tea can help.
What is Lemongrass Tea?
Cymbopogon citratus, better known as "lemongrass," is a tropical island plant closely related to traditional grass. Despite sharing a family with the same grass that can be found on your lawn, C. citratus is far more valuable. It is commonly found in tropical environments but is also known to grow in Asia, Africa, and Australia, making it surprisingly diverse. The plant's name was derived from its scent, which is extremely similar to how citrus lemons smell.
Other variants of lemongrass differ from C. citratus, like C. nardus and C. winterianus, which develop different physical characteristics and have slightly different benefits. The biggest difference is that C. citratus is typically harvested as a medicinal tool and has been used for years to treat common ailments when traditional medicine was unavailable.
The rise of lemongrass as a medicinal tool began in India but has since spread to the rest of the world. Nowadays, lemongrass is refined into a tea that we can drink to absorb the nutrients lemongrass offers. Lemongrass tea is not difficult to make since you can steep it the same way you would steep any other plant to make tea. Fortunately, there are pre-prepared lemongrass tea bags, making it easy to steep a cup without knowing how to use the raw ingredients.
Currently, lemongrass tea is a lesser-known beverage and not commonly consumed by those who do not need the health benefits it has to offer. Circulating this information enabled more people to recognize lemongrass tea's value and how it can improve their health and appearance. The question is: what can lemongrass tea do?
Lemongrass Tea is An Antioxidant
One of the main benefits of lemongrass tea is that it is an antioxidant compound that protects the body from damage by free radicals. When free radicals enter the body, they can damage us from the inside, including causing damage to our DNA. Oxidative damage can be a serious issue and is considered difficult to defend against. Nevertheless, it is possible to use antioxidant compounds to reinforce your body against free radicals.
Lemongrass has a natural antioxidant effect that fortifies our bodies against free radicals and protects us from free radicals destabilizing molecules. According to the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, lemongrass has a rich concentration of several antioxidants that are well-known for protecting our bodies. The main antioxidants found in lemongrass include:
- Chlorogenic Acid
- Isoorientin
- Swertiajaponin
These antioxidants are most notable for protecting our cells from dysfunction induced by exposure to free radicals. Specifically, they protect the cells in our coronary arteries, some of the most important considering our arteries are directly linked to our cardiovascular health. Lemongrass tea's antioxidant concentration is one of several qualities that make it an excellent addition to your diet. However, other qualities make it more valuable than its antioxidants.
Lemongrass Tea is An Anti-Microbial
One of the main concerns we have in life is avoiding infection by microbial organisms that can make us sick. Most microbial organisms are bacteria that can colonize the body and induce harmful symptoms. Some microbes are more dangerous than others and can damage the more sensitive aspects of our anatomy. Hundreds of microbial infections have been recognized by medical science, and modern medicine has generated a series of common practices designed to deter infection.
Typically, we espouse healthy lifestyles designed to discourage microbial infection by practicing regular hygiene and maintaining a healthy diet. While these tactics help reduce microbial colonization in the body, it never hurts to supplement them with additional compounds. Lemongrass has natural anti-microbial characteristics, making it a viable tool for bolstering your natural ability to resist microbial infection.
In 2012, an in-vitro study was conducted and published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that focused on studying Streptococcus mutans. S. mutans is a bacterium that causes tooth decay and can be extremely painful if not treated properly. Lemongrass oil was used to test the durability and resilience of S. mutans against anti-microbial substances. The results showed that lemongrass could counteract and neutralize S. mutans organisms and protect the body from their effects.
While these studies focused on lemongrass oil rather than tea, the oil carries the same nutrients and characteristics as the original plant (and the tea steeped from its leaves). Therefore, adding lemongrass tea to your diet can reinforce your natural resistance to microbial infection and colonization. Fortunately, there is still more that lemongrass can do to enhance your health and protect you from certain medical issues.
Lemongrass Tea is An Anti-Inflammatory
Our bodies have a natural response to physical injury that protects us from straining our bodies while the injuries heal. This response causes irritation and pain to discourage us from straining that body part until the healing process is complete. This process is called inflammation and is an important part of how our bodies heal from injuries. Unfortunately, inflammation is imperfect (like most organic functions) and is prone to making mistakes.
One of the biggest problems with our inflammatory response is that our bodies are susceptible to chronic inflammation, which causes the process to persist long after the injury is healed. Chronic inflammation is extremely unpleasant and painful and requires intervention from anti-inflammatory compounds to prevent complications. This is where lemongrass comes into play since the plant contains anti-inflammatory properties.
Lemongrass contains two important compounds: citral and geranial. These compounds are typically considered unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but they are actually highly effective at fighting inflammation. These compounds inhibit the release of natural markers in our bodies that trigger the inflammatory response.
According to studies by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, consuming lemongrass can reduce your inflammatory response and prevent you from dealing with unnecessary irritation. This is especially important since chronic inflammation can lead to serious medical complications if you do not treat it properly. Lemongrass tea can impart these nutrients as effectively as lemongrass extract and help you manage inflammation.
Lemongrass Tea Promotes Healthy Digestion
Gastrointestinal distress is a common issue that affects most Americans, either due to poor diet or an underlying condition. Regardless of the cause of your gastrointestinal distress, you will likely experience digestive issues. When our digestion is disrupted, it can cause pain, nausea, and other unpleasant symptoms that are disruptive to our daily lives.
Most people with digestive issues turn to antacids or prescription medications for indigestion or other digestive concerns. While these tools are highly effective and can relieve the symptoms of digestive issues, sometimes the best option is to use a substance that can enhance your body's natural digestive capabilities so gastrointestinal issues are less of a threat to you. Unsurprisingly, tea is one of the most common drinks people consume when dealing with digestive issues, but the type of tea makes an immense difference. Lemongrass, in particular, has proven to be a valuable resource for improving digestion.
The NIH continued its studies on lemongrass and extended the parameters beyond its anti-microbial effects. Studies were conducted to determine lemongrass' effects on digestive issues and whether it could soothe an upset stomach biologically. In 2012, they administered lemongrass to mice with gastric ulcers (a highly unpleasant gastrointestinal issue that could indicate an underlying disease).
The study showed that the lemongrass protected the mice from their ulcers and reduced their impact on the subjects' bodies. Furthermore, the lemongrass protected the stomach lining from further damage, reinforcing its ability to serve as a gastrointestinal defense tool. While you might assume that any tea can soothe your stomach, the exact properties of lemongrass can help you transition from a psychosomatic effect to a biologically legitimate one.
Lemongrass Tea Reduces Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is one of modern Americans' biggest concerns since it contributes to heart disease (the #1 cause of death in the country). High blood pressure can be caused by several things that regularly impact American citizens. Poor diet and stress are among the largest contributors to high blood pressure, and both are abundant in American society due to the expense of healthy food and the high-pressure professional and economic issues facing the country.
Once our blood pressure gets too high, we must take special medication to regulate it and prevent heart attacks or other cardiovascular consequences. While extremely high blood pressure requires medical intervention, it is possible to reduce your blood pressure naturally if it has not gotten too bad. If your systolic blood pressure is high, it is possible to use lemongrass tea to level it out and return to a relatively healthy range.
In 2012, a study observed 72 male patients with high blood pressure and divided them into 3 groups. The test groups were given either lemongrass tea or green tea, while the control group was given a placebo. The subjects given lemongrass tea experienced a significant drop in their systolic blood pressure, and their heart rate decreased. These effects prove that lemongrass has a place in cardiovascular health, but there is an important caveat.
Men with existing heart problems must exercise moderation when consuming lemongrass, even for cardiovascular purposes. Overconsumption could cause your heart rate to drop too low and induce cardiac arrest. Alternatively, overconsumption could elevate your diastolic pressure while lowering your systolic pressure, generating a host of new issues that must be avoided for your own health.
Finding the Right Blend
Lemongrass tea is arguably one of the most underrated teas in the healthcare world, considering its high nutritional value and health benefits. While lemongrass is generally dismissed as a plant, its benefits make it extremely versatile and have led us to refine it into teas we can consume to reap its benefits. Adding lemongrass tea to your diet can improve several aspects of your health while also providing the energy-boosting effects inherent in tea consumption. The challenge is finding a lemongrass tea blend can be difficult since many vendors focus on just one type of tea rather than a full blend.
We at Teami have a longstanding love for tea and the benefits of natural products, so we have focused on providing products that fulfill both loves. We offer a wide range of natural supplements that can enhance your health and appearance, including several tea blends that take advantage of natural compounds.
One of our main sellers is our Alive Tea Blend, which combines lemongrass with green tea and ginger to create a cocktail of extremely powerful nutrients. In addition to boosting your energy, our blend will impart all the benefits associated with lemongrass. We encourage you to visit our website and try our blend firsthand. After all, finding the right blend is a Teami effort.