Herbal tea: Boiling over with health benefits

By Jen Boyer

A hot cup of herbal tea just sounds cozy, doesn’t it?

The ritual of tea preparation – bringing water to a boil, waiting for the tea to steep, stirring in honey or milk – is in itself a respite from our hectic lives. It forces us to slow down, to pause. You can’t rush a cup of tea.

But is it merely the making of the tea that calms us? For thousands of years, people have been preparing what we now think of as tea: infusions created by boiling the roots, bark, flowers, seeds or leaves of plants that were believed to have restorative or protective qualities. Can we really moderate our moods and stave off infection and disease with something as simple as a cup of tea?

It’s possible, says Dr. Brenda Powell of the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine.

“Often there is an herb that will perform a similar action to a prescription medication,” Powell says, “And there is a lower chance that patients will experience side effects or interaction with other drugs. Herbal teas are non-addicting, can be taken as needed, and you can find them everywhere.”

“Herbal teas are on a continuum of things I offer my patients,” says Dr. Christine Alexander, MetroHealth’s director of Maternal and Neonatal Services. “It’s an area worth exploring. This is how we open up avenues for research and find products that work.”

Most teas haven’t been researched thoroughly enough to give doctors confidence in an herb’s efficacy. “We don’t know if an herbal tea will work for a certain patient,” says Alexander, “but most people won’t consume a high enough volume to get to a dangerous blood level, which mitigates the lack of study information.”

Liz Cavin, a doctor of naturopathic medicine who sees patients at Options Naturopathic Clinic in Cleveland Heights, cautions against relying on herbal teas simply because of the amount of tea a person would have to drink in order to derive a medicinal benefit.

“It’s a compliance issue,” she says. “It’s hard to get people to drink the amount they’d need.”

Cavin suggests that people who are interested in the medicinal values of herbal teas research the herbs online, buy them in bulk, and brew them at home.

“With some herbal teas you might not notice the health effects immediately, but if you drink them on a daily basis you’ll see it,” she says.

Powell suggests herbal teas to patients before prescribing medication, because that’s what most of the Center for Integrative Medicine’s patients prefer. Depending on the severity of a patient’s symptoms, she’ll suggest herbal teas to be taken along with or in lieu of a pharmaceutical, or to help people wean off their prescription medications.

How does it work?
For her patients with insomnia and anxiety, Powell recommends chamomile, valerian and passionflower. “Valerian works similarly to valium, stimulating relaxation. And passionflower binds to essential benzodiazepine receptors, like Xanax, but it’s less sedating. Chamomile works by binding to GABA receptors and helping stimulate the nervous system toward relaxation.”

That’s a complex explanation for those of us who don’t have years of medical or pharmacological experience. But the plants and herbs that work affect our gray matter the same way prescription drugs do – they’re just less intense. GABA stands for gamma-aminobutyric acid. GABA receptors communicate between nerve cells, helping to control stress-related nerve impulses. Valerian, for example, inhibits the enzymes responsible for breaking down GABA receptors.

Other herbs contain antioxidants, which prevent oxidative stress to the DNA of our cells.  Essiac tea, a blend of herbs, has been touted as an alternative cancer treatment despite studies that indicate it is ineffective. And chasteberry, an ingredient in a tea purported to promote fertility, can affect progesterone levels.

Over the last decade, research has linked cinnamon with blood sugar control for people with diabetes. Some of the data suggests cinnamon reduces insulin resistance, which is one of the risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes. Other research indicates cinnamon is not effective.

Alexander suggests a leap of faith. “It can potentially help you manage your sugars and prevent bad outcomes, so maybe put some cinnamon in your coffee or tea, and use it more when you’re cooking,” she says. “Will it really work for you? We can’t be sure.”

Powell agrees. “Teas are safer than prescription drugs,” she says. “They may or may not work, but they are generally safe to try.”

Steep with caution
Before you dive headfirst into a steaming mug of herbal tea, run it past your doctor and your pharmacist. This is good advice for everyone and applies to any medication, supplement, vitamin or herbal remedy your doctor has not prescribed. But this is particularly important for:

• Children
• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
• People who are taking Coumadin
• People with gallbladder problems
• People with severe seasonal allergies, who might be affected by the plants in the tea