Products
Teas are available, for example, at pharmacies, drugstores, tea specialty stores, and grocery stores. Some are approved as medicines and have package inserts. They are also called medicinal teas. Various words are prefixed for word composition, such as fruit tea, calming tea, cold tea, baby tea, stomach tea, women’s tea, etc.
Structure and properties
Teas are single or mixed, dried or fresh parts of plants, extracted with cold or usually hot water and drunk. The term refers to both the plant parts and the finished beverage. Tea is also a synonym for black tea and other tea varieties of the tea plant (green tea, white tea, oolong, pu-erh). In the English-speaking world, “tea” is usually understood to mean black tea. Herbal teas are called “herbal tea” or “tisane”. Swiss legislation also distinguishes between teas (from the tea plant), herbal teas and fruit teas. The pharmacological and health-promoting properties of teas are based on the primary and secondary plant constituents that are transferred from the plants into the water during preparation. Because they are natural substances, their content depends on many factors and varies (e.g. variety, climate, cultivation, soil, processing, storage). Therefore, extracts are also prepared from medicinal drugs, which are standardized to the most important ingredients. They are usually marketed as tablets or capsules. The plant constituents include, for example, mucilages, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, bitter compounds, essential oils and isoprenoids. Instant teas are often based on sugar and are soluble or dispersible in water. Extraction is no longer required. Furthermore, tea is also offered in capsules, which is mechanically extracted or dissolved with hot water. Teas come in many varieties in the market.
Effects
Teas exert numerous effects as medicines. For example, they are effective as laxatives, sedatives, antidepressants, carminatives, bitter remedies, expectorants, anti-infectives and analgesics. As stimulants, teas have health-promoting, warming, soothing, and relaxing properties and exert, for example, antioxidant, antitumor, lipid-lowering, and anti-inflammatory effects.
Fields of application
Teas are drunk on the one hand as herbal remedies (phytopharmaceuticals), with the aim of preventing and treating diseases. On the other hand, teas are also consumed as thirst-quenching and tasty drinks and soothing and relaxing stimulants.
Dosage
Teas are usually prepared as an infusion, that is, the tea is poured with hot water and left for 3 to 10 minutes. Subsequently, the bag is removed or strained and the tea is drunk hot or cold. Depending on the variety, other methods are also used, for example, in the case of green tea, which is infused at a lower temperature and only during up to three minutes. Matcha is dispersed as a powder in water. Chai is usually boiled. Anise, cumin and fennel should be pestled with a mortar and pestle before preparing tea. The following general methods can be distinguished:
- Infusion (Infus)
- Decoction (decoction)
- Cold extract (macerate)
Tea can be added additives. These include milk, sugar, lemon juice and sweeteners. In addition to the artificial, natural sweeteners such as stevia or licorice root are also used, which are themselves and plant parts.
Examples
Some well-known tea sweeteners are listed below:
- Anise fruit
- Birch leaves
- Nettle leaves
- Chai
- Fennel fruit
- Lady’s mantle herb
- Fruit teas
- Green tea
- Rosehip peel with hibiscus flowers
- Hemp flowers
- Ginger rhizome
- Jasmine flowers
- St. John’s wort
- Chamomile flowers
- Herbal teas
- Curcumarhizome
- Lavender flowers
- Lime blossoms
- Mallow leaves
- Matcha
- Mate leaves
- Oolong
- Orange blossom
- Peppermint leaves
- Pu-erh
- Rooibos leaves
- Red tea
- Sage leaves
- Black tea
- Senna fruit
- Ribwort leaves
- Licorice root
- Thyme leaves
- Vervain leaves
- Hawthorn leaves with flowers
- White tea
- Wormwood herb
Tea is also added spices, for example, cinnamon, vanilla, turmeric, star anise and cloves. Some teas are also added flavorings, fruit juices and carbohydrates. However, these are controversial and are rejected by true tea connoisseurs. Our complete list can be found here: Drug List.
Contraindications
Full precautions can be found in the drug label.
Interactions
Teas can also cause drug-drug interactions. The best-known example in this regard is St. John’s wort, which is an inducer of CYP450 and P-glycoprotein and can reverse the effects of other agents. Black tea should not be taken with some drugs, for example, morphine drops. Laxatives may cause potassium deficiency, which increases susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias.
Adverse effects
Teas are usually well tolerated, but like other drugs, they can cause adverse effects because of the active ingredients. The range of side effects depend on the type of tea. Of course, not all plants are suitable for making teas. Teas of poor quality may contain impurities such as pesticides and microorganisms. Tea is usually better tolerated and milder than coffee.
