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X Watch the video on youtubeImportant introduction
Products sold in herbal medicine, the draining herbal teas belong to the specific category of the so-called herbal products "adjuvants to low-calorie diets": for this reason it is important to remember that the draining herbal teas are ineffective if they are not included in the context of a slimming diet and a correct lifestyle.
Effects of draining herbal teas
A draining herbal tea must ensure, in addition to the diuretic action, also a good balance of salts: so here is an example.
Composition
The herbal teas, in general, are made up of several drugs, which can be classified into three categories, based on their "role": the "constens" elements are represented by the drugs that carry out the main action, the "adiuvans" embody instead the adjuvant remedies, while the "corrigens" represent the drugs that correct the taste and make the herbal tea more pleasant.
Example of a draining herbal tea
A draining herbal tea could be formulated with: orthosiphon, burdock and rooibos (costituens), aloe, artichoke (adiuvans), star anise, fennel and licorice (corrigens).
- Orthosiphon (O rthosiphon stamineus ): among the active ingredients extracted from the leaves we remember the terpenes, the phenyl propanes (derived from caffeic acid) and the sinensetin (flavone), which attribute to the drug antiseptic, disinfectant and diuretic properties. The orthosiphon performs its action decreasing water retention: consequently the perception of swelling decreases.
- Burdock ( Arctium lappa ): another "constituent" element, the burdock exerts its purifying action helping the body to eliminate waste, stimulates diuresis and is rich in minerals, indispensable for the body to maintain a good salt balance. Furthermore, burdock stimulates proper digestion.
- Rooibos ( Aspalathus linearis ): is a drug that, compared to Camellia sinensis tea, contains small amounts of caffeine and tannins, with a fair concentration of flavonoids. It exerts its action mainly as a diuretic and antioxidant.
- Aloe ( Aloe vera ): Aloe is characterized by heteropolysaccharides which would decrease the sense of hunger and protect the stomach. In this case, however, aloe is found in very small quantities, so it is not really correct to find it in an herbal tea.
- Artichoke ( Cynara scolymus ): helps correct digestion (eupeptic drug).
- Star anise ( Ilicium verum ) and fennel ( Foeniculum vulgare ): they are inserted in this herbal tea to correct the taste, but also to perform an eupeptic, therefore digestive, carminative and hepatoprotective action.
- Licorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra ): the saponins contained promote the gastroprotective activity, while the flavoniodes carry out eupeptic activity. Licorice is used to correct the bitter taste of herbal tea.
To make the herbal tea more pleasant, it is advisable to add fresh lemon juice: the contained vitamin C will also be useful for its antioxidant properties.
Tips and tricks
To make the herbal tea develop its effect to the maximum, improving the effectiveness of the product, the infusion should last for at least thirty minutes. Furthermore, care should be taken to keep the infusion container covered to prevent volatile substances from dispersing.
We recommend taking one or two cups of herbal tea based on burdock and orthosiphon a day.
To increase the action of the herbal tea, the intake of sodium in the diet should be reduced to 2 grams / day.
Like all natural products, even a draining herbal tea of this type has some contraindications: in fact, a person who suffers from kidney problems (stones or irritation of the glomerulus) should not take draining products. Even those suffering from hypertension, record a clear saline imbalance or suffer from constipation should avoid the consumption of draining infusions in general.
