Herbal Tea Health Benefits

Visit a health store and you'll find there's an herb for every ailment. Now, most are taken in pill form, but others are consumed as teas.

Herbal teas have been used for thousands of years. Okay, so let's say I have an upset stomach. What does the doctor recommend? Here's what Dr. Varro E. Tyler, an expert in herbal medicines suggests.

Dr. Varro Tyler: Chamomile, which is a little daisy-like flower, and has been used for centuries particularly in Europe, as an anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic. So, you can make a very strong tea from it, and it's quite beneficial for upset stomach, for spasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Very effective. A couple of years ago in Europe it was voted as herbal medicine of the year.

Allen: That sounds like quite an herb, and what an endorsement. And to think, it's actually pleasant to drink. Seems like there are teas for everything, one for insomnia, appropriately called "Sleepy time". And one made from rose hips, the fruit of the rose. These are loaded with vitamin C. And feverfew, even though it has a funny name it's a kind of chrysanthemum and when taken as a tea it can have a powerful effect.

Dr. Tyler: Feverfew has attained a considerable reputation in moderating the severity of migraine headache, vascular headache, and in extending the periods between the attack.

Allen: There are certainly a lot of herbal teas and blends to choose from, and what a pleasant way to take medicine.