Feeling stressed lately?

Stress is an awful feeling that affects us mentally and physically. Unfortunately, it is also very common. We get stressed at work, at home, and with other things that are important to us. However, too much stress can be very bad for one's health. It can lead to serious issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and others. 

So, what is the best way to lower stress levels? Fortunately, there are many ways to do that! But in this blog post, I'll be sharing one that's small but effective—drinking chamomile tea!

But to drink chamomile tea, one must learn how to make it. That's what we're going to do. 

Read on so we can start!

What is Chamomile tea? 

Chamomile tea is an herbal tea or infusion made from dried chamomile flowers. It's been used for so many years in traditional medicine to relieve anxiety and soothe an upset stomach. The reason why it's so popular as a calming beverage is because it contains sedative properties that help us calm down and feel relaxed. This is also why chamomile is often referred to as "sleepy tea" or "sleepytime tea". 

What are the health benefits of Chamomile tea? 

There are plenty of reasons why we should drink Chamomile tea. It's recognized for its sleep-inducing abilities but it's got other tricks up its sleeve as well that will improve our quality of life. 

Here are the following health benefits of drinking chamomile tea: 

1. Helps improve sleep and experience relaxation

One of the best benefits of drinking chamomile tea is having an improved sleep quality. It's common knowledge that chamomile tea is pretty good at helping people relax. When we're relaxed, we tend to sleep a lot easier. One study even claimed that chamomile tea may be as effective as benzodiazepine, prescription drugs that reduce anxiety and generate sleepiness. 

2. Lowers blood sugar levels

If there's a natural way to treat diabetes, this might be one of them. Chamomile tea contains properties that may contribute to lowering the blood sugar levels of people with diabetes. So if you're trying to maintain a healthy diet to manage your blood sugar, don't forget to add chamomile tea to your list of beverages! 

3. Relieves or reduces menstrual pain

Period cramps are the worst! Lots of women experience menstrual pain. Fortunately, chamomile tea might be able to help. One study showed that drinking chamomile tea for a month can help reduce the pain of menstrual cramps. 

4. It's caffeine-free

Hello chamomile, goodbye insomnia? Chamomile tea has zero caffeine in it so you can enjoy it freely wherever or whenever! You can drink it in the evenings without having to worry about it keeping you up all night. It's the perfect drink to help you get sweet dreams. 

How to prepare Chamomile tea

Making chamomile tea is pretty easy. But remember, you always need to consider the dried chamomile flowers that you're going to use and even the quality of the water that you're going to steep it in. To experience the best kind of chamomile tea, you must have the finest ingredients. 

Also, you will be needing a kettle and a teapot to make your herbal tea. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 teaspoon dried chamomile flowers (you can use teabags too, but flowers will give you the real deal) 
• 1 cup filtered water (plus more to warm the teapot) 

Directions:

1. Boil water up to 100°C. Use more water than needed to warm the teapot. 
2. Pour excess hot water into the teapot. Swirl it around before discarding the water. This is to ensure that the steeped tea remains warm. 
3. Add the dried chamomile flowers and remaining hot water to the teapot. Cover and steep for 5 mins.
4. Strain the flowers and pour the tea into a cup.
5. Enjoy!

Tip: If you want to enhance the taste of your chamomile tea, feel free to add a bit of honey or maple syrup (for sweetening) and a tinge of lemon juice. According to some sources, adding honey and lemon might help enhance the health benefits of the tea. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are other chamomile tea recipes can I try? 

There are many chamomile tea recipes out there that you can play with. There's chamomile tea latte, chamomile iced tea, lavender-chamomile herbal tea, ginger-chamomile tea, and many others. Chamomile is one of the best teas to partner with other types of teas. 

2. Is it okay to be drinking chamomile tea during pregnancy? 

Drinking chamomile tea while pregnant is discouraged until there's more evidence of its safety. There were previous studies that showed results of pregnant women who drank chamomile tea in their third trimester had given birth to their babies earlier. It is also linked to incidents of giving birth to shorter babies or those with lower birth weight. However, these still lack sufficient medical backing. The best thing to do is to consult your obstetrician first just to make sure. 

3. How often should I drink chamomile tea?

You can drink chamomile tea any day. It's caffeine-free so you wouldn't have to worry about caffeine's side effects. However, it's best to consume it at the end of the day or before you go to sleep. It will help you relax and might make you sleepy so drinking it before work or class may not be such a good idea (although it'll help you relax).