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Since I wrote about the benefits of peppermint last week, I will now feature chamomile (a/k/a camomile), another tea in my mother's arsenal of heath remedies. Not only was I given a cup to cure the flu, Mom sometimes used a chamomile tea wash to soothe skin conditions like a winter's rash.
Chamomile is an aromatic European herb of the daisy family. The white and yellow daisy-like flowers are dried and often infused into a tea. Two types of chamomile are used to promote health: German chamomile (Matricaria retutica) and Roman (or English) chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile). German chamomile is the more popular and studied of the two.
Chamomile tea is used to calm maladies, such as an upset stomach, hay fever, migraines, inflammation, menstrual cramps, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers, muscle spasms and insomnia.
Medical studies suggest, chamomile boosts immunities. It has properties to ward off colds, as well as, breast and thyroid cancers. Rubbed topically on minor scrapes and burns seems to speed up healing.
Chamomile is also added to skin serum and moisturizers. Reportedly, its anti-inflammatory properties slow down the aging process and brightens the skin.
Like essential oils, the chamomile flower has antioxides and anti-fungal properties. As an essential oil, chamomile can be diluted with water to kill germs on household surfaces.
Chamomile has a subtle pleasent scent and a mild, slightly sweet taste when brewed as a tea. Worth its space in the pantry!
Chamomile has a subtle pleasent scent and a mild, slightly sweet taste when brewed as a tea. Worth its space in the pantry!
What a great post. I have drunk chamomile tea each night for about twenty years, and love it, although can't even remember what started me on it! Unfortunately it did not ward off the breast cancer, but then it might have helped to keep it at a low level, thus saving my life. Even its flowers are useful, so attractive and cute.
ReplyDeleteHi Trish,
DeleteYou know, I learn alot from blogging. I didn't know there were German and Roman (or English) chamomile. My Mom bought our tea from a German company so I'm sure we drank the German variey. Yesterday, I bought a box of chamomile tea bags from Zoetic Infusions, an Australian company - 25 bags for $3. It's good too.
So glad you now have a clean bill of health!
This reminds me of the "infusion" or "tisane" that was part of my French childhood and still very popular today.
ReplyDeleteThere's a wonderful scene in the musical "Gigi" where Gaston stops by to visit Gigi and her family and asks for a cup of her grandmother's wonderful chamomile tea, which he says is the best he's ever had. That is actually in the original novel by Colette, one of my favorite French writers.
Cheers, M-T
Sounds like a charming scene. I will have to re-watch the movie! I last saw it as a child. Unfortunately, with the rise of the internet television doesn't show old movies anymore.😕
DeleteKeep an eye out for it, Debra. It pops up occasionally. It's well worth seeing again. Leslie Caron, who stars in the role of Gigi, a young school girl who comes of age, was actually a married woman who had just given birth to her first child when she made that film. Just a bit of fun trivia.
DeleteCheers, M-T
Will do, M-T!
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