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Wednesday 6 January 2016

Therapeutic Benefits of Rose Tea

Having received a fresh package of Siberian Rose tea I was anxious to have a cup.  I remember the sweet, gentle aroma from when I first tried it.  It needs to sweeteners, as they can take away from the pure experience and taste of roses.
I quickly filled up my tea pot with water and got it going.  By the way, there are times when it is best not to actually boil your water when making tea, because when the water is too hot it can make almost any tea taste bitter.  Your goal is to bring it to the point when air bubbles start rushing up to the top, only seconds away from reaching the boiling point, and to remove the water from the source of heat.  I hope I just taught you something new :).  Having a brother who is truly addicted to black tea taught me a couple of things.
So, back to my story.  Having heated the water I picked out a few roses–enough for a few cups of tea, placed them in a French Press and filled the press up with water.  Less than a minute later the tea was ready, so I and hubby indulged in a cup each.  But it was SOOO good, so I had to have more.  By then, the roses brewed a bit longer, releasing even more of their goodness, so the tea was stronger [not with caffeine, but with vitamins found in roses].  We went to bed as usual–all things good.  I got up at around 4 am to use the restroom.  [Warning: if you don’t like discussing bowel movements, skip this part, but I promise not to be too graphic :).]  Was I in for a surprise when I heard noises escaping my stomach that I have not heard in ages!  Normally, because I drink lots of water, if I have to get up in the middle of the night, I am back to bed in seconds… not this time.  I ended up having diarrhea… WHAT?!
My first thought was: What did I eat that could have caused it?!  The answer was: NOTHING!  Everything was homemade, fresh, highest quality, and hubby ate same foods and had no problems.  So, I had to look at what we had that was different.  There was only one thing–I had more rose tea than he, and my second cup was very strong.  But, it was 4 am and I was not about to get online to see if my hunch was correct.  I was just hoping that I did not catch some bug at the gym, like stomach flu.  Interestingly enough, after getting up two more times in the 30 minutes that followed, I was able to fall asleep and had no more issues.  No stomach flu for me!!!
So was my hunch correct?  Could rose tea cause a looser stool?
[If you are cringing by now, I am sorry ;), but what could bring people closer together than discussing bowel movements?! ;)]
Here is what I was able to dig up from different sites.  I am adding personal thoughts in parenthesis.

10 Extraordinary Medicinal Uses for Rose Tea:

“Because of the medicinal properties of rose, it is widely used in Ayurveda medicine. One cup of fresh rose hips has the equivalent amount of vitamin C in 60 oranges [I would have to look for ways to confirm this, but for now, let’s just take this statement for what it is]. Rose tea (tea made with rose petals and hips) is not a new idea. Here are 10 extraordinary health benefits of rose tea.
The reasons for the diuretic effects of the roses are they contain Vitamin C, pectin, malic and citric acids.”
  1. It clears toxins and heat from the body. As a result it has a cooling effect on the body.
  2. It can relieve from sore throat, runny nose and blocked bronchial tubes.
  3. It is useful to people those prone to chest problems by fighting against infections.
  4. Rose tea helps to fight the infection in the digestive tract and re-establish the normal bacterial population of the intestines.
  5. It relieves fluid retention and hastens the elimination of wastes through kidneys.
  6. It is a wonderful remedy for dysentery, diarrhea and gastro enteritis.
  7. It is a laxative. It works as a remedy for all liver problems including sluggishness and constipation. [ding, ding, ding… the bells are going off!]
  8. It cleanses the liver and gall bladder and promotes bile flow.
  9. Rose petal tea can be used to relieve uterine congestion causing pain and heavy periods. It is an excellent remedy for irregular periods and infertility.
  10. It has an uplifting effect on the nervous system and can relieve insomnia, depression and fatigue.
So far it seems that my hunch was correct.  Next on my list was checking to see what would the possible side effects be of consuming too much Vitamin C at once.  According to Mayo Clinic, too much of Vitamin C can cause… ready for this?… Diarrhea.  No worry, it is not harmful at all.  Our body does not store Vitamin C and flushes out excess, so even if I truly had too much Vitamin C there was one good thing that came out of it–I feel cleansed internally :).  I actually did fee like I lost a pound overnight.  No complains in my department at all, but now I know what to expect next time I have too much rose tea.

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