Healing Teas: A Practical Guide to the Medicinal Teas of the World -- from Chamomile to Garlic, from Essiac to Kombucha - Softcover

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Marie Nadine Antol has more than 15 titles to her credit, including Healing Teas, The Incredible Secrets of Mustard, and Confessions of a Coffee Bean. She lives in the Los Angeles area.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I AM DEEPLY INDEBTED to the following people for sharing their expertise on various healing tea protocols:

First and foremost, I am most particularly grateful to Morgana, proprietress and guiding light of The Raven of Venice, California. She was my primary consultant on the American and European brewing herbs that comprise most of the healing teas in this book. Her vast knowlege of herbology, coupled with her long experience in dispensing the very finest of brewing herbs through her shop, made her counsel invaluable. Morgana not only read the manuscript with her expert eye, she provided some very real insight on a number of teas that I might have missed. This book is much, much richer than it would have been had she not been kind enough to give me so much time.

Thanks also go to the staff members at the Ayurvedic Health Center of Pacific Palisades, California, for supplying me with so much information on East Indian teas and the traditional healing herbs of India, and for a guided tour of their impressive facility.

My experienced consultant on the centuries-old whole-body tonic teas of China was James Rea-Bailey, who dispenses knowledge and Chinese healing teas at the Tea Garden Herbal Emporium of Venice and West Hollywood, California. His willingness to take time to discuss these sustaining and health-promoting teas with me is very much appreciated.

I appreciate, too, the efforts of David Porrello at Avery Publishing, who labored to make the measurements in this book consistent and accurate.

PREFACE

MY LOVE AFFAIR with tea began a very long time ago. I not only enjoy teas of all kinds, I appreciate their gentle effects. The earliest “treatment” my mother applied when one of us felt ill was a “nice cup of tea.” She believed there was nothing a good brew couldn’t fix. Considering everything I’ve discovered in the past twenty years, it seems as if mother was right.

Many years ago, I became personally interested in the healing power of teas. At that time, my niece experienced a dramatic turnaround in her health through diet and herb teas. Nutrition’s role in health was not being discussed much back in the early ’70s. I began to wonder what else medical science might have missed. Thus began my lifelong investigation of natural medicinals.

I have often wished for a book that included good basic information on healing teas. I’ve done a lot of research and have yet to find a single source that told me everything I needed to know. It’s taken me a long time to piece everything together. In one way or another, in a purely personal “family” way, I’ve been “working” on this material for over twenty years now.

My immediate family has benefited countless times from a combination of healing teas and modern medicine. All four of my adult children still call home for advice on natural medicinals whenever something goes wrong. I’m a grandmother now. My small Number One (and only) grandson has already benefited from sips of some of Gramma’s healing brews. I hope you’ll also benefit from what you’ll learn in this book.

To those of you seeking solid information on the healing teas, this book is the answer. Part I encompasses a history of teas, including traditional teas, herbal teas, and healing teas, plus a whole lot more. In Chapter 1, Traditional Sipping Teas, you’ll learn about the first cup of tea—brewed 5,000 years ago by an Emperor of China—as well as the ancient and quite beautiful Japanese tea ceremony, and the extravagant high teas of British royalty.

Although it’s difficult to describe an appeal that’s purely personal and necessarily subjective, I’ll try to tell you what various teas taste like. From the traditional teas—like Earl Gray and English (or Irish) Breakfast—to the light and delicious herbal blends, I’ll give you an inkling of what to expect with your first sip. If you’re already a tea drinker, maybe you haven’t yet sampled all the varieties available. If you think you don’t like tea, I’m betting that you just haven’t hit on the right blend yet. Either way, this chapter may encourage you to try something new in the sipping teas.

In Chapter 2, Traditional Healing Teas, I’ll give you a look at the long history of healing teas, so ancient that their use predates recorded history, and show you how these time-tested medicinals can serve a useful place in your life. I’ll walk you through old China and the Ayurvedic healing system of India. You’ll look through a window into the past and see how the Greeks, Romans, and Middle Eastern peoples traditionally used healing teas. Then we’ll trek on into medieval Europe and the British Isles before booking passage across the sea to Colonial America, which includes a glimpse into how the native American medicinals and old European remedies intermingled. Expect a side excursion down to South America. I’ll even give you a look at the macrobiotic teas that have come to us from Japan.

In Chapter 3, Healing Teas Today, you’ll see how ancient and modern come together. Here’s where you’ll learn of the instances where science has validated the old beliefs. You probably already know that the science of compounding natural medicinals predates orthodox medicine by millennia. There are many, many pharmaceutical drugs in use today that originated in a steaming cup of healing tea. I’ll tell you how the progression of events has brought us to the stage where we are today.

You may be surprised to learn that today, alternative medical systems like herbology, homeopathy, chiropractic, apitherapy, and the time-tested Chinese and Ayurvedic methods of healing are slowly but surely being welcomed as complementary treatments that support allopathic (orthodox) medicine. It’s no longer an either/or approach to healing.

For example, in Hong Kong, the locals routinely visit health centers where allopathic and alternative practitioners work side by side. In mainland China, where the old ways long prevailed, Western medicine isn’t the stepchild any longer. In this broad-based approach to health care, the watchword is “whatever works.” Such treatment centers are springing up in many areas of the United States. If your area does not have a facility in which Eastern and Western medicine are friends, you can still take advantage of a bit of the ancient wisdom simply by using some of the healing teas you’ll learn about in this book.

You will also find various methods of preparing healing teas at home, including making infusions and decoctions, but we won’t stop there. I’ll also give you some of the old “receipts” for making everything from poultices to salves to sitz baths.

In Chapter 4, Shopping for Healing Teas, I’ll introduce and explain the terms that are used to describe the properties of various herbs. Once you know the jargon, you’ll easily be able to match an herb with its action when you’re standing in a store looking at boxes upon boxes of various dried herb parts.

You’ll also find some general guidelines for buying everything from tea bags targeted for specific ailments, to the herbal blends designed to taste good while they soothe and relax, to the dried herb parts you’ll need to blend and brew your own remedies. I’ll tell you what to look for—and what to watch out for—when making your selections. I’ll introduce you to some preblended medicinal teas that have been prepared according to the ancient formulas, as well as some up-to-the-minute blends. I’ll also tell you the many advantages of using the whole herbs instead of extracted...