Some people use laxative tea to help relieve their constipation problems, but there are a few things to understand before brewing yourself a pot.
What is Laxative Tea?
Laxative tea is a general term for herbal teas that can relieve constipation and stimulate digestion or speed the emptying of your bowels. These laxative teas come in a few different varieties, including bulk laxatives, purgatives, and mild herbal remedies. [1]
Types of Laxative Tea
- Bulk laxatives: These type of teas work by increasing the volume of food in the small intestine, which can stimulate peristaltic motion and induce excretion.
- Purgatives: These kinds of tea are much more powerful and are commonly found in laxative supplements or products that can be purchased at the store.
- Mild herbal teas: They do not bulk up the stool, but they can stimulate the movement of food through the bowels. Herbal teas include brewing teas with dandelion root, green tea, chickweed, psyllium, flaxseed, senna, black root, aloe, rhubarb or buckthorn. [2]
Laxative teas do work, but depending on the cause of your constipation, some approaches may be more successful than others.
Calendula tea is an herbal infusion that helps in boosting the immunity and detoxifying the body. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Laxative Tea Benefits
The best benefits of laxative tea include a reduction in constipation, weight loss, reduce inflammation, increase energy levels and improve heart health, among various others.
Constipation
The primary reason why people use these teas is to stimulate digestion and relieve the inflammation and discomfort of constipation. [3]
Weight Loss
Clearing out the gut and improving nutrient absorption and digestion can help the body work more efficiently, leading to weight loss. [4]
Detoxify
When you are backed up, your liver will be working overtime, producing strain and inflammation, but these teas can remedy those internal issues. [5]
Antioxidant
Many of these popular teas not only stimulate digestion but also reduce oxidative stress and lower the risk of chronic disease. [6]
Energy Levels
Being constipated can make you sluggish and more prone to a sedentary lifestyle; a laxative tea can give you an energetic burst.
Heart Health
Aside from being digestive aids, many of these teas can lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
How to Make Laxative Tea?
One very popular laxative tea uses psyllium seeds, which is known to be high in fiber and swell in size within the body. This will stimulate the bowels to move more rapidly and empty your gut. Other herbal teas, such as dandelion root, senna or chickweed, can be brewed like normal tea. Let us take a look at the recipe below.
Laxative Tea Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-3 tbsp of psyllium seeds
- 8 ounces of water
- 1 tsp of honey (optional)
Instructions
- To make laxative tea, crush 2-3 tablespoons of psyllium seeds into a powder.
- Add this to 8 ounces of water and stir as the powder dissolves.
- Drink this tea immediately, or the consistency will become much less pleasant. You can add a teaspoon of honey to the tea to enhance the taste if you prefer to do so.
Notes
Drinking laxative tea is a good way to relieve constipation, but it shouldn’t be an everyday habit, as the body can become dependent on a laxative, which may worsen your constipation symptoms in the future.
Side Effects of Laxative Tea
The side effects of laxative tea, particularly when consumed too often, include lethargy, fatigue, and hunger pangs. If you are emptying your bowels too rapidly or frequently, your body won’t have time to absorb all of the necessary nutrients, which can cause energy levels to plunge and complicate your hormonal levels, as well as metabolic processes. It is best to think of these teas as remedies, not long-term health strategies. [7]
Also, consider where you will be and what you will be doing after drinking a laxative tea, as more powerful ones can cause a very urgent need for the bathroom, without giving much notice.
