Drinking strawberry tea is a deliciously fruity beverage that can impart a number of health benefits when prepared properly.
What is Strawberry Tea?
Strawberry tea is an herbal tea brewed using the leaves of the wild strawberry, scientifically known as Fragaria vesca. Also called a mountain strawberry or alpine strawberry, unlike the common strawberries found in grocery stores, the medicinal part of this fruit is the leaves. Some other variations of this tea consist of regular white or black tea that is sweetened with strawberries or even using the fruit themselves to brew the tea. However, the type of strawberry tea discussed in the remainder of this article is made from the fragrant dried leaves, resulting in a warm, relaxing tea that tastes surprisingly like strawberries! [1]
One way of making strawberry tea is simply by using water, green tea, fresh strawberries, and honey. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
How to Make Strawberry Tea
You can make your own strawberry tea at home quite easily, provided you can find dried wild strawberry leaves from a herbalist or natural grocer. Let’s take a look at the recipe below.
Strawberry Tea Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried strawberry leaves or
- 1/2-1/4 cup fresh strawberry chopped
- 4 cups water
- 4 teabags
- 2 tsp honey/ any other sweetener of your choice optional
Instructions
- To make strawberry tea, Mix water and 1/4- 1/2 cup strawberries in a saucepan and gradually bring to a boil. If you are using dried strawberry leaves, then bring water to a boil separately and add 2 teaspoons of dried strawberry leaves to an infuser or teapot.
- Pour the hot water over the leaves and steep for 10 minutes.
- Strain out the leaves and serve warm.
- If iced tea is desired, pour the tea over ice cubes and store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Strawberry Tea Benefits
Drinking strawberry tea may help in providing relief from diarrhea, and inflammatory issues. It may have the potential to protect bone mineral density and heart health.
Read on for the top benefits of strawberry tea include the following:
- It may have diuretic effects and the ability to stabilize the digestive tract by reducing the occurrence of diarrhea.
- Strawberry tea may help reduce chronic inflammation and lower your risks of chronic diseases. This might be due to the presence of tannins, anthocyanins, and other antioxidants found in these leaves, [2]
- Studies have also shown that regularly drinking this tea may help improve your bone mineral density by improving calcium uptake
- Strawberry tea may provide your metabolism a boost, thus helping with weight loss efforts.
- Research has also proven that this tea may boost endothelial function and integrity, which might help protect heart health! [3]
Side Effects
If you consume strawberry tea in excess, it may have some unwanted side effects, including the following: [4]
- Gastrointestinal upset
- Cramping
- Constipation
- Bleeding disorders, since it is blood-thinning in nature
Finally, it is generally safe to drink this tea while pregnant, but as always, it is important to speak with your doctor before adding any herbal remedies to your health regimen during pregnancy.
