Here’s Why You Should Drink Rose Tea
Roses are flowers with cultural, health, and aesthetic value. Among other benefits, not many people know about rose petals. This is extensively helpful to skin health. First, it can fight harmful bacteria and hence get rid of acne. Secondly, they are phenolic and promote anti-ageing, and can hence get rid of wrinkles. Thirdly, you can add this to other ingredients to cure a sore throat. One of the most popular way to consume rose flowers are in a concoction or tea.
Rose tea is an aromatic herbal drink which comes from rose petals and buds. It offers a number of benefits and is thus a valuable alternative to regular tea or coffee. Here are some of these.
Caffeine-Free Alternative
Caffeine is a compound present in a number of beverages – most commonly being tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. It’s true that caffeine comes with various benefits to the body. For instance, it can raise alertness, energy levels, and lower fatigue. However, it can also raise blood pressure and anxiety levels. Perhaps thus is why Here’s where rose tea comes in. Being naturally caffeine-free, it creates a soothing effect on your body and prevents the jitters. In this manner, you can use this as a substitute to other high-caffeine drinks.
Having said so, it’s important to know that most rose tea blends are a mix of regular tea and rose petals. Hence, while they may provide the benefits of rose petals, caffeine still exists (although typically in traces) alongside. Hence, be sure to check nutrition labels if you’re buying a rose tea blend. Whenever possible, try going for 100% rose petal tea to go caffeine-free.
Hyderation and Weight Loss
Dehydration ranks among the most common complaints of people across age groups. This is especially an issue if you live in a hot or tropical country. In most cases, severe dehydration can cause fatigue, headaches, skin problems, muscle cramps, among other issues. Unfortunately, many people struggle with drinking enough water during the day. And that’s why a light and flavourful beverage like rose tea can help you meet your water needs.
Alongside other benefits, water can aid weight loss by giving you a metabolism boost. For instance, research shows that just 17 ounces of water (500 ml) can boost your metabolism levels by upto 30%. Furthermore, evidence suggests that drinking water before meals can lower calorie intake and make you feel fuller, thus aiding weight loss. Finally, it can keep your excretory system functioning smoothly and prevent kidney stone formation.
Antioxidant Content
Our skin is often prone to damage by free radical activity. These are compounds which cause cell damage and oxidative stress, thus leading to various ailments such as early ageing. Luckily, antioxidants present in many foods can fight free radicals. For instance, rose tea contains polyphenols act as a key antioxidant source. Hence, it can prevent cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Further, it can protect your brain from degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Various studies involving rose tea confirm these effects. Firstly, a study among 12 cultivators finds that rose tea has a greater or equal phenol content to green tea. Secondly, another study by Wiley finds that rose tea is high in gallic acid (10-15% of total phenol content). Hence, this can fight cancer, microbes, and inflammation. It carries certain analgesic effects as well.
Moreover, the tea is rich in anthocyanins, which makes up 10% of phenol content. These are pigments which improve excretory and eye health, memory, ageing, and can lower cancer risk in some cases too. However, the heat of such water can hinder extraction of these antioxidants. In fact, rose petals contain higher antioxidant levels (30-50%) than those in rose tea.
Menstrual Health
Two studies by PubMed central find that menstrual pain and cramps affects nearly 50% of female subjects. Further, this often comes with fatigue, back pain, dizziness, or diarrhoea during medication. While over-the-counter medication can help, this often comes with long-term side effects. Hence, alternative or natural cures are more preferable – rose tea is a brilliant example. For instance, one study considers the effects of rose tea among 130 teenage Taiwanese students. One group of participants drink 2 cups of rose tea everyday for 3 weeks, one week prior to their period for 6 menstrual cycles. In contrast to the control group, the test subjects had lesser pain and higher psychological well-being.
Miscellaneous Benefits
Rose tea has a number of other benefits too. First, it provides mental benefits by treating seizures and dementia. Further, it can enable relaxation, stress reduction and provides antidepressant effects. Secondly, it contains antibacterial properties which can protect you from diseases. Similarly, it can lower the severity of allergic reactions as well. Thirdly, it can improve insulin resistance, as well as heart and liver health. However, it’s important to note that most of these benefits apply to rose extracts and not necessarily to rose tea. So, you may not see significant effects.
Preparing Rose Tea
You can use either fresh or dry rose petals to make rose tea. Most importantly, make sure that these petals are pesticide-free. So, try avoiding roses from flowers or nurseries, since these usually do not undergo treatment. First, to make rose tea with fresh petals, boil two cups of washed petals in 3 cups of water (700 ml) for 5 minutes. Then, strain the concoction into two teacups and wait for it to slightly cool before taking a sip.
Alternatively, if you’re using dry petals or buds, place 1 teaspoon of petals (or one bud) in a mug. Then, steep it in hot water for 10-20 minutes. Likewise, you may want to refer to the brewing time and temperature the brand recommends. In both cases, you can drink this tea as it is or with a sweetener such as honey or brown sugar. In most cases, you may want to skip this since it can counter the anti-diabetic effect. The final tea should have a subtle floral taste.
Takeaways
Rose tea is a warm and soothing caffeine-free beverage. It can help with hydration, weight loss, relaxation, anti-ageing, and can improve cardiac, liver, and menstrual health. Furthermore, it is easy to prepare at home using either rosebuds or petals (fresh or dry). However, do remember that the hot water of tea can destroy some of its antioxidant effects. So, you may wish to eat other antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables to supplement this.