pregnancy tea blend

Pregnancy Tea

This herbal tea combination is meant to be a soothing comfort tea with herbs that are safe and beneficial to a healthy baby. There is lots of love in this tea. I made sure all the herbs in this blend were well researched and ones that have been used for nurturing women and their little ones for centuries. All the herbs in this blend are organic and some of them have been wild crafted by myself.

Ingredients:
Raspberry leaf
Rose Hips
German Chamomile
Nettle
Ginger with pure maple
Scullcap


Raspberry leaf: Rubus Idaeus

This raspberry leaf tea was hand picked by myself with lots of love and cleanliness. These are home grown beauties from right next door, all organic.

Raspberry leaf has been used as a uterine tonic for a very long time. This native plant has been commonly used by the following Native American tribes: The Chippewa, Cherokee, Iroquois, Kwakiutl and Quinalt. (Beckstrom-Sternberg et al 1995).

This culturally established plant is also well known in the scientific world. It is full of vitamins A, C, E and some B. Also it is a great source of calcium and iron, two very important minerals for mama and baby alike. Also raspberry leaf contains tannins, which help reduce inflammation gently.


Rose Hips: Rosa Canina

It is well known that rose hips are full of vitamin C. Weight to weight, rose hips have about 10 times more vitamin C than oranges. They are also full of vitamins E, D, A and K as well as Bioflavinoids. They also contain calcium, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium.

An interesting study in Germany found that rose hip extract inhibits lipid oxidation in vitro. Also, rose hip treated patients suffering from osteoarthritis reported that physical symptoms declined. Furthermore, data from a randomized controlled trial indicated not only that pain significantly declined but also flexion of the hip improved in this study’s active group. (Rossnagel , 2001) Rose hips are a powerful medcicine, but yet so very gentle and nourishing for your body as well.

German Chamomile: Matricaria recutita

Commonly known to be a soothing herb great for winding down and for being safe enough to drink every day even during pregnancy. This herb also has many other medicinal uses that may be less commonly known yet very potent. The Egyptians, Romans and the Greeks used this herb thousands of years ago and has been scientifically validated for curing the following: chest colds, absesses, gum disease, anxiety (Cauffield,1999), insomnia (Gyllenhaal, 2000) and minor burns. German chamomile also has antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties.


Stinging Nettle: Urtica dioica

This was also an herb that my boyfriend and I wildcrafted. This is no ordinary plant you can just grab, it has tiny little hairs with droplets at the end of formic acid, the same stuff that ants have when they bite you. Once it dries, it is a mineral dense plant. Very full of chlorophyll and a high amount of iron. This herb is best known for its ability to tonify your urinary tract. It helps improve urine flow, reduces urinary frequency and nocturia. (Hoffman, 2003)

Ginger: Zingiber officinale

We made a ginger maple syrup by dicing up lots of ginger and letting it masurate in only the finest maple syrup for about 5 months. After pressing off the ginger we baked it just long enough to be dry to keep. This ginger is perfect because the spicy bite has been softened by maple. All that is left is medicinal constituents that have been proven to reduce the instance of nausea caused by morning sickness. (Apariman, et. al. 2003)

Scullcap: Scutellaria lateriflora




Sources

CRC Handbook of Medicinal Mints Aromathematics Phytochemicals, Beckstrom-Sternberg et al. 1995. Boca Raton CRC Press.

Value of complementary medicine exemplified by rose-hips, Rossnagel K, Willich SN. Institut fur Sozialmedizin und Epidemiologie, Universitatsklinikum Charite, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. Gesundheitswesen 2001 Jun; 63(6):412-6.

Cauffield JS, Forbes HJM. Dietary supplements used in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. Lippincott's Primary Care Practice. 1999;3(3):290-304.

Ernst E, ed. The Desktop Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine: An Evidence-Based Approach. New York, NY: Mosby;2001:110-112.
Foster S, Tyler VE. Tyler's Honest Herbal. New York, NY: The Haworth Herbal Press; 1999:105-108, 399.

Gyllenhaal C. Efficacy and safety of herbal stimulants and sedatives in sleep disorders. Sleep Med Rev. 2000;4(2).

Mazokopakis EE, Vrentzos GE, Papadakis JA, et al. Wild chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) mouthwashes in methotrexate-induced oral mucositis. Phytomedicine. 2005 Jan;12(1-2):25-7.

Hoffman, David. Medical Herbalism. Rochester, Healings Arts Press; 2003
Apariman S, Ratchanon S, Wiriyasirivej B. Effectiveness of ginger for prevention of nausea and vomiting after gynecological laparoscopy. J Med Assoc Thai. 2006;89(12):2003-9.