Laxative Tea
Interesting Facts About Laxative Tea
For hundreds of years, people have looked to laxative tea to help cure their irregularity and constipation problems. This tea is created from only utilizing natural ingredients to help encourage bowel movements as well as help to improve your overall health.
The healthy benefits from drinking laxative tea are attributed to senna, the tea's primary natural ingredient. Senna comes from the leaf of a short shrub that is native to arid environments such as India and Africa. This herb has been used for over 1,000 years to relieve constipation by Asian and Arabic cultures.
Effects
There are a number of additional herbs that can also be added to laxative tea to act as a complimentary element to the effects that senna offers. Rhubarb root works as a milder laxative while ginger will often be added to help aid with digestion as well as alleviate any stomach cramping. Other popular added ingredients are licorice root, fennel, coriander and white mulberry. These ingredients work together to not only greatly improve the tea's taste but also to provide healthy benefits to your digestive system.
Dosage
Many types of laxative tea will offer a recommendation of drinking a cup once per day to help promote regularity however, other experts will advise to not consume this product for any length of time. Typically the tea will require anywhere from 6 to 12 hours to cause a bowel movement to occur. Due to this lengthy time frame, it is usually advised to drink your cup of tea close to bedtime to schedule a morning relief. Children dosages should be cut in half and there have been reported cases of death occurring in children that ingested this tea.
Myths
Many people assume that they can use laxative tea as a weight loss supplement however, this is only a myth. The senna herb only stimulates your large intestine, not the small one so it is only aiding your body to remove waste long after most calories from the food have already been absorbed.
Side Effects
Senna can bring with it a few unwanted side effects so laxative tea should only be used in small amounts and never taken for longer than a week at a time. Diarrhea is the most common unfortunate side effect that is associated with senna. This herb is potent so even in small amounts it can cause this to result. If it is taken in large amounts you may experience severe abdominal cramping along with nausea and your urine may turn brown or red. Extended use can result in dependency so you would then become constipated without the laxative since your body relies on it.
Laxative tea can aggravate ulcers, colitis, Crohn's disease, gastrointestinal cancer and diverticular disease. Also, it is not recommended for individuals with kidney disease, liver disease or congestive heart failure.
Using senna for prolonged periods of time can result in a softening and weakening of your bones as well as a progressive joint disease. It can also cause weakness, fatigue, muscle wasting and can decrease your potassium and electrolyte levels dangerously low.
Licorice Root Laxative Tea
To make licorice root laxative tea you will want to add one tablespoon of broken licorice root, which is a mild laxative, per one cup of boiling water. Boil this, uncovered for about an hour or so. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool completely and then strain. If the taste of this is a bit too strong for you to stomach, you can try adding just a bit of grape or apple juice prior to drinking to help with the flavoring.