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Today's topic
Hello and welcome to my weekly video blog. And today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I'm going to be talking a little bit about herb teas.
Last week, for those of you who were watching, all about water retention, I did mention that several herb teas were really good for this. And a lot of you on a regular basis are emailing me in wondering which herb teas are the best ones for the menopause. Now, there are simply loads of herb teas available.
You go into any health food shop and you're faced, probably with a big wall full of them, and it can be very puzzling as to which ones are the best ones. All I will say here is, if you're going to use herb teas, make sure that they contain the pure herb. A lot of really popular herb teas that you get today, especially those made by some of the big tea companies, they tend to have flavourings in them as well, which are not really particularly good, some of them.
But they can also defeat the whole purpose of taking a pure herb tea. So, always read the ingredients before you buy and drink the tea.
My favourite herb teas
What I thought I would do was tell you about my five favourite herb teas and then go through a few more herb teas that might be helpful for some of the main symptoms of the menopause.
1. My most favourite herb tea - Liquorice
Now, my most favourite herb tea is liquorice. Liquorice, it's one of these things that is a bit like Marmite, isn't it? People either love liquorice or they hate it. For me, I love it. I find that it's a very warming tea. It's a very satisfying tea. So if you're feeling a little bit peckish, it's lovely just to kind of fill that gap.
It's a nice one to take at night. It's a very relaxing tea. And one of the great things that liquorice does is it helps to support your nervous system. And we know that the nervous system is nearly always stressed during the menopause. So, anything, however slight that's going to help to support the nervous system is going to be of real benefit.
Liquorice is also slightly sweet, so if you're getting a few, sort of sugar cravings, it's something that you can drink, too. And it has phytoestrogens in it. So these are plant oestrogens. So although these are in very small quantities, they're all going to help with any of the low oestrogen symptoms. So it's certainly one that's worth trying if you like liquorice.
2. Ginger Tea
My number two favourite is ginger. Again, some people don't like ginger but for me, it's very warming. You know, up here in Scotland, especially in the wintertime, it can get really cold and it's lovely just to have that little bit of ginger. You can get some teas that have a little bit of honey in it too. Ginger as well is anti-inflammatory, so it's really good if you've got those awful joint aches and pains.
And ginger is great for nausea, and one of the things we've discovered is that nausea is a really common symptom in the menopause. A huge number of women end up suffering from it. So, a cup or two of ginger tea a day for that can be really great.
It's also good for your digestion, in general. So if you're getting a few digestive problems, then ginger may be of benefit.
If I have time, I like to make fresh ginger tea. It's quite easy, just the fact you have to let it simmer for a bit. You get a little piece of fresh ginger, maybe about this size, peel it, chop it, or grate it, add it to a cup or so of water in a pan, and let it simmer gently for maybe five minutes.
You can then strain it, and add either a little bit of honey, or a nice squeeze of lemon or lime juice, and I just love it. I find it so nice and soothing. And this is also a great drink if you start to get a little bit of a cold. It helps to heat you up and keep you nice and warm.
3. Green Tea
Number three on the list is green tea. Green tea is great because it's got a little bit of caffeine in it, so if you have given up ordinary tea, and there's still craving that little bit of a caffeine hit, then green tea can work wonders. It can just take the edge off things. And the nice thing today is that it's often blended with other things too. My favourite one of the green tea is, I found one that tastes just like Earl Grey tea which is one of my favourite ordinary teas.
So you can get lots of different flavourings with the green tea. It's also full of antioxidants and antioxidants are great for keeping ageing at bay. So again, it's a lovely one to add in to your daily drink regime.
4. Rooibos Tea
We've got number four, and that's rooibos tea. Rooibos tea, it's probably the nearest thing you will get to ordinary tea but without any caffeine in it at all.
So you would make it as you would make ordinary tea. You often get it in tea bags. You can add a little bit of milk, or soya milk, or rice milk, or whatever takes your fancy. And if you need a little bit of sweetening, then just a little bit of either stevia or honey. It's a nice satisfying tea and you can have that on a regular basis as well.
And I know, sometimes if I'm giving up ordinary tea, if I'm doing a little bit of a detox, then this helps to fill the gap. It makes me feel that bit better.
5. Chai Tea
And number five for me is chai, which is a combination of eastern spices in a tea mix, and you can get lots of different herb teas that are chai-flavoured.
Again, I love this one because it's a nice satisfying drink. You feel like you've had something to drink. I know some of the herb teas are quite watery and I find if I drink those, it's as if I've not really had anything, whereas chai, especially in the winter again, because it's nice and spicy and has a lovely aroma, you feel that you're drinking something really satisfying.
Other teas that can help
So that's my five favourites. Other teas that could be really great for some symptoms in the menopause will be as follows.
Solidago Tea
Last week, I spoke about Solidago tea. This is a really good one for those of you who missed it. If you're getting water retention, it can also help with general joint aches.
It's a nice joint cleanser, so it can be taken for that and you can take that every day if you wish.
Jan de Vries Tea
We've also got our own Jan de Vries Tea, which is a combination of different herbs. This is just a nice day-to-day herb tea that you can take again, on a regular basis.
Sage Tea
If you're suffering from minor flushes, if you just get the odd hot flush now and again, then you can have a cup or two of sage tea a day.
Nettle Tea
We've also got nettle tea, and nettle is great because it's a natural antihistamine. So this is going to work for all those of you that have the itchy skin. It's great again, if you've got a little bit of inflammation and soreness of the joints.
And it's a wonderful blood cleanser, so it's a nice one to take if you feel that you've maybe overindulged in a few things. It's a nice alkalizing tea. And again, that can be taken every day, too. It's one of the ones too, if you're getting a lot of breast tenderness or your breasts are getting really hard at certain times of the month, it can sometimes help to flush things out there too.
So it's a good one for those of you who're either experiencing that as you go through the menopause or for premenstrual breast tenderness and soreness as well.
Chamomile Tea
And we've also got chamomile tea, and this is probably one of the most favourite ones if you're having problems sleeping at night. You can take a cup mid-evening.
Now, as I said before, there are loads and loads of different herb teas today. They're becoming very popular and lots of women are finding them very beneficial during the menopause.
What I would love for those of you who've tried herb teas, if you have found a particular tea has really helped you in the menopause, I would love to hear about it and be able to share it because it could help other women as well.
So until next week, I will see you for another edition of A.Vogel Talks Menopause.
