Herbal tea isn’t really made from tea—which is a specific kind of plant. The French use the word tisane, which is a little more accurate, since herbal tea is really just an infusion of leaves, seeds, roots or bark, extracted in hot water. In drinking a well-steeped herbal tea, we get all the plant’s benefits in an easily digestible form.
When it comes to choosing a herbal tea, it’s important to look for a well-sourced product made from high-quality ingredients. If you’re drinking tea for the medicinal benefits, then definitely steer clear of products that add things like essential oils or flavours. And to really get the full benefits from drinking herbal tea, make sure you steep your loose tea long enough—in some cases, as long as 15 to 20 minutes to really bring out all the healthful properties.
Anytime you’re ingesting something, you’re giving your body the building blocks it needs to manufacture tissues and hormones,” says Toronto-based herbalist Marcia Dixon. ‘If you drink tea every day, you can make all sorts of significant changes to your mood, your skin, your sense of well-being and energy.”