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Lemongrass Tea Health Benefits

Read on to know the benefits of lemongrass tea that can help you to lead an overall healthy life.
Bidisha Mukherjee
The scientific name of lemongrass is Cymbopogon. This herb is native to India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asian countries. It can be identified with its tall, striped leaves with a fresh lemon-citrus fragrance.
Lemongrass tea is available in the form of tea bags that consist of dried lemongrass leaves. Lemongrass tea is a rich source of nutritious substances: vitamin A, C and folate, minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium and a good amount of fatty acids. Lemongrass tea health benefits are mainly owing to all these nutritional components.

Health Benefits of Lemongrass Tea

Lemongrass tea is good for the digestive system. It contains an active ingredient named Citral which helps in digestion of food. Thus it can be used for treating common gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, bloating, nausea, stomach cramps, etc.
Lemongrass tea is highly beneficial for the nervous system. It makes the nerves stronger and keeps them active and healthy. Thus, it is used for treating various disorders related to the nervous system such as vertigo, shaky limbs, lack of reflexes, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and so on. If taken daily, this tea can prevent all these diseases.
Research studies have found that lemongrass has excellent cancer fighting properties. The citral present in the tea activates apoptosis of the cancerous cells. As a result, these malignant cells start destroying themselves which is also referred to as cell suicide. The most amazing thing is that none of the healthy, normal cells are damaged in the process.
If you are trying to lose some weight, you can use lemongrass tea for this purpose. It has diuretic properties that increase the frequency of urination. Almost, four percent of the total volume of the urine consists of fat. As a result, large amount of fat is eliminated due to frequent urination.
In the process, it will also remove unwanted water weight build up in the body. This way you will be able to reduce a few more extra pounds from your body every week.
Another benefit of the diuretic effect of lemongrass tea is that it can act as a detoxifying agent. It can be used for cleansing up various internal organs of the body that include kidneys, urinary bladder, liver and of course, the digestive tract. It also facilitates elimination of toxins like uric acid and cholesterol from the body.
Lemongrass tea brings about improvement in the overall skin condition. Its anti-microbial properties can fight off the bacterial infection on skin surface which causes pimples and acne. Moreover, its astringent qualities reduce the size of the skin pores and make the skin look healthy.
This herbal tea can cure insomnia and various other types of sleep disorders. This is possible because it has a calming effect on the mind and the body, and relieves the underlying tension and anxiety which often makes it difficult for us to fall asleep. So, a cup of this tea before going to bed can give you a sound sleep at night.
Lemongrass tea is very effective for bringing down high fever as it increases perspiration which in turn helps to cool down the body. It also fights the infection that triggers the fever. It works as an analgesic and reduces pain and inflammation. So, it's used for treating various forms of body pain such as arthritic joint pain, headache & sports injuries.

How to Make Lemongrass Tea?

Pour one cup of boiling water into one tablespoon of dried lemongrass leaves. Cover it up and let it soak for the next 5 minutes. If you have lemongrass in your kitchen garden, then you can take a few fresh leaves from your garden, chop them into small pieces and steep them in a cup of boiling water for 5 minutes.
Strain out the liquid and your herbal tea is ready. Add one teaspoon of honey to it as sweetener before you take the first sip. Alternately, some people prefer to add milk and sugar to it. You can drink it hot or add an ice cube and have it as an iced tea. You can take up to four cups of this tea daily. It can be taken soon after meals or before bedtime.
There are no known side effects of lemongrass tea. However, pregnant women should avoid taking this tea as there is no conclusive evidence whether it is safe for them or not. Those of you who have any existing underlying health problem must ask your doctor first before taking the tea.
While purchasing the tea, make sure that you read its label carefully to ensure that it contains pure lemongrass only. This is because this herb tends to react adversely when it is combined with some other additives.