Among The Highest Antioxidant Teas
While catechins might be good for losing weight, theres much greater evidence of their potent antioxidant activity.
Very few herbal teas contain high quantities of catechins, with lemon verbena tea being an exception. The average brewed cup, made using the dried leaf, ranked among the top 10 for catechin content in one study.
It has about the same amount as chamomile and hawthorn. Dandelion and rose hips are the only non-caffeinated herbal teas that score higher.
Lemon Verbena Tea Side Effects
Despite the many benefits of this popular tea, there are some side effects of which you should be aware of. The most common complain is hypersensitivity to sunlight, which is due to some of the active ingredients in this tea. For pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding, there is a lack of research on the effects, so it is better to avoid consuming this tea unless specifically directed to do so by your doctor.
Chill Out With A Cup Of Lemon Verbena
This plant infusion will always be a go-to for me! The herbs calming action can bring much-needed relief after a long, hot day.
Using the measurements and preparations outlined above, you can have fun with new flavors by adding complementary natural ingredients. Get creative and make your own blends with other herbal aromatics and edible blooms!
Let us know if you make this tea or your craft your own blend by commenting below.
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It Can Improve Cardiovascular Health
The study that suggested lemon verbena could be effective as an appetite suppressant also reported a decrease in blood pressure and heart rate in patients who had been given the herb.
Lemon verbena has actually been used as a traditional remedy for high blood pressure, stress, and anxiety for hundreds of years, and its something that other studies have touched upon.
Where To Buy Lemon Verbena Tea
- Made in America
- Sleek and clean design to catch customers’ eyes contains 20 individually wrapped tea bags per box
- Steep or brew tea bags for delicious hot tea or refreshing iced tea
- Zesty lemon herbal tea with subtle hints of ginger
- Great for coffee shops, cafes, hotels and restaurants
- KOF-K Kosher Supervision
- Made in America
- 1 bag makes 1 gallon Perfect for large batch tea preparation
- Package Size: 1 oz.
- weight: .0625 lbs
60″ tall
- Mature Plant Size: 60″ tall
- Mature Height: 60″ tall
- Is It Storable?: Yes- You can store your seed in any cool dry place that is not subject to extreme temperature variations.
- Bloom Time: Mid summer to fall
- Neonicotinoid-Free
- Ideal Region: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, West, Pacific Northwest
- Is It Storable?: Yes- You can store your seed in any cool dry place that is not subject to extreme temperature variations.
- Seed Life Cycle: Perennials
- Half Sun / Half Shade
- Ideal Regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, West, Pacific Northwest
- Seed Life Cycle: Perennials
- Bloom Time: Mid to late summer
- Days To Maturity: 90 Days
- Life Cycle: Tender Perennial
- Ingredients: Lemon Slices Packaged in the same facility as peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and milk products.
- Calories: 121.2
- Ingredients: Lemon strips, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, citric acid, sulphur dioxide. Packaged in the same facility as peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, and milk products.
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How To Dry Herbs For Tea
If you have fresh lemon verbena, cut bunches of the plants stems, tie them together with string or twine, and hang them in a warm dry place with good ventilation. Remove the dry leaves from the stems, place them in an air-tight container and label the container. Store them in a cool dry place away from sunlight.
Use 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon verbena or 1 teaspoon of dried leaves for each cup of boiling water. Place the leaves in a teapot, pour the boiling water over them, cover, and steep for 5 minutes or more.
If you dont want to boil water, prepare sun tea. Place lemon verbena leaves in a pitcher and allows them in the sun to make lemon verbena sun tea. Just snip a couple of handfuls of leaves and put them in a large glass pitcher. Fill the jar with water, and allow it to sit in the sun for several hours. It will naturally slowly steep.
If you really love herbal tea then the best choice is lemon verbena tea as it is fresh, fragrant with citrus aroma, and full of health benefits. To prepare the tea:
Averts Muscle Injury During The Workout
The secondary metabolites of lemon verbena also help to reduce muscle damage due to over-exercise. The athletes prefer this tea as a pre-workout supplement. The antioxidant properties of this tea help to suppress inflammation which is linked to damage prevention and repair the muscle tissues. Read More.
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How To Make Lemon Verbena Tea
The tasty citrus flavor and gentle character of this abundant and easy-to-grow herb make lemon verbena perfect for the entire family to enjoy as an infusion.
Kids and elders alike can benefit from the bright personality of this cheerful plant.
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Lemon verbena is highly aromatic because the plants glandular trichomes, where the essential oils live, are located on the external parts of the herb.
This makes them perfect for infusing at different water temperatures since the aromatics are easily released.
Because this perennial plant thrives in the heat, providing a steady source of a delightfully fragrant herb that can be used in many ways, this makes it a real garden gem!
One of the best ways to experience the flavor of this healing plant is by enjoying a cup of tea, either cool or warm.
Heres what this guide will cover:
Better Lemon Flavor For Recipes
What does lemon verbena taste like?
Its like lemon zest but stronger. Even when you compare lemon verbena versus lemon balm and lemongrass, most would agree that verbena offers the strongest flavor and scent among. This is an advantage for teas and other recipes, because you get a strong flavor without the acidity you would normally get from the citrus fruit it replicates.
Infusions and extracts are made by soaking the leaves in water or alcohol, to capture the essence.
Cooking with lemon verbena offers many uses. It can substitute lemon in almost any recipe.
Because it tends to be more expensive, its typically reserved for fancier desserts. Not the type of ice cream or sorbet you will find for sale at your local Kroger!
French lemon verbena soup is a popular recipe. Using handkerchief pasta in a sauce made with the leaves is seen at some very high-end Italian restaurants.
The pure extract or absolute is used to enhance the taste of vinegars, juices, jams, vodka, alcoholic cocktails, and even kombucha. Some label the flavor as lemon beebrush, which is another name for the plant.
How to make the tea is simple
If using fresh leaves, take a quarter cup and infuse it in 1 cup of hot water. Let it steep for 10 minutes. Or if you have time, longer will lead to a more robust flavor. Then, you simply strain and serve. Pour over ice to make an iced tea.
Frontier Organics sells a 1 lb. bag of organic cut and sifted leaves on Amazon.
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Lemongrass Plants For Sale
Light: Prefers full to partial sun
Temperature: Hardiness Zones 9-11
Watering: Like most herbs, it doesn’t need excessive watering. Water adequately when needed.
Soil: Not terribly picky about its soil as long as it drains well. Grows really well in a container!
Perennial in zones 9-11, this heat-loving tropical grass may be an annual in most areas, but it’s well worth growing!
Reduces Lung Cell Damage In Lab Research
The same above which looked at antioxidants also evaluated it for antiproliferative actions.
In other words, whether the actions of the herbs might offer cancer preventive properties. To find out, they used cultured hamster lung cells.
Hydrogen peroxide was used to inflict damage on these cells. Then they measured how much lactate dehydrogenase was released by the cells.
The more LDH released, the worse the damage was.
Heres how lemon verbena extract measured up
The worst damage was with the bottom line, which was pure hydrogen peroxide without added herbs.
When the plants were added, less damage was done to the cells. Verbena herb extract ranked right around the middle, offering better protection than rosemary, lavender, peppermint, bergamot, fennel, thyme, and blue gum tree.
To reiterate this was just one lab study. No one knows if this beneficial effect happens inside of an actual body.
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How To Make Lemon Verbena Tea: Easy Recipe
- To make lemon verbena tea, add the leaves to a teapot or tea infuser.
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil and then pour over the leaves.
- Allow the leaves to steep for 5 minutes before straining the tea.
- Serve this tea with honey or a lemon slice for more flavor. You can have it either hot or cold. If you wish to have it cold, either add ice cubes to it or refrigerate it.
What Is Lemon Verbena Tea
Lemon verbena tea is an herbal tea that is prepared by steeping the crushed or cut up leaves of the lemon verbena plant. Scientifically known as Aloysia citrodora, this plant has an extremely strong lemon scent when the leaves are bruised or crushed many people feel that it is the closest aroma to an actual lemon. For this reason, this plant has been used for thousands of years, beginning in Argentina and neighboring areas in South America. Now, lemon verbena is grown around the world and being made into a tea is one of its most popular applications.
Lemon verbena tea Photo Credit: Shutterstock
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About Lemon Verbena Tea
Lemon Verbena comes from the Aloysia citrodora plant, native to South America. This aromatic, perennial shrub famously exudes a strong yet elegant aroma reminiscent of lemon, a quality that transcends in taste.
The plant requires humid climates, fertile soils and good drainage to grow to its full potential. Countries such as Argentina, Chile and Peru have the perfect conditions for Lemon Verbena to flourish.
A French botanist named Philibert Commerson discovered the plant, originally dubbing it “Aloysia triphylla”. The name changed after specimens arrived at the botanical gardens in Madrid, Spain. There, Casimiro Gómez Ortega and Antonio Palau y Verdera, two Spanish botanists, renamed it in honour of the Princess of Parma, Maria Louisa. To this day, many recognise Lemon Verbena by its nickname, Herb Louisa.
Such is the popularity of Lemon Verbena Tea that it’s even had its place in the Hollywood spotlight. The 1936 Novel, and later the film, “Gone with the Wind”, contains a brief mention of the herb. Scarlett O’Hara, one of the main characters written by Margaret Mitchell, at one point declares that her mother’s favourite plant is Lemon Verbena. Will it be your favourite, too?
May Fight Candida Yeast
If youre not familiar with the Candida fungus, its the cause of oral thrush and many vaginal yeast infections. Then theres candidiasis, which is the name given to an seemingly chronic infection of the small intestines.
Researchers at a university in Brazil chose 35 local plants which have traditional medicinal uses. Their essential oils were tested in the lab against cultured candida yeast infections. It was found that 13 of the 35 had anti-candida activity, including the one made from this plant.
To be clear, they havent yet tested it in living organisms and it would not be safe to drink the essential oil of lemon verbena in quantity, or any other plant for that matter.
This is because essentials are made of volatile compounds which are quite different than the stable oils you cook with. That being said, inevitably theres at least some of the oil essence in the tea of lemon verbena.
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Kills Head Lice When Applied Topically
In the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom, the only approved medicinal treatments for head lice involve chemicals which are linked to adverse reactions, as well as safety concerns.
In recent years, a great deal of research has been published about essential oils possibly being a natural alternative to get rid of head lice. One of them is lemon verbena oil. In lab tests it didnt work as well as thyme oil, but it still had a moderate effect against these parasites as well as their unhatched eggs.
As part of the same study, the scientists then tested the EOs on the skin of rabbits to see if there were side effects. After the measured intervals of 3 minutes, 1 hour, and 4 hours, there was no evidence of edema or erythema of the skin, which suggests that it was well-tolerated.
Another study even found it to work against permethrin-resistant head lice.
Since the essential oil was made from the leaves, it would mean the dried tea would also have those active ingredients, albeit only in trace amounts.
What Is It Good For
There are both culinary and medicinal uses of lemon verbena. The latter remain unproven, but its hard to deny the deliciousness of teas and dessert recipes made with the extract, like sorbet and ice cream. Body washes, lotions, and perfumes use the scent, as do household cleaners like dish and hand soap. For aromatherapy, its in candles and essential oils.
Very little research exists on this plant. In fact, if you search the NIHs PubMed database for its scientific name, you will barely get 20 results.
With the exception of the basic nutrition facts covering things like calories, all of the health benefits being researched have far too little research to be considered proven. Yet they do shed a glimmer of what potential the plant might have, if only it were given more attention.
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It May Help You Lose Weight
Some evidence suggests that lemon verbena could be useful in the treatment of obesity. In one study, lemon verbena was able to increase fatty acid oxidation and decrease lipogenesis, suggesting that it could help to reduce body fat .
These effects were slight, possibly too slight to be make a difference to the average user when consumed in standard doses. But there is also evidence to suggest that lemon verbena could be used to prolong feelings of fullness in overweight men and women, essentially curbing the appetite and decreasing the number of calories consumed .
Recipe For Lemon Verbena Tea
Like lemon balm, I also enjoy warm cups of lemon verbena tea when I want to benefit from the plants healing actions, and I enjoy drinking a cold infusion during the summertime to help me chill out.
When the herb is in flower, I harvest a few blooms to add to my infusion. They have a milder flavor than the leaves and a subtle floral taste. The next time yours are in flower, try a nibble!
For this herbal tea, we will make things simple to highlight the lovely citrusy flavor of this herb.
Below are two approaches that you can take to make your infusion.
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Improves Joint Function In Human Study
Theres only one human clinical trial thats been done on this plant. It was a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo controlled study for joint pain and stiffness.
45 people with joint problems were given a placebo or a supplement which contained lemon verbena leaf extract and omega 3 fish oil. Each group took these for 9 weeks.
Results were based on the Western Ontario MacMaster and Lequesnes questionnaire, both of which are well-established methods for measuring symptoms of joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The bottoms lines are for the group that got the omega 3 and lemon verbena supplement. Their pain, stiffness, and function improved dramatically versus placebo.
Since omega 3 was part of the treatment, its impossible to know how much of the anti-inflammatory effects were from the herb. Still, its preliminary evidence that it might be good for arthritis. Who knows, perhaps someday they will find its a benefit from drinking lemon verbena tea daily or regularly.
Lemon Verbena Tea Benefits
The major benefits of lemon verbena tea include reducing inflammation, aiding in weight loss and soothing respiratory problems, among others. Traditionally, this tea has also been used as a soothing sleep aid to overcome symptoms of insomnia. The low-fat, low-calorie nature of this tea, despite the many antioxidants and vitamins it contains, means that it can help to suppress hunger and aid in weight loss efforts. The aroma and the volatile compounds in this tea are able to soothe inflammation in the respiratory tracts and eliminate symptoms of sore throats and chest congestion.
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Where To Buy
As stated at the start, this is one of the hardest teas to find. At least in the United States. Garden of the Andes makes an organic lemon verbena tea that . Naturally free of caffeine but full of flavor!
Major EO brands like Young Living and Doterra dont sell it as an essential. You should not use it on your skin, but you can purchase it for making potpourri and cleaning products from Simplers Botanicals for a good price.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.