Break out your kettle and your favorite mug, and stay healthy and relaxed with these easy, powerful green remedies.

Mint Tea

Whether you add mint leaves to iced tea or enjoy a hot mug of mint tea, the key to getting the full rich flavor and benefits of mint tea is to steep the tea for just the right amount of time. Fun fact: The difference between mint and peppermint is that peppermint is a hybrid of mint leaves infused with Mentha aqquatica and/or menthe piperita!

1 cup of peppermint tea can:

• Help soothe indigestion
• Relieve cramping and bloating (specifically premenstrual cramps)
• Relieve moodiness

Fennel Seeds

Fennel is known as “the licorice onion” and can be added as spices in salads and soups, or sold as a tea. Rich in vitamin A and good for the eyes, the word “fennel” comes from the Greek root word “marathos,” which means to “grow thin.” As a natural metabolism booster, fennel is known to discard the fatty substances through urine (195).

Fenugreek

Like fennel, fenugreek can be had as seeds, leaves, teas or supplements. Aside from helping with digestion problems and being rich in vitamin A, fenugreek also contains trimethylamine, also known to increase sexual hormones for men (150). This tea is also beneficial for nursing mothers to help with milk production.

Wheatgrass

While wheatgrass is known for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, this ingredient has an added bonus as a pre-workout shot. For exercise folks who are “morning sweaters,” wheatgrass is high in chlorophyll, so having that first fresh shot in the morning on an empty stomach followed by a glass of spring water is also known to reduce body odor (26).

Matcha

From the green tea family, matcha is made into a powder from shade-grown Camellia sinensis plants. Mix 1 teaspoon of powdered matcha into 1 cup of hot water to improve your memory and cholesterol as well as burn calories. And, matcha is one tea that is lighter on taste and less bitter.

References

Peppermint. (2003, May 1). Retrieved March 16, 2015, from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=10210 Amazing Benefits of Matcha Green Tea. (2013, August 20). Retrieved March 16, 2015, from http://www.naturallivingideas.com/10-amazing-benefits-of-matcha-green-tea/Wilen, J., & Wilen, L. (2007). Bottom Line's Healing Remedies (pp. 26, 123-229). Stamford, CT: Ballantine Books , an imprint of Random House Publishing Group.