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Because you know I'm a big fan of inexpensive, natural remedies, I thought you'd want to know about new research that has found chamomile tea may actually help relieve a wide range of health ailments, including colds and menstrual cramps.
Patients drank five cups of a German chamomile tea, also known as manzanilla (whose flowers and leaves are brewed as a fragrant, flavorful tea) for two weeks. Daily urine samples were taken and tested throughout the study, both before and after drinking chamomile tea.
Some of the benefits of drinking chamomile tea researchers discovered:
- A significant increase in urinary levels of hippurate, a breakdown product of certain plant-based compounds known as phenolics, some of which have been associated with increased antibacterial activity.
- An increase in urinary levels of glycine, an amino acid that has been shown to relieve muscle spasms (which may explain why it helps to relieve menstrual cramps in women, probably by relaxing the uterus).
- Hippurate and glycine remained elevated for up to two weeks after the study participants stopped drinking the tea, indicating that the compounds may remain active for quite some time.
EurekAlert January 4, 2005