Essiac Tea: Is It Good For You?
Rene Caisse, a nurse, was the first to offer essiac tea…
…to the globe in 1922. She promoted it as an alternative cancer therapy. According to the report, she had a patient who claimed that essiac tea healed their breast cancer. Caisse received the recipe from a patient who learned it from an Ojibwa healer in Ontario.
Caisse started her own cancer clinic in Ontario, Canada, in 1934, where patients were given essiac for free. When the Royal Cancer Commission of Canada visited the clinic in 1938, they found no evidence that essiac tea was beneficial to patients. Caisse had closed her clinic by 1942, but she continued to provide the tea to patients until the 1970s.
Traditionally, the tea is composed of four ingredients:
- Burdock root (Arctium lappa)
- Indian rhubarb root (Rheum palmatum)
- Sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
- Slippery elm (Ulmus rubra)
However, more recent formulations on the market frequently incorporate additional substances such as:
- Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)
- Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus)
- Red clover (Trifolium pratense)
- Kelp (Laminaria digitata)
Understandably, for a product that has been on the market for almost a century, there has been a great deal of study on the health advantages of essiac tea. So, is essiac tea truly beneficial to your health?
Nutrition Information
Because essiac tea is such a diluted version of its components, there isn’t much to measure per cup, as is the case with many teas. This indicates that there are no measurables:
- Calories
- Protein
- Fat
- Carbohydrates
- Fiber
- Sugar
Each 1 ounce cup of essiac tea may include trace quantities of Vitamin C and potassium, depending on the manufacturer.
How Do You Drink It?
This beverages is generally consumed orally and on an empty stomach. The dose of essiac tea varies based on the disease being treated. It’s normal to take two ounces once a day as an immune tonic or for extremely mild illnesses, however some use dosages varying from 1–12 fluid ounces (30–360 ml) daily. In the case of cancer or other serious illnesses, the frequency can be increased to three times daily, with up to three ounces each time.
Potential Health Benefits of It
It is unlikely to be detrimental to someone who does not have any serious health issues. However, research has failed to demonstrate any of the purported advantages. Some laboratory studies have suggested that essiac tea may reduce the growth of some cancer cells. Other studies, however, have found that some of the ingredients in it can promote cancer develop.
Health Maintenance
Due to the fact that all tea contains more than 99 percent water, essiac tea may be a useful source of hydration, equivalent to tap water. Water is required by your body to perform natural functions such as temperature regulation, waste disposal, joint lubrication, and many more.
Potential Risks of It
In general, essiac tea has been linked to stomach upset. One individual experienced symptoms such as nausea, anorexia, myalgia (muscle pain), tiredness, and stomach discomfort after drinking essiac tea for six months. Other negative effects of the tea, according to the producer of the brand Flor essence, may include:
Increased bowel movements
- Frequent urination
- Swollen glands
- Skin blemishes
- Flu-like symptoms
- Headaches
Other Potential Risks of It
The National Cancer Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and many other organizations have performed research into the effect of it on cancer. So far, the outcomes have been contradictory. Several studies have revealed that the drink promotes the development of specific cancer cells. This impact has been reported in two laboratory experiments and one rat research. Essiac tea may potentially have a harmful interaction with chemotherapy. It has been reported that it may have produced higher toxicity in the blood of a chemotherapy patient in one occasion. Many medical professionals advise against mixing essiac tea with chemotherapy.
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