How to make herbal tea to help you sleep

January 2013

How to make herbal tea to help you sleep

Sleepless nights can be exhausting and frustrating to contend with. When you do not get enough shuteye, you can feel worse in the morning than when your head hit the pillow. There are many traditional aids to choose from to help you sleep. They can make nighttime a more restful and calming experience. Relaxing music can help you, but there is nothing to stop you from engaging in a herbal tea remedy at the same time.

Herbal tea is natural and easy to prepare. This makes it a good option for individuals suffering from sleep disturbance to contemplate, as over-the-counter sleep medication and pills from the doctor can be daunting if they dislike taking unnecessary medication.

Many varieties of herbal tea produce calming, restful feelings. The best sleep inducing teas known are chamomile, valerian and lemon balm. One of these would be a good choice if your lack of sleep is due to an overactive mind and rushing thoughts.

If your sleeping difficulties are produced due to digestive problems, mint tea would be a good choice for you. Other herbs have different properties that may also help you, depending on your particular symptoms and feelings.

Making herbal tea is simple. If you have fresh herbs to use you will get the benefit of a gorgeous rich scent when they are scolded with boiling water. The scent from herbs is almost as helpful as their properties when consumed, so attempt to find fresh varieties if possible. If you can only get dried herbs however, do not worry, as they will still be good for making tea with.

To make a home brew you will need the herbs you’ve chosen, boiling water, a strainer and honey or sugar, if you like your tea sweet. Honey incidentally, can be helpful in herbal tea if you have a sore throat as well as insomnia or difficulties relaxing. There are two ways to make herbal tea. The easiest is to wash the herbs, and using a tablespoon per person, place them into a clean teapot, and then pour on scolding, boiled water and leave to steep for five minutes, before stirring and straining.

If you do not use a teapot, you can place herbs into a pan of freshly boiled water, put a lid on the pan, and steep and strain in the way already mentioned. After you have practiced making herbal tea a few times, you will develop personal taste for your homemade beverage, and may decide to steep herbs for slightly less time if you find they taste bitter, or to dilute tea with more boiled water. The more water it is diluted with in this way however, the less strong it will be, and you may need two cupfuls to help you nod off to sleep.

Making your own herbal tea can be rewarding and satisfying, as you refrain from purchasing weaker, less delicious dried herbal sachets from shops, and enjoy the ritual of producing your own sleep tonic before bed each night.

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