Whether you are a tea addict or a seasonal tea drinker, you can enjoy this unique and aroma-filled beverage to reap the benefits it offers. Learn more about what makes cardamom tea healthy and what its research-backed benefits are below. Scroll down!
What Is Cardamom Tea?
Cardamom tea is prepared by boiling crushed cardamom seeds in water, sometimes along with tea leaves. These seeds release their bioactive ingredients into the water, which gives this infusion a high therapeutic value. Cardamom is a traditional aromatic spice grown widely in countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Guatemala, and Tanzania. Cardamom pods and seeds are used extensively in Indian and Lebanese cuisines. Most commonly, it is used as a flavoring agent in bakery products and beverages – like cardamom tea. You might wonder what the Indians or the Lebanese see in these cardamom seeds to incorporate them in their cuisine and beverages. Read on to find out what those secret bioactive ingredients are that make the cardamom tea medicinal yet so tasty.
What Does Cardamom Tea Contain?
The tea has essential phenolic acids and sterols that have potent antioxidant properties. Other biological metabolites of cardamom include pinene, sabinene, limonene, cineole, linalool, terpinolene, and myrcene, which have anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, and diuretic effects on your body. Read on to understand what this simplistic tea can do to your body.
What Are The Benefits Of Drinking Cardamom Tea?
There is a reason specific spices like cardamom find their place in cookbooks and traditional recipes. Scroll down to go through the spectrum of benefits cardamom tea has to offer, and you’ll understand why I say that!
1. Is A Digestive Aid
Having a small cup of herbal tea post meals is a good habit. Adding cardamom seeds to this brew makes it even better! Drinking cardamom tea helps in complete digestion and assimilation of the ingested food. It prevents indigestion and flatulence after you have had a heavy meal by stimulating gastric acid secretion. If you feel nauseous, cardamom tea can give you quick relief. It can also treat constipation and the acute stomach cramps that accompany it quite effectively (1).
2. Enhances Heart Health And Blood Circulation
Cardamom tea is rich in antioxidants like pinene, linalool, limonene, and other phenolic compounds that can reduce the free radicals causing hypertension (2). The flavonoids in this tea prevent the accumulation of cholesterol in the blood vessels without altering HDL (good cholesterol) levels in the serum. Certain components also modify or block the calcium transport across blood vessels so that they remain dilated (3). As a result, blood circulates freely through the vessels and exerts less stress on your heart and vessel walls. This helps in maintaining heart health and protects you from cardiovascular diseases (4).
3. Is Effective Against Flu
High levels of sterols, polyalcohols, and vitamins A and C give cardamom tea antiviral, antifungal, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. Cardamom tea can treat a sore throat and dry cough and clear excessive phlegm generated due to microbial infections (e.g., flu) or hypersensitivity (e.g., pollen allergy) by enhancing your immunity. It can also reduce the severity of inflammation in the lungs and associated organs in conditions like asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia by triggering the production of anti-inflammatory enzymes like COX-inhibitors.
Due to their efficient antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action, cardamom tea and seed extracts are being used to cure cancer. Applying cardamom seed decoction to your scalp and hair can eliminate dandruff, promote new hair growth, and heal fungal or dermal infections on the scalp and roots. Cardamom pods release epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a phytochemical that shows significant neuroprotective and antioxidant effects on the CNS and brain. Such phytochemicals might prevent and cure neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and stimulate learning and memory.
4. Treats Bad Breath And Dental Issues
Having cardamom seeds, either in the tea or directly, can help fight bad breath (halitosis). Bad breath can be caused by bad oral hygiene, chewing or smoking tobacco, diseases leading to dry mouth, crash diets, etc. Usually, food stuck in your teeth and gums is broken down by certain bacteria to produce sulfur compounds, which give the foul smell to your breath. But some fungal or bacterial infections in your gums and teeth pockets also cause halitosis. The antiseptic and antimicrobial components of cardamom seeds, such as cineole and pinene, kill these bacteria and heal bleeding and infected gums (5). What a way to start your mornings, I say!
5. Is A Complete Detox Drink
The active components of tea leaves and cardamom seeds, together, flush out all the wastes circulating in your bloodstream. Cardamom tea has essential terpenes like myrcene, sabinene, carene, limonene, eudesmene, cedrene, and terpinolene, along with polyalcohols like linalool, geraniol, verbeneol, terpinyl acetate, and their derivatives in abundance. These components eliminate free radicals, toxic intermediates, and heavy metal ions from your blood by discharging them into the urine. Due to its mild diuretic and lipolytic activity, this tea reduces bloating and water retention in your tissues and joints, prevents cholesterol build-up in the body, and ultimately leads to weight loss.
6. Is A Skin Care Expert
Impure or deoxygenated blood with free radicals gives rise to pimples, acne, psoriasis, uneven skin tone, rashes, pigmentation, and many other skin woes. Adding powdered cardamom seeds to your regular tea enhances its flavonoid and glutathione levels. Flavonoids are potent antioxidants that scavenge the free radicals in your blood. Cardamom tea also has anti-inflammatory and growth stimulating properties. Hence, it can cure rashes, wounds, bites, scars, and bruises.
7. Is A Powerful Anti-inflammatory Agent
Inflammation is either the cause or the result of many diseases – be it the extremely painful and chronic arthritis or the nagging and acute common cold. Including cardamom tea in your diet is the simplest precaution you can take against such conditions. I say this because the tea is packed with anti-inflammatory compounds like phenolic acids, terpenoids, phytosteroids, vitamins, and minerals. These phytochemicals can prevent and cure various chronic and acute inflammatory diseases like arthritis, type 2 diabetes, asthma, hypersensitivity, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), muscle cramps, dementia, Alzheimer’s, stomach ulcers, and dermatitis with minimal side effects. Alright. That’s quite a lot of science. Now, let’s come to the surprise. I have collected some simple, fun, and refreshing cardamom tea recipes for you. Try these out and see the ‘queen of spices’ get to work! Let’s get started!
4 Fun Ways To Make Cardamom Tea
1. Cardamom Powder Tea – Simple And Quintessential
Cardamom powder: 1 tablespoon Water: 4 cups Honey or sugar or sweetener Teapot or small saucepan
2. Cardamom Ginger Tea (Indian Style) – Energizing And Powerful
Teapot or small saucepan Water: 3 cups Assam tea leaves Milk: 1-2 cups Cardamom seeds (crushed) Small-sized ginger slice (crushed) Sugar or honey or any sweetener
3. Cardamom Cinnamon Turmeric Tea – Therapeutic And Cleansing
Water: 1-2 cups Milk: 1 cup (You can substitute it with coconut milk if you want.) Cardamom seeds Turmeric powder (as much as you can handle) Cinnamon sticks (small) Honey or sugar or sweetener Small saucepan or teapot
A hint of cardamom is all you need to give a complete facelift to the bland and boring cup of tea, don’t you agree? But again, cardamom is a very intense spice. How safe is it to have such a strong and concentrated tea? Did you ever think about its adverse effects on your body? Scroll down to know what they could be.
Risks And Side Effects Of Drinking Cardamom Tea
There are very few risks and side effects associated with cardamom tea. These effects arise only if you are allergic to cardamom seeds or whole pods or any of the spices that go into your tea or if they are of substandard quality. Here are a few side effects and risks:
1. Could Aggravate Gallstones Formation
If you are diagnosed with gallstones, it is better to have cardamom in small amounts – may be as a spice additive in food, but not as a strong tea. It may cause painful and severe spasms that might be lethal.
2. Could Cause Hypersensitivity
Drinking strong cardamom tea frequently can cause allergic responses if you are allergic to the members of Elletaria and Amomum genera. This occurs very rarely, but if it does, you might have nausea, diarrhea, dermatitis, and inflammation of the lips, tongue, and throat.
3. Risky For Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women
It is said that having high amounts of cardamom (in the form of tea) may cause miscarriage in pregnant women and might be lethal to the newborn if the mother has it while breastfeeding. However, there is insufficient information to support this concern.
Finally, What’s My Take?
Can I drink cardamom tea at night? The infographic below lists the various health benefits of cardamom tea you must know. Check them out! Yes. Cardamom tea is a great digestive aid and may help boost metabolism at night. Is cardamom tea better than green tea? This depends on the health benefits you are looking for. Cardamom tea has more vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber, while green tea is packed with potent antioxidants (6), (7). Does cardamom tea have caffeine? No. This natural herbal tea is caffeine-free. Is cardamom tea good for acid reflux? Yes. Cardamom tea promotes digestion and may help control acidity.
