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Sipping This 3-Ingredient Tea Is A Time-Tested Way To Support Digestion

Author:

Kami McBride

February 14, 2023

Herbalist

By Kami McBride

Herbalist

Kami McBride is a well-known author and educator whose bestselling book, "The Herbal Kitchen," has helped thousands of people learn how to use common kitchen herbs and spices in delightfully simple, new, and delicious ways. She developed and taught the herbal curriculum for the Complementary Medicine Department at the University of California School of Nursing, and she founded the Living Awareness Institute in 1994 where she offers online herbalism courses to students of all skill levels.

Image by VICTOR TORRES / Stocksy

February 14, 2023

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When your stomach feels a bit off, a warm cup of tea can be just the thing for some relief—especially if it contains herbs and spices with a long history of use in supporting digestion. This simple blend of fennel seed, coriander, and cumin is a time-tested brew you can turn to for support.

Easy Digestion Tea Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cardamom pods
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cups water

Method:

Bruise the cumin, coriander, and fennel with a mortar and pestle.
Put spices and water in a pot with the lid on.
Bring to a boil.
Turn off the heat.
Let steep for 1 hour for best results.
Strain spices from tea.
Reheat and enjoy.

Ingredient spotlight:

Fennel Seed: Fennel seed is one of my favorite herbs for soothing an upset stomach. Across many cultures 1, the seed has a long history of use in easing digestive woes. And those uses are extremely varied, from gastrointestinal diarrhea in northern Portugal to constipation in southern Europe; stomach distention in China to dyspepsia (indigestion) in Morocco. It's also the primary ingredient in the folk remedy "gripe water" for babies with colic. A 2004 study found that eating fennel stimulated short-term bile acid secretion 2 by 48%, benefiting digestion and absorption. It brings a distinctive, slightly sweet, licorice-like flavor to the blend.
Coriander: Coriander is the seed of the plant whose leaves we in the U.S. know as cilantro. Coriander has been used in folk medicine and cooking around the world for centuries, from India to China and Europe. The plant's volatile oils possess carminative and stomachic 3 (stomach toning) properties. In my experience and that of my clients over the years, coriander has helped relieve intestinal cramps and spasms, as well as helping to regulate overheated digestive systems. It has a slightly sour (acidic) flavor that brings diverse spices together, including the combination in this tea.
Cumin: Like fennel seed, cumin has deep traditional uses in helping to allay digestive woes. It's cultivated in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region, across Southeast Asia, and in the Middle East. In India's Ayurvedic system of medicine, cumin seeds are revered for their health value and used for digestive disorders from diarrhea to dyspepsia. Research has shown that eating one serving of cumin can stimulate bile acid secretion by 58%, and the increase grows to 71% when cumin is eaten regularly over time. In this specific blend of herbs, cumin's signature aroma and savory flavor round out the flavor profile nicely.

Here's how this tea supports digestion.

Fennel seed, coriander, and cumin all have "carminative" properties, which means they increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the digestive tract, promoting digestion, and maximizing the body's ability to absorb nutrients from the food we eat.

Functional Nutrition Training

While we should certainly eliminate any foods causing a negative reaction in the body, fortifying digestion with carminative herbs may help further reduce the inflammatory response that eventually manifests in more serious ways. My herbal teacher, Michael Moore, liked to call this "meeting the herbs halfway."

When we use herbs to assist us through the occasional flare-up of digestive discomfort, we begin to shift into the mindset of balancing our bodies from the inside out rather than the outside-in approach of symptom suppression. Culinary herbs like the ones in this tea nourish the body, are very safe to drink, and tend to increase our wellness over time. In contrast, many of our culture's go-to medications simply quiet the body's attempt to signal a problem, depleting health over time and potentially causing side effects.

Since undergoing brain surgery at 19 due to the side effects of a pharmaceutical drug, I've been working for nearly four decades to empower others with proactive health care routines that feature herbs. This tea blend is inspired by the Happy Tummy Honey in my book, The Herbal Kitchen. If you are brewing this tea frequently, try making a batch of the herbal honey! Once it's on your shelf, all you need for a quick cup of digestive support tea is a spoonful in a mug of warm water.

The takeaway.

This 3-ingredient tea gently supports the body's innate digestive process in the short term and may further strengthen and tone the digestive system over time. It's a great-tasting, time-tested blend for tummy troubles, using everyday spices that are probably sitting in your kitchen right now.