Lemon balm herbal tea: plant properties
As the Arab doctor Avicenna claimed many centuries ago "Melissa makes the heart happy and increases the vital spirit, it sends away bad thoughts and balances the excesses of bile". This is absolutely true. Lemon balm has in fact the fantastic property of combating severe stress, smoothing out jitters, calming nervous excitability. It is good for adults but is also good for children : a melissa herbal tea is strongly indicated in cases of infant insomnia, agitation, excessive anxiety, headaches from stress or neuralgia, dizziness, tachycardia or nervous palpitations.
Herbal tea with lemon balm is also good for menstrual pain, especially in the case of irregular and painful menstruation. Lemon balm is also an excellent digestive and an effective antiviral and antibacterial agent, thanks to the polyphenols it contains. Let us not forget the beneficial properties contained in a lemon balm herbal tea when treating irritable bowel disorders, gastritis, nausea or vomiting. In short, lemon balm is a plant with a thousand virtues.
Lemon balm herbal tea: how to taste it to the fullest
Lemon balm is very often also called lemongrass or limoncina or limoncella plant, due to its essential oil that recalls the scent of lemon, especially when the leaves are fresh. To taste a good herbal balm tea, it is therefore worth emphasizing this fragrant citrus aroma. We proceed by boiling, together with the dried lemon balm leaves, also the orange or lemon peel in plenty of water, avoiding to put the bitter white part. Turn off the heat after a couple of minutes, leaving it to infuse for about ten minutes.
Lemon balm, native to the East, grows spontaneously even throughout Europe and can be planted safely in the garden or at home garden. That's why it can be useful, in the months from June to September, to pick the leaves, let them dry together with citrus peel and keep them in glass jars to prepare excellent lemon balm infusions during the winter. If you put a little lemon balm tea in your mouth, remember not to throw away the water: it is an excellent stimulating, purifying and decongesting skin tonic .
Curiosity : lemon balm was a component of the famous "Melissa Water" of the Carmelite fathers and was used to sedate the most varied nervous forms such as hysteria, epilepsy, fainting.
