Red Raspberry Tea ‘The Mother’s Herb’

 

My favorite hot tea right now is Red Raspberry. It not only tastes good, but it is good for you too!!! I have seen many good results from drinking a cup almost every day. I even have drank a few cups a day, just because it tastes so good and feels so refreshing.

I’m going to be branching out in a new limb on my blog, posting about different herbs. Mostly the herbs I use most often and the benefits I see and get from using them. So this is the first one.

It is believed that raspberry leaf, if taken regularly through pregnancy and labour can:

• Ease the symptoms of morning sickness.
• Sooth and prevent bleeding gums which many pregnant women often experience.
• Relax the smooth muscles of the uterus when it is contracting (Burn & Withell, 1941).
• Assist with the birth of the baby and the placenta.
• Calm cramping of the uterus.
• Provide a rich source of iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium. The magnesium content is especially helpful in strengthening the uterine muscles. Raspberry leaf also contains vitamins B1, B3 and E which are valuable in pregnancy.

Raspberry leaf is also used for the following:

• To aid fertility.
• To promote a plentiful supply of breast milk.
• To help stop excess bleeding after birth.
• To treat diarrhea.
• To regulate irregular menstrual cycle and decreases heavy periods.
• To relieve sore throats.
• To reduce fever.

I was talking to my sis this morning about ‘cycles’. And it made me realize that this month I have not had the normal cramps and achy-ness that I normally get with each cycle. And I was very glad to realize it is because I have been drinking the Red Raspberry Tea so much.

I will say that I didn’t see much results the first few months, but I sure have the past couple. Red Raspberry is known to be a ‘pregnancy herb’. But it is actually very good in regulating your monthly cycles as well.

‘Red Raspberry is known to increase progesterone levels too. It is a phyto-progesterone, which means that it is a plant that acts like progesterone in the body. It acts as a precursor in the process of making progestrone. So you can use it to regulate a menstrual cycle by drinking 2-3 cups a day. After 3 months the cycle should be right on schedule.’ -Be Your Own Doctor

I know this to be true. I had 3 miscarriages in about 4 yrs. My first 2 were within 5 months of each other.  No body would help me figure out why it was happening. I did my own study, and learned I lacked progesterone. (Summing up a long story here.) I began taking a natural progesterone cream and was then able to carry a pregnancy to term. I had to stay on the cream all the time or my cycles were way out of whack. Since I began drinking the Red Raspberry tea last fall my cycles have regulated and are much more ‘normal’.

I would drink it at the end of my pregnancy’s like it is recommended, but didn’t stay on it afterward. I didn’t know all the health benefits that came with drinking it. Now I am looking forward to see how it all works out if and when God blesses us with another blessing. (Plus I know with getting my thyroid straightened out too, and my Lyme under control (hopefully be gone by then) that should really help all my hormones as well.)

It is also very good for cramps, as I already mentioned. ‘The rise and sudden drop in the estrogen levels through a woman’s cycle can cause a variety of symptoms, including cramps. Red Raspberry is one of several herbs that has been used to alleviate and/or eliminate this problem.’ –Be Your Own Doctor

So drink it all month-long. I will admit there are days I don’t drink any. But then other days I drink a lot. It will also help with teen-age acne and hormone induced irritability in pre-teen youth.

Most of the benefits ascribed to regular use of Raspberry tea through pregnancy are traced to the nourishing source of vitamins and minerals found in this plant and to the strengthening power of fragrine – an alkaloid which gives tone to the muscles of the pelvic region, including the uterus itself. Of special note are the rich concentration of vitamin C, the presence of vitamin E and the easily assimilated calcium and iron. Raspberry leaves also contain vitamins A and B complex and many minerals, including phosphorous and potassium. –Source

An interesting ‘Goat story’ about the use of Red Raspberry Leaf  to aid in fertility and births of the goats… can be found here.

I should also mention that I like to mix Alfalfa, Nettle and Peppermint into it, like it’s done at Bulk Herb Store. It has more health benefits and improves the taste a lot!!! To Make your own Red Raspberry Mix, use –

• 8 parts Red Raspberry leaf
• 3 parts Alfalfa herb
• 3 parts Peppermint leaf
• 2 parts Nettle leaf

Brew a cup and enjoy, not only the taste but the many health benefits as well!!!

Linked to Monday Mania 4/18/11