Wall.
Family: Ranunculaceae.
Habitat: Mishmi Hills in Arunachal Pradesh. Cultivated commercially in China.
Ayurvedic: Mamira, Maamiraa, Tiktamuulaa. (Pita-muulikaa and Hem-tantu are provisional synonyms.)
Unani: Maamisaa, Maamiraa.
Folk: Titaa (Bengal and Assam).
Action: Stomachic, antiperiodic, antibacterial, antifungal. Prescribed in debility, convalescence, intermittent fevers, dyspepsia, dysentery and intestinal catarrh. Used as a local application in thrush.
The rhizomes contains berberine (9%) as the major alkaloid; other alkaloids present are: coptin (0.08%), cop- tisin 0.02%) and jatrorrhizine (0.01%). Samples from China contained 9.2612.23% berberine, 2.39-3.25% coptisin and 3.20-4.46% jatrorrhizine. In China, the herb is used as an antidiabetic; the ethanolic (50%) extract exhibited hypoglycaemic and hypotensive activity.The drug due to berberine and its related alkaloids promoted reticuloen- dothelium to increased phagocytosis of leucocytes in dog blood in vitro and in vivo.Coptis chinensis (Huang Lian) inhibited erythrocyte haemolysis, decreased lipid peroxidation in brain and kidney, decreased generation of superoxide peroxidation and decreased hy- droxyl radicals in rats. (Life Sci, 2000, 66(8), 725-735.)
Dosage: Root—1-3 g powder. (CCRAS.)
If you feel like drinking an herbal tea with plenty of health benefits, you should try prickly ash tea. Even if the taste is bitter, the tea is bound to help you stay healthy. Find out more about it in this article!
About Prickly Ash Tea
Prickly ash tea is made from the bark of the prickly ash. The plant is also known as Devil’s Walkingstick, Hercules’s Club or Prickly Elder. The plant grows in the eastern parts of North America.
Prickly ash is a tall shrub, usually reaching 6m in height. It has a stem with large leaves, 70-120cm long. The flowers bloom in late summer; they’re small and creamy-white. Also, the fruits are a small, purple-black berry.
How to make Prickly Ash Tea
It’s easy to make prickly ash tea. Boil the necessary amount of water and add a teaspoon of chopped bark for each cup of tea. Let it steep for 5-7 minutes; then, strain in order to remove the herbs. If it tastes too bitter for you, you can sweeten the tea with milk, honey or fruit juices.
Prickly Ash Tea Benefits
Prickly ash tea gets important active constituents from the bark of its plant. These include chelerythin alkaloids, tannins, lignans, resins, and volatile oils.
You can drink prickly ash tea if you’ve got toothaches, abdominal pains (or any other chronic pains) or diarrhea. It is also used in killing intestinal parasites, and treating arthritis and rheumatism.
It is also useful in treating circulation problems and lowering blood pressure. You can drink it if you’ve got a cold or a sore throat.
Prickly ash tea can also be combined with other ingredients, for different health benefits. Combined with ginger, it alleviates chronic abdominal pains, and treats nausea and vomiting caused by long-term illnesses. It can also be combined with coptis or Oregon grape root in order to treat symptoms caused by roundworms.
Prickly Ash Tea side Effects
It is best not to drink prickly ash tea if you’re pregnant or breast feeding. It’s not quite sure how it can affect the baby, but it might, so it’s better to stop drinking it during these periods.
Be careful with the amount of tea you drink if you’ve got low blood pressure. Prickly ash tea helps lower the blood pressure, so it might end up causing some harm (hypotension). Also, if you drink this tea while taking medication (aspirin, warfarin, heparin, tinzaparin), the combination might lead to bleeding and bruising.
Also, don’t drink prickly ash tea if you’ve got stomach or intestinal problems: ulcerative colitis, peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, infections, and other digestive tract conditions. It’s bound to make your stomach and intestinal problems worse. Also, dopn’t drink this tea if you’ve got a fever with profuse sweating.
Despite its bitter taste, you should give prickly ash tea a chance, especially thanks to its health benefits. As an herbal tea, it’s bound to keep you healthy!... enjoy prickly ash tea
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