These days, tea is flavored with pretty much anything, but I recently came across a blend I had not previously heard of—surprisingly so, since the pairing actually makes a lot of sense: green tea with ginseng. Both tea and ginseng have similar purported health benefits and no serious side effects, so pairing the two seems like a great idea. If you don’t like green tea, Art of Tea has an oolong tea with ginseng, which they call Kings Tea.
Very few are still unaware that green tea is healthy and the same can probably be said for ginseng. Most people even know several of the purported health benefits of drinking tea and they might be familiar with some of ginseng’s benefits as well. Nevertheless, let’s look at the most important benefits a ginseng tea might offer. As always, research into the benefits of both tea and ginseng are inconclusive and much further study is needed.
One of ginseng’s uses in alternative medicine is as a booster for our immune systems. Similarly, green tea is said to aid in preventing cold and flu symptoms, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). Additionally, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) state that tea can help improve the body’s response to antibiotics and certain vaccines.
It is not known for certain whether a combination of tea and ginseng can stimulate the immune system and help in preventing or treating a variety of viral and bacterial infections, but preliminary evidence suggests that ginseng teas do offer some level of effective immune support.
Ginseng and green tea are both generally tied to an improvement in cardiovascular function. Ginseng has received a “B” rating from the National Institutes of Health. This signifies that good scientific evidence exists for its use in treating certain forms of heart disease, in conjunction with more standard medications.
As for green tea, the University of Maryland Medical Center has determined the plant to be effective in preventing a hardening of the arteries. Additionally, they claim that drinking green tea can reduce both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol while also increasing levels of HDL cholesterol (LDL is also known as “bad” cholesterol, while HDL is known as “good”).
The combination of green tea and ginseng could aid people suffering from reactive hypoglycemia and diabetes by helping to control fluctuations in blood glucose levels. The National Institutes of Health has found “promising” results when giving ginseng supplements to people with hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes—the supplements effectively lowered blood sugar levels before and after meals, but did not lower them to dangerous levels.
The UMMC claims that green tea could help in delaying the onset of type 1 diabetes. Furthermore, it can help regulate glucose levels in the bloodstream.
There is a possibility that tea with ginseng could help reduce the risk of several common—and deadly—forms of cancer. Promising, but unfortunately still inconclusive, research from the UMMC suggests that ginseng possesses potent anticancer properties that help reduce the risk of cancers affecting the stomach, lungs, ovaries, liver and pancreas. It also found that polyphenols in green tea may help prevent the formation of cancers that affect the bladder, ovaries, breast, lungs, esophagus, prostate, colon, rectum, stomach and skin.
As mentioned, these findings are thus far inconclusive and, in fact, the NIH considers them “controversial” and points out that much further study is necessary to prove the anticancer properties associated with either tea or ginseng.
Pretty much all of the potential health benefits of both tea and ginseng require further study, but since the side effects of tea are virtually nonexistent and those of ginseng are generally mild, trying tea with ginseng should be fine for most people.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that Ginseng could cause nervousness and insomnia, while long-term high doses can result in dizziness, headaches, an upset stomach and other symptoms. More importantly, ginseng could potentially interact negatively with certain drugs, so if you are on any medications, you should consult your doctor before trying any ginseng teas. That said, the amount of ginseng contained in them is quite low and unlikely to cause any problems.
If you’d like to give ginseng tea a try, you can find a green tea with ginseng here and an oolong tea here.
More general info on green tea and oolong tea can be found on the following pages:
http://www.letsdrinktea.com/types-of-tea/green-tea/
http://www.letsdrinktea.com/types-of-tea/oolong-tea/
Photo by Nate Gray.
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