Chamomile Tea May Have Medicinial Value

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Misty L. Trepke

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Chamomile Tea May Have Medicinal Value

[duh! of course it does! -- David]

 

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2005/01/07/hscout

523294.html

 

FRIDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDayNews) -- Chamomile tea, long touted as a

cure-all for the sick or the stressed, may relieve a wide range of

health problems, including colds and menstrual cramps.

 

Elaine Holmes, a chemist with the Imperial College London, and her

team used German chamomile, also called manzanilla, whose flowers

and leaves are brewed as a flavorful tea. Fourteen volunteers each

drank five cups of the tea daily for two weeks.

 

" There have been many studies on the effects of individual

ingredients of chamomile in animal models, but there have been very

few studies on the effect of chamomile on human metabolism so far, "

Holmes said.

 

Daily urine samples were collected and tested before, during and

after the study. A significant increase was found in urinary levels

of hippurate, a breakdown product of plant-based compounds known as

phenolics. Some of those have been associated with increased

antibacterial activity, and this might explain why the tea seems to

fight infections associated with colds, the researchers said.

 

Drinking the tea was also linked with an increase in urinary levels

of glycine, an amino acid that has been shown to relieve muscle

spasms. That might be why the tea seems to ease menstrual cramps,

the researchers said. Glycine also can act as a nerve relaxant,

perhaps explaining the tea's sedative value, they added.

 

Holmes' group found that the levels of both hippurate and glycine

remained elevated for up to two weeks after the subjects stopped

drinking the tea, so the compounds might work their magic for some

time. Oxford Natural Products, a pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and

technology company, funded the study.

 

The report appears in the Jan. 26 issue of the Journal of

Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

 

In other research, scientists have found that tea may have

anticancer properties and may help lower cholesterol, among other

health benefits.

 

" Other types of tea may work as well, " Holmes said. " We don't know

as yet. " The chamomile appears to be altering the gut microflora,

which leads to an increase in urinary hippurate and glycine, she

explained.

 

" One of the most interesting findings was that the effect of the

chamomile tea lasted at least two weeks after the volunteers had

stopped drinking the tea, " she noted.

 

The findings are probably a true reflection of the science, said

Hasan Mukhtar, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin who has

studied green tea and its role in stemming the spread of prostate

cancer.