are herbal stress relief teas legit?

[NewOrleans]

Or are they nonsense?  🫖 ☕️ 

yogiproducts.com/teas/herbal-teas/kava-stress-relief/

celestialseasonings.com/products/sleepytime-peach-herbal-tea

[AJL]

I haven't taken kava but I do drink lemon balm tea often and Cup of Calm from Traditional Medicinals. Do I think the herbs are what makes me feel calm? I don't know, but I think the ritual of making a cup of tea and relaxing while I drink it probably does the trick to help calm my nerves.

[NewOrleans]

Feb 23, 2023 21:54:59 GMT -5 AJL said:

I haven't taken kava but I do drink lemon balm tea often and Cup of Calm from Traditional Medicinals. Do I think the herbs are what makes me feel calm? I don't know, but I think the ritual of making a cup of tea and relaxing while I drink it probably does the trick to help calm my nerves.

missourireview.com/leila-chatti-tea/

[rubytue]

Kava legit relaxes. And also has risks. www.uclahealth.org/news/ask-the-doctors-what-are-the-risks-and-benefits-of-kava

[mlkgls]

Anecdote: I am not normally a tea drinker, but towards the beginning of the pandemic I had what was probably the start of my first and only panic attack because of the hours and stress of work. My SO made me a cup of tea using Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla Chamomile, that we must have had on hand for sore throats and the like. It wasn’t instantaneous, but I was finally able to calm down. I’m still not a tea drinker, but it has turned into a nightly ritual.

I don’t know if it’s the chamomile, added honey, warmth, or purely psychological, but I don’t care. It’s been incredibly helpful the last three years. 

[lab7979]

I drink a lot of herbal teas. Personally, I don't feel like they do much. The act of making and drinking the tea is relaxing so it might help in that way. There are two herbal teas I've tried that legit worked for me and did what they advertised. Traditional Medicinals Smooth Move tea will make you go to the bathroom and Twinings Sleep+ knocks me on my ass. It has melatonin in it which I haven't taken before so it really worked on me.

[cattledogkisses]

There's some evidence that chamomile may have mild tranquilizing and anti-anxiety effects. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014181302034126X

Like AJL said, I often find the ritual of sitting down with a cup of tea to be calming in and of itself (I'm drinking mint tea as I type this).

[gardengal]

I agree that the ritual of intentionally preparing & drinking tea relaxes me. Probably bc my mind shifts from thinking about all the things to thinking about the tea: watching the water boil, measuring out the tea, dunking the bag, carefully blowing off the steam to try a sip, etc. You have to drink it slowly bc it’s hot so you’re sitting in one place & not trying to multitask, ya know? It’s a slowdown beverage!

I’d definitely recommend trying a tea that sounds good to you. The placebo effect is still an effect.

[basilosaurus]

Both yogi and celestial have their beginnings in cults. They've both been bought out long ago, so no worries on funding them, but it's interesting trivia. There's a documentary on yogi.

I agree with others that it's mostly ritual especially if it's associated with good memories like in cultures where tea is the first thing offered to guests and the last thing enjoyed before bed. There are possibly some mildly sedative effects, but in a vacuum they'd have nothing on my insomnia.

[wanderingback]

I dont know about those brands in general, but yes I definitely believe that plants/herbs can help with sleep/anxiety.

I personally prefer to buy the plant or leaves myself and then make my own teas.

[lucybrown]

Herbs can be legitimately helpful, but I’d avoid those brands. The quality is meh.

I swear by sleepy time tea and/or valerian nightly. It gives me the same benefits and sedatives and/or anti-anxiety medications without side effects. Valerian alone is nearly as effective as Xanax for me.

[AJL]

Feb 24, 2023 10:01:33 GMT -5 lucybrown said:

Herbs can be legitimately helpful, but I’d avoid those brands. The quality is meh.

I swear by sleepy time tea and/or valerian nightly. It gives me the same benefits and sedatives and/or anti-anxiety medications without side effects. Valerian alone is nearly as effective as Xanax for me.

What are better quality brands? 

[mrsslocombe]

I drink an absurd amount of tea. I wouldn't say I get any more relaxation with Tension Tamer or chamomile vs other tea, but having a hot beverage is comforting.

BUT in terms of sleep..this shit is legit: www.traditionalmedicinals.com/products/nighty-night-tea

It smells awful (it doesn't taste as bad as it smells thankfully) but it does knock me out when my insomnia is bad. It has valerian and cat nip.

For brands, there's a lot of great loose leaf tea companies online. I recently ordered a bunch of flavors from INI Sips and they are all great and very high quality.

[sonrisa]

As mentioned above - any herbal supplement strong enough to work, is also strong enough to have unintended side effects.

What helps anxiety for me: cbd, black tea instead of coffee, peppermint tea, there are some supplements that help (l-theanine) but it also has a rebound affect for me of raising tension afterward.

[lucybrown]

Feb 24, 2023 10:31:38 GMT -5 AJL said:

Feb 24, 2023 10:01:33 GMT -5 lucybrown said:

Herbs can be legitimately helpful, but I’d avoid those brands. The quality is meh.

I swear by sleepy time tea and/or valerian nightly. It gives me the same benefits and sedatives and/or anti-anxiety medications without side effects. Valerian alone is nearly as effective as Xanax for me.

What are better quality brands? 

I like the Traditional Medicinals brand and it's easy enough to find.  Otherwise, I try to buy local-ish, organic teas where possible.  Same with herbs.  I usually buy them from my acupuncturist and/or a local herbalist.  

Herbs are not a cureall, same as medication.  For me, they tolerated better than medications.  They still will not make up for drinking too much caffiene, eating too much sugar, doom scrolling, or other things that exacerbate my anxiety.  

[NewOrleans]

Feb 24, 2023 8:55:56 GMT -5 gardengal said:

watching the water boil, measuring out the tea, dunking the bag, carefully blowing off the steam to try a sip, etc. You have to drink it slowly 

that sounds like so much work I’m stressed thinking about it 😂

[sonrisa]

Feb 24, 2023 17:54:39 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

Feb 24, 2023 8:55:56 GMT -5 gardengal said:

watching the water boil, measuring out the tea, dunking the bag, carefully blowing off the steam to try a sip, etc. You have to drink it slowly 

that sounds like so much work I’m stressed thinking about it 😂

lol.

Tea for me: put the kettle on, rush around the house trying to get something done, come running from a back room because it's whistling and driving everyone crazy, pour it into however many cups with whatever tea bags family members want, run around on other tasks and then remember "Oh yeah. I should drink some of that tea." which is either followed by "oops, still too hot" or "tepid is fine. what else needs to get done?"

Sure, tea can be meditative. But so can laundry if you really want it to be. 

[DotAndBuzz]

I really like a mint tea in the evening.
It don’t think/know if the mint has any actual physiological calming effects, but sitting quietly with a hot beverage does help me settle.