April 2016 – Quantum.

Hello beautiful!

I am actually quite thrilled to be sharing this DIY detox tea as my very first official blog post with you. I have been so into the diversity of the tea field since last year as soon as I realised the various health benefits that comes with it!

Now as to more specifically with the concept of detox tea, it is an area that I’ve done thorough research on in order to identify the best of the best ingredients. That also means lurking around on the websites of popular detox tea brands such as Skinny Mint, BooTea, Skinny Bunny, and EvoTea. I’m pretty certain that I’ve got you nodding like I’m preaching a sermon when I say I ain’t paying £30+ for a month supply (50g approx.) of detox tea. Instead, I paid £23.42 for 1150g of ingredients that’ll last me for at least a year! Can I get an Amen?!

Let’s get straight into it and talk about the main ingredients! The links of all the ingredients and products mentioned will be at the end along with the details. Also remember that you can always switch up the ingredients with any of mine that you don’t prefer on the website itself – JustIngredients.co.uk.

Nettle Herb with Stems – 250g – £3.78

This herb acts more as a cleansing agent, particularly for the urinary system which is important as toxins are flushed out of your body, and your cells are given essential minerals – Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy.

For us women, the fact that it is rich in iron means that anaemia is prevented or otherwise treated – giving us a steady healthy menstrual cycle. Winning! Since its good for digestion, it’ll also prevent bloating and cramps. Double winning!
This is my favourite ingredient because it was this herb that pushed me to make my own detox and cleanse tea. I actually felt and saw the effects of it when I had Pukka’s Cleanse Tea that had Nettle in; the reduction in bloating and overall balance of my blossom (the nickname I gave for menstrual cycle, that’s our code now!).

Burdock Root – 500g – £7.87

A holy grail of antioxidants – vital to prevent damage to our healthy cells. It leads to blood purification by removing toxins from our body too. So what does this mean? Strong blood circulation means beautiful skin surface and texture! No matter how much make-up we lather on to our faces, we need to take care of the beautiful canvas that we were given. Yes or nuh? Yeees!
More good news – Burdock slows the growth of tumour cells as observed by BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2011. Our bodies are shrines of our souls, and so we ought to take care of it as so.

Lemon Grass – 100g – £2.54

This ingredient seems to be in popular with detox brands. I looked into it, and found that it stimulates digestion, contains antioxidants, and aids the urinary system too. So the same as the Burdock Root and Nettle.
Yet it also goes that extra mile. It possesses the herbal oil of citral when brewed. What this citral oil does is that it oxidizes fatty acids which forces stored energy to be used, more specifically those annoying unwanted fats that sit around out body. Therefore?! Good metabolism which says ‘Bye Felicia’ to abdominal fat!

(Yerba) Mate Tea – 200g – £2.00

This one is also popular amongst the detox brands.

It would be, because it is an even bigger holy grail of antioxidants; supposedly containing 90% more than Green Tea. This tea has been said by The Review of Natural Products 1997 to stimulate intestinal contraction, meaning it encourages a clean digestive system.

Another specific benefit of this is… Metabolism! It increases metabolism through using energy that is instantly given to the body via foods. What gives this physical and mental endurance is by the fact that it contains a neatly balanced caffeine! Sharpness and focus is increased as a result – sip on this while studying as a healthier alternative to coffee.

Fennel Seeds – 100g – £2.12

If you’re Southern Asian, you’d have most likely already have come across these seeds. Next time you encounter one, say your thanks because it is one hell of a cleansing and balancing agent for the digestive system!

Alongside removing toxins and encouraging a healthy metabolism, it contains a crucial oil called estrogen which too stimulates intestinal contractions. It also contains certain properties that treats bloating and stomach cramps. All of this in turn keeps your stomach acid levels on check, and intestines clean from worms and bacteria.

This seed has also been observed to promote eye health as it promotes dilation of blood vessels.
Check Ma’s cupboard first if you want to save money!

Green Tea – 250g – £2.99

And of course, the famous green tea! It has been associated with weight loss, increased metabolism, better digestion, emotional stability, sleep aid, and many more.
Amongst the benefits of digestion, metabolism mentioned in the other products, green tea contains a powerful source of antioxidant known as Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) – it protects our healthy cells from being damaged by free radicals by removing them.

Again here, toxins are flushed out of your body.

I use gunpowder green tea instead of normal loose green tea. I interchange between Chinese gunpowder green tea, and Ceylon gunpowder green tea. Ceylon is my favourite but I’ve run out of it. What gunpowder green tea gives that the loose version doesn’t is a nutty and wood like taste. It’s less bitter compared to loose green tea, however the nutty and wood taste is fairly strong – stronger in Ceylon gunpowder – and not everyone takes a liking to that nutty and wood taste.

Cardamom Tea – 500g – £6.20

This is also a product that will sit in a Southern Asian’s kitchen! Amid the usual of toxin elimination and better digestion, its oils strengthens your intestines mucosal lining. Why is this important? It’s important because keeps the acid levels balanced, thus no bloating. It also prevents in fighting anaemia since it is high in copper and iron.

What made me actually include this ingredient is the fact that it regulates your hair growth and keeps it healthy. It also gives your skin a glow, more so than other ingredients.

The taste of this tea is very strong. If you do not like the taste of cardamom or just strong teas in general then add only a few grams of it in your overall mixture, or cut it out entirely. You won’t lose much from it, don’t worry.
These are my current ingredients. The overall combined taste when brewed together as a tea varies. This is because I like to shake up all the ingredients and take teaspoons of it, resulting in one particular ingredient dominating over the others. This is the best part of DIY detox and cleanse tea because you never drink the same tasting tea every day – it keeps you from being bored and used to the same tea that you may eventually dislike.
Brands usually add a well-known flavour into the mix such as mint, a particular fruit, or a soothing taste such as chamomile and lemon. You can do the same if you’re not comfortable with unfamiliar tastes. I’m personally okay with unfamiliar tastes; I personally want to add in ginger root and liquorice root next time for a twist on taste haha! And both do exactly what all those mentioned ingredients do.
That’s ingredients done. Now, where to store and details about the mixture.

This is where I store the mixture. In a tight jar to keep the mixture from losing its properties and aroma to open air. You can get these jars from most home/kitchen specialist stores, or even on-line for perhaps fraction of in-store prices!

The mixture itself is entirely up to you because you may prefer one ingredient over another and so will want more of it. Or you may dislike the taste of one but still want to incorporate it in the mixture, e.g. cardamom. What I did was take 20g of each initially, but I decreased this to 10g for lemon grass (20g was excessive since it weighed less), and increased it to 30g for the burdock root (it weighed a lot individually so 20g was not enough). Have fun with the mixture, you are the creator of your own tea!
Now, how to brew and in what.

I brew my tea in a steel teapot. Any teapot, or any tea infuser is fine! Whatever you like, do that. I like a teapot just because I can get more than one cup of tea in one sitting. I typically brew for at least 3-4 minutes before I take a cup out of it. It needs to brew good to get all the goodness from it so don’t rush! I promise it’ll be worth the wait. It’ll be too hot anyway so you’d have to wait regardless haha!
That’s all, beautiful. I hope you have fun with the whole process of choosing your ingredients, mixing it, and brewing it. Let me know how it goes!