Gifts of Siberia: Kuril Tea
The chapter is about how the legendary cinquefoil helps everyone to be healthy, simply and casually, getting into tea right away.
Siberia is the keeper of a huge number of valuable plants. Today we want to talk about one of the most revered – Kuril tea, which in botany is referred to as five fingers, or cinquefoil.
To begin with, let's look at the names: scientific ones are related to the shape of the plant's leaf, which consists of 3-5 leaflets and resembles a chicken's foot. It was called Kuril tea because the peoples living from the Urals to the Kuril Islands used the leaves and flowers of the plant as a healing tonic drink.
What it Looks Like and Where it Grows
The habitat of the Kuril tea extends from Siberia and the Far East to the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Its extensive thickets can be found in China, Mongolia and Japan.
It is easy to recognize Kuril tea: It is a branching shrub of 50-150 cm high with a lush rounded crown and bright yellow flowers up to 3 cm in diameter. However, it is not so easy to admire it in the wild – the plant is attracted by mountainous terrain, rocks and rocky slopes, it grows along the banks of rivers, in the undergrowth of mountain forests.
Today, Kuril tea is used for various purposes: It is planted in gardens as an ornamental plant; hedges and cosmetics are made from it; but most of its fans value it for its beneficial properties, so it is most often used for drinks.
The Legendary Panace
Legends are rarely told about any plant, but the cinquefoil has received such attention. Even in ancient epics it is said that the Russian hero, Ilya Muromets, gained his strength before the battle with Nightingale the Robber in a meadow strewn with yellow flowers of cinquefoil, inhaling the aroma of its roots!
It is known that the first beneficial properties of the plant were discovered by Tibetan monks, who considered it a panacea for many diseases. They used the roots of the cinquefoil for gastrointestinal disorders, swelling of the lower extremities, female diseases and diseases of the respiratory system. In Mongolia, leaves and flowers were used for neuropsychiatric disorders. Residents of Kamchatka drank an infusion of leaves for acute abdominal pain, and on Sakhalin, a brew and infusion were used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis.
Modern medicine not only confirms the centuries-old folk experience, but also continues to expand the understanding of the medicinal value of Kuril tea.
Useful Properties of the "Omnipotence"
The biological activity of Kuril tea is explained by the variety of chemical compounds in its composition. The high content of phenolic carboxylic acids, tannins and flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol) allows the plant to have a wide therapeutic effect on our body. By the way, the people called cinquefoil "omnipotence" for its medicinal properties.
One of the main properties of Kuril tea, which scientists confirm, is antimicrobial. Biological compounds such as flavonoids, essential oils, tannins, alkaloids, and resins help the plant effectively resist bacteria and viruses.
Products based on Kuril tea have a powerful bactericidal effect on pathogens of intestinal infections, help well with dysbiosis and food poisoning, eliminate the symptoms of heartburn and flatulence, restore the intestinal microflora.
Kuril tea is widely used in gynecological inflammatory diseases, the substances in its composition contribute to the favorable treatment of erosions, thrush, fibroids.
Cinquefoil is known for its diuretic and choleretic properties. Due to the active components in the composition of brews or infusions, they help to normalize the work of the urinary system and restore the water-salt balance. The plant reduces pain and prevents the accumulation of microbes on the walls of the ureter in case of bacterial cystitis and urethritis.
Kuril tea may be potent in immunocorrecting effect. The leaves and flowers of the plant contain a lot of Vitamin C – about the same amount as in black currant berries. In case of infectious diseases, a drink based on cinquefoil effectively restores the immune and protective forces of the body.
No less amazing are the sedative properties of Kuril tea, which really has a mild calming effect, helps normalize sleep so its effect on the body is often compared with the action of valerian officinalis. An infusion based on Kuril tea is often used to combat stress.
Where to Look for Kuril Tea
You can brew Kuril tea yourself. To do this, it is necessary to collect young shoots with leaves and flowers, pour boiling water, and after a while there will be a transparent yellow drink in your cup, which tastes like black tea.
Those who did not have time to prepare the plant can use a ready-made solution: Kuril taiga tea is a part of Baikal tea collection. Herbal tea No. 1.
Herbal blend with hay, Kuril tea, burdock, currant leaves, buckthorn and clover promotes a gentle natural cleansing of the body, helps remove excess fluid and get rid of accumulated toxins. Thanks to plantain, the drink improves the state of the intestinal microflora, normalizing the general condition of the body.
A healthy drink stimulates and tones the body, improves metabolic processes, gives a feeling of lightness and even helps lose weight.
Did you know that the famous Kuril tea from Siberia has so many powerful properties? If not, then we hope that this article was interesting and useful!