Good Lifestyle

With the "followers" of herbal tea, artichoke tea is considered a "panacea" tea because of diverse benefits such as detoxification, liver cool, sedative. However, if you overuse this tea, you will face some unwanted effects.

What is artichoke tea?

Artichoke (Cynara Cardunculus) is a tree of sunflower family originating from the Mediterranean. In Vietnam, this tree is currently grown in areas with cool climates all year round such as Lam Dong, Tam Dao, Sa Pa, etc.

Unlike many herbs, all parts of artichokes are valid. In particular, young artichoke buds are often used as food processing materials and leaves, stems and roots are used as medicine. In addition, flower buds and artichokes are also dried to make tea in the form of handy filter bags or pure slices.

For a long time, enjoying artichoke tea has also become one of the typical cultural features of Vietnamese people. You can easily have a cup of artichoke tea after only a few minutes mixed with boiled water without sophisticated preparation.

Rich benefits from artichoke tea

According to many nutrition experts, drinking artichoke tea is a great way to get great benefits from this herbal tea.

Rich source of nutrition and minerals

According to nutritionist Brigitte Zeitlin, artichoke is one of the perfect foods that contain many nutrients such as vitamins A, C and Thiamine (B1) along with minerals like magnesium, iron and zinc. Using boiling artichoke leaves will help strongly promote the nutrients and antioxidants of artichokes.

Help strengthen the immune system

Thanks to the abundant amount of vitamin C and antioxidants, artichoke tea can help boost immunity. In addition, artichokes are also considered a good type of prebiotic so it can help strengthen the intestinal bacteria, thereby helping to improve the body's immunity. Artichokes are also rich in protein, a essential substance for cell regeneration and promote immunity.

Detoxify and improve liver function

The most common use of artichoke is liver detox. The two compounds in artichokes, Cynarin and Silymarin, can support detoxification in the liver. In addition, artichokes also have liver regeneration properties similar to dairy plants - a special tree known for the effect of protecting liver cells from toxic drugs and chemicals.

Prevent cancer from developing

According to many reports, artichokes can help restrain breast cancer cells, slow down the activity of liver cancer cells, kill pancreatic cancer cells.

The reason is because artichokes contain silymarin, a type of flavonoid that has a very good effect in preventing cancer. In addition, artichokes also have antioxidants such as rutin, quercetin and galic acid, which can reduce the growth of cancer cells. Even the polyphenols in this plant are also likely to cause cancer cell death.

Reducing bad cholesterol, increasing good cholesterol

Artichoke leaves can promote bile flow, thereby enhancing excess cholesterol excretion activities from the body. A Italian study found that artichokes could repel lipid and blood sugar, which improves cardiovascular health. Not only does it reduce bad cholesterol, a study from Germany also proved that this plant also has the ability to increase good cholesterol levels in the body.

Improve skin health

Artichoke is a food rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, which can help improve skin health and slow skin aging. In addition, artichokes are also rich in vitamin C, one of the most contributed substances to the development of healthy collagen, helping the skin to always be smooth. Artichoke leaves also contain cynaropicrin, an important compound that can protect the skin and help reduce the harmful effects caused by UV rays.

Side effects of artichoke tea

Although artichokes have many uses for health, overuse of this drink too much also causes harmful effects on the body.

Bloating

According to physician Vu Quoc Trung, because artichoke stimulates digestion, increases bile secretion and cholecyst musical spasm to push bile from the liver to the intestine, drinking artichoke tea continuously will be able to negatively affect the digestive system. At that time, the smooth muscle system will contract, causing flatulence and bloating. In addition, artichokes are welded foods, so those who eat indigestion, have weak, cold spleen if they use artichokes will aggravate indigestion, stomach.

Harmful liver damage

It is also because of the ability to stimulate the secretion of bile secretion in the body of artichokes, so people with excessive artichoke tea users will be prone to imbalance of substances and lead to many diseases, even liver atrophy. Therefore, despite being beneficial for the liver, people with liver disease need to be cautious when using this drink and especially must follow the instructions of a nutritionist.

In addition, artichoke leaf extract can also cause the gallbladder to contract. Therefore, people with gallstones or bile clogging should also stay away from this tea.

Kidney failure

Artichoke tea can help diuretic, cooling the body. However, when using overdose, users will lose electrolytes, the activity of elimination of active ingredients increases, leading to poor absorption of essential micronutrients such as calcium, potassium, etc. In the long run, if this happens regularly, users may have kidney failure.

Anorexia

In artichoke tea, the iron content is dominant but lacks many minerals such as zinc, chromium, manga. When excessive iron absorption, the body will easily feel tired, thereby causing anorexia.

How much is it enough to use artichoke?

According to nutrition experts and traditional medicine, to avoid unwanted harms from artichoke tea, every day, you should only use 10-20 grams of fresh artichoke or 5-10 grams of dried artichoke to make tea. In addition, the followers of herbal tea should not drink artichoke tea continuously. Instead, each batch, you should only drink artichoke tea for 10 days and then "take a break" before moving to another consumption.