The linden tree is not only known as our national tree, but is one of the most popular trees of all. In addition to its symbolic value, the lime tree also offers many benefits for our health.
As soon as the first blossoms appear, their fragrance attracts many gourmets, who use them to make syrup, various drinks or flavour their meals with linden blossoms. However, the most popular is the lime blossom tea, which can banish all ailments. Don’t you believe it?
Kapitoly
What is linden tea?
As the name suggests, the tea itself is a decoction of the flowers of the linden tree, or little-leaved lime. It is a mature tree with a beautiful branching crown and intensely fragrant flowers. The lime tree enjoys a mild climate and therefore thrives in Europe, north Asia and North America.
There are a large number of species of linden, the most famous being the heart linden, the large-leaved linden, the European linden, the American linden, the green linden, the silver linden and many others.
How is the linden tree grown?
In our country, both the medicinal heart linden and the large-leaved linden thrive, especially in places where the soil is rich in nutrients – especially in floodplain forests, beech woods, hills and foothills. In recent years it has been widely planted in parks, and not surprisingly. Sitting on a bench under a mature lime tree is priceless.
Planting
If you plan to plant your lime tree from seed, remember that the best time to plant is in autumn. There may be a better alternative, where you put the collected seeds in sand over winter and plant them in May in a prepared spot – the soil needs to be loose and deep. Have you decided on rhizomes?
You can plant them in a hotbed, once they have taken root you can sow them.
Growth
Don’t expect to have a huge tree with a lush canopy in your garden in a few years, lime trees grow very slowly. Its growth doesn’t accelerate until it’s 50 years old and you’ll see flowers from its 30th year. But believe me, a lime tree can live for many hundreds or even thousands of years.
Collecting flowers
June is the month when lime trees start to bloom. As soon as the first flowers appear, you can start picking them. However, keep in mind that the ideal time to pick is when the weather is sunny and dry.
Spread the flowers on a large sieve and store them in a shady place. The flowers need to dry as quickly as possible so that they retain all the necessary substances, fragrance and colour.
How to drink linden tea?
It is generally known that lime tea is characterised by its soothing effects, which are used for colds, fevers and digestive problems. The flowers can either be picked or purchased.
Instructions for preparation:
- For one cup of tea you will need 2 teaspoons of dried lime blossom. Pour water at a temperature of 85-90 degrees and leave to infuse for ten minutes.
In medicine, linden tea is often combined with other herbs, such as elderflower or elm. You can drink it three times a day.
Health benefits
The linden tree has been considered to be full of medicinal properties since ancient times. And indeed it is.
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Alleviates anxiety
Linden flower extracts are known for their sedative properties and are therefore used in the treatment of depression, stress or insomnia.
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Alleviates flu symptoms
Linden tea is said to provide tremendous relief from common infections such as fever, cold, cough, bronchitis and asthma. This is mainly due to the fact that it helps the body get rid of mucus.
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Helps with nausea
Linden tea contains flavonoids, glycosides and some essential oils which have antispasmodic properties and bring relief from stomach, intestinal discomfort and acidity.
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Fights high blood pressure
Linden extracts also contain some antioxidant compounds such as tiliroside, rutoside and chlorogenic acid, which have the ability to keep blood pressure levels under control.
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Detoxification of the body
Are you one of those who try to detoxify your body once in a while? In this case, drinking lime tea is ideal. Among its other beneficial substances is P-coumaric acid, thanks to which your body will easily get rid of unwanted toxins and foreign substances. In fact, this acid induces strong sweating, which is the principle of a proper detox.
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Alleviates pain
Flavonoids such as quercetin or tiliroside found in lime tea can help suppress chronic joint and muscle pain. Linden tea is recommended for people with arthritis to relieve joint and knee pain.
But that’s not all. Linden tea offers many other health benefits, such as supporting cardiovascular health, fighting inflammation, and is a good cancer prevention due to its abundance of antioxidants.
And even if you don’t suffer from any particular health problem, drinking lime tea can be a great way to achieve robust health.
