Inside: My recipe for a delicious chai tea blend containing plenty of adaptogen herbs for whole body support! You’ll love creating this chai at home!
Creating your very own tea blends just for yourself is not only a satisfying activity, but can yield some surprising and profound health results. Choosing the right herbs for you at the right moments in time is an art that anyone can master! In this delicious recipe for a unique chai blend, I’ve used traditional warming chai spices with their incredible health benefits along with adaptogen herbs that help support your body in the balance it needs during the winter months.
Warming foods and teas are especially helpful this time of year, in the dark, cold days of winter. Our bodies tend to get a bit sluggish since we’re indoors more, and the energetic constitutions of many become colder and drier. Drinking a soothing and warming herbal tea such as this adaptogen-rich chai blend can help keep you well and bring your body into a more balanced state.
I’ve got a few other chai variations on the website, and I’ll link these at the end of the article too.
If you’re excited about learning to formulate your own tea blends for wellness and pleasure, I’ve got some helpful options in our School of Botanical Arts & Sciences:
My first course, The Art of Herbal Teas for Pleasure and Health, which I plan to update very soon with more recipes, is a great way to learn all about blending, formulating, and making the best tea infusions. A full guide is included in addition to the videos, and it contains many proven recipes.
You can find out more about my school, Healing Harvest Homestead School of Botanical Arts and Science here.
FTC Disclosure: There may be affiliate links scattered throughout this article. If you click through and make any kind of purchase, I may earn a very small commission at no extra cost to you.
The Incredible Benefits of Drinking Chai
The traditional spices found in most chai blends have significant health benefits. There are so many, it would have been ridiculous to include them all here, in this simple tea recipe, but I wanted to include a few, along with sources for more information.
The traditional chai spice benefits listed here don’t include the adaptogen herbs in this recipe. I’ll cover a bit about adaptogen herbs in a moment.
1) Chai is High in Antioxidants:
Scientific studies have shown that the traditional herbs and spices in chai have many health benefits. Besides being warming and soothing, the antioxidants contained in most traditional chai blends can:
Balance blood sugar levels (cinnamon)
Provide protection from various ailments (black tea, source)
Reduce systemic inflammation (ginger, source)
May counter oxidative stress and inflammation caused by free radicals (black pepper, source).
2) Chai has Wonderful Digestive Benefits:
The aromatic and bitter herbs in chai are often highly carminative, meaning they positively affect your digestive processes. Here are some ways the traditional spices (black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, and others) can be helpful for your all-important digestion:
Supports the pancreas (black pepper, source)
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Drinking chai after dinner can soothe any gastric upset and promote digestion (source)
3) Chai Helps with Your Body’s Natural Detoxification Processes
Cardamom is very helpful in supporting the liver, one of your main organs of detoxification (source)
Cardamom is helpful in cleansing the body and supporting those taking cancer treatments (source)
Ginger is an herb and spice that is widely used by herbalists for supporting the body in filtering out toxins. Its warming qualities also help enhance circulation to your vital detox organs, the kidneys and the liver. (source)
4) Helps Manage and Balance Blood Sugar Levels
Cinnamon has become a darling in the scientific world for its effects on helping with insulin resistance in Type 2 diabetes. I’ve read multiple studies that have found cinnamon to be an excellent herb to support healthy blood sugar.
Cinnamon may help lower cholesterol and improve blood sugar levels significantly (source)
Taking just 1, 3, or 6 grams of cinnamon daily (this isn’t that much cinnamon) may help improve triglyceride levels, reduce bad (LDL) cholesterol, and reduce serum glucose after 40 days of use (source)
5) Chai is Extremely Heart Healthy
Warming spices, such as cinnamon, in particular (contains high levels of cinnamaldehyde and cinnamyl acetate, which are hypotensive (source), can deeply benefit the heart.
You can find out about other heart healthy herbs to include in your daily diet here.
6) Chai Contains Herbs that Help with Bone Density and Bone Metabolism
Specific herbs in chai include green or black tea (Camellia sinensis), which contains many compounds that are good for us in many ways. One of the ways real tea (green, black, oolong or white) helps is by improving osteoporosis scores, and may also have some preventive benefits as well. (source)
7) Contains Antiviral and General Antimicrobial Compounds that Support the Immune System
Clove is an herb and spice that effectively counters some infectious diseases and is a well-known antiviral herb. Several chemicals in cloves such as eugenol and various flavonoids can keep us well, and have actions against a number of viruses and bacteria including E.coli and herpes. (Source)
And….all these benefits are without considering the adaptogens in this tea blend!
What are Adaptogen Herbs and Their Benefits?
I’ve written an entire article on adaptogens, and you can take a look at it here for more information. **This article also includes a recipe for Brain Candy!
But in a nutshell, adaptogens are herbs that help support our bodies in dealing with stress responses as well as keep us in a balanced state. They are also very safe to use and have few or no contraindications.
They are extremely helpful in aiding us in managing and enhancing our energy levels and over time come with significant health benefits on their own.
The adaptogens I’ve included in this blend are astragalus and ashwagandha. Astragalus enhances the immune system quite significantly, and ashwagandha is excellent for brain health. Both help your body manage stress and enhance energy levels.
Recipe for Warming Chai with Adaptogens for Winter Health
This tea blend recipe is simple to make and absolutely lovely to drink. Many of the herbs and spices have a “sweet” flavor (most notably astragalus and cinnamon) and yet yield no extra caloric value to your day. Now that’s a win!
A Quick Note on the “Parts” System of Measurement:
Folk herbalists like myself will often use “parts” to measure out the ingredients in their formulations. A part is simply a unit of measurement that can be whatever you want it to be. For example, if you’re working with a recipe for the first time, you may want to choose a very small “part,” such as a half teaspoon, in order to be sure you like it.
If you’re certain of the recipe, feel free to use a larger “part,” such as a quarter or half cup measure. You’ll have a lot more to store and your blend will last longer before you have to pull your herbs out again! Easy peasy!
Ingredients:
3 parts green or black tea
2 parts cardamom
2 parts cinnamon
1 part clove
1 part ginger
1 part black peppercorns, crushed
1/2 part nutmeg
1 part astragalus
1 part ashwagandha
Optional: A star or two of anise crushed (adds a beautiful licorice type flavor and has many health benefits of its own)
NOTE on the herbs: The links above are for Amazon for your convenience. However, I generally purchase the great majority of my herbs (that I don’t grow or forage) from Starwest Botanicals. I trust this company, their shipping is fast, and you can choose organic as well as smaller sizes to save money.
Also…Starwest Botanicals has some wonderful tea blends ready made if you’re not into creating your own! Chai blends too!
Directions:
Blend your herbs together and store these in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. When you’re ready to make your chai, simply add 1 to 3 teaspoons of the blend to your infuser or strainer and steep in just boiled water for 20 minutes or so.
Enjoy the liquid chai!
If you want to add milk or a milk substitute, you certainly can. And many people enjoy sweetening their chai with honey or stevia as well.
Final Thoughts on Drinking Chai Daily and Adding Adaptogens for Wellness
Chai is one of my favorite herbal teas to drink. The thing is, you need to know your ingredients and be aware of what they’re doing for your body!
In the case of many commercial chai blends, you might find “flavoring” in the ingredients. PLEASE don’t drink these. You don’t know what that “flavoring” is comprised of, and the food industry doesn’t need to tell you, either.
Why not make your own? It’s easy, and you KNOW what you’re putting in your body.
For other Chai Blend Recipes and health related articles, you may enjoy these:
Autumn Spice Chai
Rosy Chocolate Chai
Green Tea Chai
The Ultimate Tea Lover’s Gift Guide
A Nerve-Soothing Tonic Tea or Tincture Recipe for Helping with REALLY Bad Headaches
Effects of Essential Oils on Hypertension
And there are over 500 more natural living and self-reliance related article on Healing Harvest Homestead! I hope you’ll go explore!
Also, don’t forget to get your FREE 12 page Herbal Remedy Guide + Cheat Sheet so you can start using herbs for wellness and health…and for making home remedies that work!
Hugs, Health, and Self-Reliance,
Heidi
P.S. Click the banner below to grab YOUR Herbal Remedy Guide…free!
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor. I’m a certified aromatherapist (professional level) and community/clinical herbalist. Therefore, I make no claims of treatment, diagnosis, cure, or prevention of any disease or illness. Please be sure to talk with your medical professional before using herbs or essential oils. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are for informational purposes only.
Sources and Further Reading:
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/antioxidants-fact-sheet
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=74
https://www.jonbarron.org/herbal-library/foods/cardamom-seed
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22182368/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23921080/
https://www.thealternativedaily.com/cleansing-and-detoxing-benefits-of-ginger-3-ways-to-start-ginger-boosting/
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/cinnamon-and-benefits-for-diabetes
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/natural-therapies/cinnamon.html
https://healthyy.net/superfoods/cinnamon-benefits-for-high-blood-pressure
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2754215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3819475/
, Recipes, Herbalism
Heidi Villegas, MA, CA, Herbalist
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