Chamomile blooms from April to August, and is collected in dry and sunny weather. It should be dried rapidly and at a temperature of 35 degrees.
Only chamomile flower is used for tea and the whole plant for baths. Essential oil in recognizable blue color is extracted from chamomile flowers with distillation. If the flower contains more essential oil, it means that the chamomile is of better quality, more expensive, but what is most important healthier.
Chamomile tea reduces anxiety, helps you fall asleep more easily, and sweetened with honey, it alleviates breathing and soothes bronchitis. It has a soothing effect on the stomach lining, and therefore tepid tea is recommended for stomach inflammation. As it suppresses spasms, it helps with bloating, as well as stomach and intestinal pains.
Chamomile is a good diuretic. It facilitates and enhances urination and excretion of toxic substances from the body and is therefore recommended for sufferers of gout, rheumatism, inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, and diabetes.
Chamomile also stimulates perspiration, improves liver and bile function and normalizes the stool, so it is often used to detoxify the body. It soothes inflammations of the oral cavity and digestive system, and is recommended for cleaning wounds which heal slowly.
The effect of chamomile is stronger, better and healthier when combined with other herbs that have similar effects and chemical composition. It is best used in combination with lemon balm, fennel, mint and marshmallow.
Mixed with cumin and fennel, chamomile soothes baby colic, and combined with valerian, it reduces climacteric discomforts. Chamomile is a herb with a distinctive aroma and a pleasant sweet taste, which is valued and applied in official medicine.
Chamomile tea is not boiled, but boiling water is poured over the herb because boiling causes evaporation of the essential oil which is in fact the main component of this healing herb. Tea prepared like this is left for five to ten minutes, and then strained. It is recommended to drink three to four cups of warm or lukewarm tea a day and it is best sweetened with acacia or sage honey.
