Everything about Sideritis totally explained
Sideritis syriaca is a herb that's used to prevent and fight the
common cold. It grows in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically the
Balkans.
Sideritis is known as Mountain Tea,
Ironwort, Sheperd's Tea, or Pirin Tea. These plants are wild, hardy flowering perennials that have adapted to survive with little water and little soil. This species of Sideritis thrives on rocky slopes and pastures at elevations over 3000 feet. The plant grows in abundance at the foot of Mount Olympus in Greece, where it was traditionally harvested by shepherds.
Use in tea
Very popular in Greece, Macedonia, Albania, and Bulgaria the plant is used to remedy the
common cold. The herb is used to prepare a tea (or more accurately a
Tisane) most variant often in winter to alleviate sinus congestion, aches and pains, viruses, as well as, the common cold. A very aromatic variant of the tea includes combining the Sideritis plant with spices common to Mediterranean cuisine.
Traditional preparation of the tea involves boiling the stems, leaves and flowers in a pot of water. The tea is often served with honey and lemon. Modern packaged preparations are available that allow the tea to be steeped using a tea ball, press or other loose tea preparation devices.
Historical references
This plant has been referenced in the
Materia Medica written in the 1st Century A.D. This book was written by Pedanius
Dioscorides (Greek: Πεδάνιος Διοσκορίδης; ca. 40-ca. 90), a Greek doctor who lived in Rome during the time of Nero. Dioscorides traveled the Mediterranean with the Roman legions, where he studied the medicinal benefits of the plants he'd encounter.
Health benefits
Sideritis is traditionally used to fight the
common cold,
flu and
allergies. Other traditional uses are for soothing
respiratory problems, aiding
digestion, strengthening the
immune system, and calming mild anxiety. It is also used to relieve sinus congestion.
Scientists recently suggested that the traditional Greek promotion of
mountain tea as a panacea for most illnesses may be remarkably close to the truth. Modern tests have indicted that the tea helps in the prevention of
osteoporosis while its
anti-oxidant properties aid in the prevention of
cancer. The studies also indicate Greek Mountain Tea has a positive effect on almost anything that ails.
Sideritis is known scientifically to be
anti-microbial,
anti-inflammatory, and
anti-oxidant. The active elements in Sideritis that make it beneficial for health are
diterpenoids,
flavonoids, and its
essential oils. Significant research has been done on Sideritis confirming its popular use to prevent colds, flu, and allergies. Most of this research has taken place in Universities in the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, where the plant is indigenous (except the Netherlands).
Name variants
- Mountain Tea - common name
- Tsai tou vounou (Mountain Tea)- in Greece
- Pirin Tea - in Bulgaria
- Mediterranean Mountain Tea
- Ironwort
- Shepherd's Tea
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sideritis'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://sideritis.totallyexplained.com">Sideritis Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
