Re:Pine Needle Tea, NOW what is tea & toxins

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Below:

 

--- susan <ripple95 wrote:

 

> Marcia or Kunzang, being a lay-person I admit I am

> confused by your posts.

> Are you saying that there is a toxicity to

> the leaves, needles

> or other plant materials used to make tea?

 

Susan: If you are thinking that " tea " is a beverage

that only comes in a Lipton, Twinings, Bigalow,

Taylor's, etc. teabag (or loose) then I don't wonder

that you're confused. That kind of beverage/tea, no

matter whether black, green, oolong or white, is made

from a plant named Camellia sinensis. Here's a pretty

good write-up on that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_tea

 

However, Western herbalists use the word " tea " to mean

any plant part (herb, bark, seed, flowers, etc.)

steeped or even cooked in hot water. Not whole lot of

plants are used for beverages, although some common

good tasting herbs are, such as those blended in the

products of various companies like Celestial

Seasonings

http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/category.html/herbal-teas

 

It's probably not a stretch to say that all plants can

be made into a " tea " by steeping or cooking a part of

that plant in hot water. This does not mean that all

plants are equally safe or medicinally effective or

good tasting! For instance, some are deadly poisons

(belladonna, foxglove, etc. see here

http://museum.gov.ns.ca/poison/pptoxin.htm) And some

herbs are useful medicinally, but also have toxins

that can be harmful in certain circumstances. Some of

those that come to mind are such as Polk Root,

Comfrey, Sassafras, Creosote, Castor Beans... there's

many more and just how toxic vs useful some of these

are is in constant debate amongst herbalists.

 

> I was

> interested in what

> Marcia said about the essential oils being in the

> needles. I wouldn't

> make a tea with pine eo, but is it OK using the

> needles as the

> concentration of eo is not there in the small amount

> of needles used

> for tea to be harmful?

 

The needles and other parts of certain pine trees are

used to make a tea that can be either a beverage, a

nutrient and/or a medicinal substance. Here's an

interesting write-up on White Pine which includes its

use as a tea/beverage among other things:

http://www.botanical.com/site/column_susun/susun_white_pine.htm

 

However, there are certain pine-type trees that are

more toxic than useful when prepared as a tea. In

that link about poisonous plants one included is Yew,

a pine-type of tree that you would not want to use as

a tea. And here's an interesting write up on Yew:

http://www.alchemy-works.com/herb_yew.html