Our mental health affects our relationships, the way we feel, and the way we think. In a lot of ways, our minds are the same as our bodies – we all have one, and we all need to take good care of it.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were a lot of people already reported to have serious mental illnesses, and now it has taken its toll on millions more people around the world. For these individuals, it has resulted in functional impairments and limited activities. It is said that about one in every four adults is affected by mental health problems.
Good mental health is generally described as the ability to think, feel, and react in the way you want to live your life. When we go through a period of having poor mental health, these abilities are affected. Even doing the simplest every-day tasks can become difficult or even sometimes impossible to deal with – it can be just as debilitating as poor physical health. For these reasons, good mental health is vital to our overall well-being.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, people have been dealing with sudden bereavement, financial loss due to businesses closure and losing jobs, isolation, and fears of an unknown future. We’re all left with the looming questions – when will there be an end to all of this, and when we can our lives return to some form of normalcy? Just thinking about these things can cause high levels of stress and anxiety, which in turn can affect our daily lives.
How a cup of tea can help your mental well being
Drinking herbal teas can be a great way to help cope with the stresses that stem from a struggling mind.
A good herbal tea is not like your average earl grey – studies* have shown that teas can help to uplift your overall mental health, as it can act as a therapeutic aid for both the mind and the body. Drinking herbal teas regularly can improve your brain function, boost mental awareness as well as improve your mood.
There’s a wide variety of herbal teas out there for each individual’s differing needs and tastes (green tea, oolong, black tea or TCM approved herbal teas – to name a few)!
By incorporating tea to your everyday routine, here are a few benefits that you can look forward to:
Aids your sleep
We all know that a good sleep can make all the difference to your mood, but there are a lot of factors that can unfortunately trigger loss of sleep. It could be attributed to the demands of your everyday hustle, the unprecedented stresses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, or one of many other obstacles that you may be trying to get through. Regular consumption of tea can help your body to relax, which aids in relieving tensions and thus helping you to get better sleep.
Lowers your anxiety and stress level
Studies have shown* that drinking herbal teas can help to reduce stress and anxiety by lowering the levels of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is commonly known as the “stress hormone”, and is released by your adrenal glands when the body and mind are under pressure. Cortisol is typically beneficial for your body, however, much like chocolate, having too much of it can have the opposite effect. A high level of cortisol increases glucose (sugar) levels in your bloodstream, which can lead to weight gain, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, mood swings, and more. Drinking herbal tea is a natural way to lower your cortisol levels, which means less stress and decreased levels of anxiety.
Improves your cognitive function
If you’re already an avid herbal tea drinker, you may have noticed that your capacity for storing and processing new information is better than before you picked up that teacup! People who drink tea regularly, studies have shown*, have a reduced risk of dementia. This is attributed to the natural antioxidants present in herbal teas, as antioxidants help to reverse some of the symptoms of aging and memory loss.
Uplifts your mood
Your moods and emotions are heavily influenced by all the factors mentioned above – your sleep cycle, your stress levels, and your cognitive mental capacity. According to WHO, there has been a 13% increase of mental health disorders globally*, which suggests that there is a need for more information and advice on coping mechanisms. While drinking herbal tea should by no means be used as foolproof treatment for mental disorders, there is evidence that shows improvement to the factors mentioned above can result in significant improvements in mood and ability to cope with stresses, and herbal tea can be used to support this enrichment.
Our herbalists have crafted a well-balanced tea blend, No. 1 Summer, to help to with regulation of your mood – but not only that, as the No. 1 Summer blend will also help to cool you and regulate fluid levels during the summertime heat. Try it today!
* See: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/tea-a-cup-of-good-health, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00398-1, https://www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health#tab=tab_2
