Chamomile tea is, by far, one of the most popular herbal teas on the market. Traditional uses include a wide range of health concerns, but today, we know it best as a caffeine-free tea to sip on at the end of the day, a tea to cozy up in bed with that will help us slip a little deeper into a sweet, sweet slumber. The chamomile tea health benefits not only include ease, relaxation, and better sleep but many other health perks as well.
GRAB A CUP O’ TEA & SEARCH THIS ARTICLE:
9 Science-Backed Chamomile Tea Health Benefits
Which Chamomile is Best for Tea?
Is Chamomile Tea Safe for Everyone?
How to Make Chamomile Tea
3 Simple Chamomile Tea Combos
Recipe for Chamomile Tea
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9 Science-Backed Chamomile Tea Health Benefits
1. Stress & Anxiety
Chamomile tea has proven effective for all kinds of stress and anxiety. As a nervine, chamomile works to support the nervous system and is mildly calming or sedative.
Biochemicals found in chamomile tea can have a hormone balancing effect, modulating the actions of dopamine and serotonin (hormones important for mental health, digestion, and sleep), and helping to offset or reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
And apart from everyday stress and anxiety, chamomile tea is also useful for stress and anxiety associated with more specific health conditions.
For patients with chronic heart failure, chamomile tea was found to significantly reduce anxiety and difficulty breathing. Anxiety and depression common amongst cancer patients were also found to be reduced significantly with the use of chamomile tea.
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2. Better Sleep
You’ll find chamomile in sleepy time teas everywhere, right next to lavender. Sleep and chamomile go together like peanut butter and chocolate! Chamomile’s ability to soothe our nerves and help us get out of a chronic, low-grade fight or flight state makes for a great sleep companion.
Studies have found chamomile to significantly improve sleep quality of hospitalized elderly patients, sleep disturbed postnatal women, and many others suffering from poor quality sleep.
Apart from sipping on it, the sweet and soothing scent of chamomile tea also plays an aromatherapeutic role in helping to relax and improve sleep quality.
3. Digestive & Stomach Issues
Perhaps a lesser-known, but equally as powerful chamomile tea health benefit is its role in our digestive health. Chamomile is considered to be a bitter herb and the bitter qualities of plants signal our digestive systems to hop into tip-top shape.
The health benefits of bitter herbs (and foods!) include stimulating more saliva (where digestion starts), stomach acid, and digestive enzymes to signaling the release of bile (to help us digest fats more easily).
In fact, the Cherokee are said to have used chamomile to help support regularity.
When our digestion is working optimally, not only do you experience less gas and bloating, heartburn, diarrhea, and painful stomach cramping, you also absorb more of the nutrients from the food you eat.
By way of our digestive system, chamomile works to support better overall health & greater resistance to disease.
4. Skin Health
Chamomile’s anti-inflammatory properties make it a great herbal ally for skin health too. Likewise, you’ll find chamomile in many bath, body, and beauty products.
The external use of chamomile for inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema, sunburn, mild rashes and sores, and even hemorrhoids is a long-standing traditional use. Chamomile has drying and cooling properties well-suited to treat such conditions.
5. Weight Loss
Weight loss as a benefit of regularly consuming chamomile tea is all over the internet. However, as far as I can tell, the science is slim.
Most research on using chamomile to help support weight loss are animal studies, and much more research is need before any definitive conclusions can be made.
Nonetheless, the makeup of chamomile’s medicinal actions proves promising for weight loss. Chamomile’s potential to help support weight loss is due to actions such as:
- Chamomile’s bitter properties may help to curb appetite and prevent overeating. As mentioned above, bitter foods also aid the proper digestion of fats.
- As a carminative, an herb that helps to soothe and support healthy digestion, chamomile can be an effective herb for supporting healthy nutrient absorption, metabolism/digestion.
- Drinking chamomile tea is also an act of hydration, an important part of healthy weight loss.
And while the science might not yet fully prove chamomile’s ability to directly support weight loss, it does show how chamomile can be a powerful ally in a weight loss journey.
Ancient Romans used to drink wine infused with bitter herbs before eating a meal to help prevent them from overeating. Sometimes modern science takes a while to catch up.
6. Inflammation
We all could use more anti-inflammatories in our everyday lives. Its anti-inflammatory properties alone are enough reason to drink more chamomile tea.
Chamomile has proven effective as an anti-inflammatory mouthwash for gum inflammation, eye inflammation, and as mentioned above, many inflammatory skin conditions. It’s also been successfully used as a topical anti-inflammatory in the treatment of migraine headaches and osteoarthritis.
Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory effects of chamomile are showing promising results in cancer prevention.
7. Diabetes & Blood Sugar Regulation
Chamomile’s magic on our digestive system extends to blood sugar regulation and has been found to be effective in helping treat diabetes by moderating the speed at which we digest and metabolize sugar.
One study found that drinking 3 cups of chamomile daily for 12 weeks improved blood sugar control and depression in people with Type 2 diabetes.
8. Cold & Flu Support
When fever-y aches and pains set in, chamomile can help! Here, chamomile acts as a relaxant that can help to induce sweating, helping to lower body temperature and reduce fever.
The mild sedative effects of chamomile can also be really helpful for being able to relax and rest when you’re under the weather. And the anti-spasmodic properties can help with the dry, hacking coughs that may set in at the end of a cold.
9. PMS & Menstrual Cramps
The anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and anti-anxiety chamomile tea health benefits also make it an excellent herb to help mitigate unpleasant PMS symptoms.
As an anti-spasmodic, chamomile can help to relax uterine muscles and lessen the intensity of painful cramping.
Which Chamomile is Best for Tea?
While there are plenty of different varieties of chamomile out in the world, the two most common varieties are German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile).
So which chamomile is best for tea? This is kind of a trick question. While the different types of chamomile do have different biochemical properties and can be used medicinally in different ways, both can be beneficial for your health.
However, many herbalists do not consider them to be interchangeable. The research above is in reference to German chamomile (M. recutita).
If you’re buying chamomile tea bags, the guesswork is done for you as the majority of chamomile tea on the market is made with German chamomile (M. recutita).
Try These Other Chamomile Recipes!
Chamomile Lemon Bars
Banana Milk with Ashwagandha & Chamomile
Pink Paloma | A Grapefruit Cocktail with Chamomile Tequila
Chamomile Rose Bathtub Tea
Chamomile Bitters with Hibiscus & Lavender
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Is Chamomile Tea Safe for Everyone?
Generally, yes, chamomile is considered to be safe for everyone. Chamomile is heralded as an excellent herb for children.
However, one should always use caution with herbal medicines and no herb should ever be consumed excessively, unless under medical supervision. Always consult with a licensed physician or trained herbalist.
Refrain from drinking chamomile tea or drink with caution especially if you are:
- pregnant or nursing,
- on any medications,
- or have an allergy to plants in the ragweed family.
Hey fellow tea lover!
Herbal teas are one of the oldest & most accessible herbal remedies on the planet. And it’s incredibly empowering (& easy!) to blend your own. Check out this step-by-step guide:
How to Blend Your Own Nourishing Herbal Teas
How to Make Chamomile Tea
While so many amazing medicinal uses, chamomile tea can be combined with any number of other herbs for a specific use. But first, let’s make a cup of plain ol’ chamomile tea.
The subtle floral scent and flavor of chamomile tea, with its quiet nuances of honey and apple, is enough to help you relax. But sip away, because the benefits of drinking a cup of chamomile go way beyond a pleasant aroma.
Skip ahead to the end of this post for the full recipe.
Equipment
- Small Saucepan or Tea Kettle (If you make tea often, this electric tea kettle with temperature control is the best!)
- Tea Basket/Strainer/Infuser (I love these mesh tea strainers that rest on the edge of your mug and come with their own steeping lids that double as a place to put your stainer when you’re done steeping.)
- Your Favorite Mug
Ingredients
- Dried Chamomile Flowers
- Water
- Optional: Sweetener of Choice (Honey compliments chamomile so nicely.)
Method
- Add dried chamomile flowers to a tea bag (reusable or disposable), tea infuser, or even a French press.
- If using a tea bag or infuser, place in a mug and pour hot water over herbs. Then cover with a saucer or small plate. (If using a French press, pour water over herbs and then place the lid on the press.)
- Allow to steep covered for 5-7 minutes. Remove tea bag or infuser (or strain into a mug if using a French press).
- Sit back, cozy up, and sip your way to better sleep, lower inflammation, healthier digestion, and more.
Try These Chamomile Tea Combos
Double up on the medicine in your cup with these therapeutic combos:
- Cinnamon and chamomile for premenstrual cramps
- Ginger and chamomile for headaches and migraines, indigestion, gas and bloating, or any other kinds of tummy irritability
- Lavender and chamomile for better sleep
And there are plenty more magic chamomile tea combos. If you have a go-to, drop it in the comments below. I’d love to know!
Chamomile Tea
Course: DrinksCuisine: Herbal TeaDifficulty: Easy1
servings30
minutes7
minutesThe subtle floral scent and flavor of chamomile tea, with its quiet nuances of honey and apple, is enough to help you relax. Sip on this herbal tea anytime you’re in need of a quiet moment, when you’re feeling anxious, or when it’s time to settle down at the end of a long day.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon dried chamomile flowers
8 fl. oz. hot water
Optional: sweetener of choice
Directions
- Add dried chamomile flowers to a tea bag (reusable or disposable), tea infuser, or even a French press.
- If using a tea bag or infuser, place in a mug and pour hot water over herbs. Then cover with a saucer or small plate. (If using a French press, pour water over herbs and then place the lid on the press.)
- Allow to steep covered for 5-7 minutes. Remove the tea bag or infuser (or strain into a mug if using a French press).
- Sit back, cozy up, and sip your way to better sleep, lower inflammation, healthier digestion, and more.
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DISCLAIMER: The information given in this article is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns at all, it’s always a good idea to check with your health practitioner before consuming certain herbs & medicinal foods, especially if taking any prescription medications.
