This spring I went to a mocktail event at the Thyme Herbal Apothecary in Worcester. They taught us to make several delicious, healthy, and beautiful mocktails with different herbs. The star of the show was the Butterfly Pea Tea because of its dazzling blue hue (although sometimes it’s a gorgeous purple like in the picture).
As a nutritionist, I know that those natural blue and purple pigments are extremely healthy and not that easy to come by in our regular diet, so I eagerly bought a package of the dried Butterfly Pea flowers to brew up at home.
I told one of my friends about it and we both started drinking it daily. Within one month, we both noticed a notable lack of interest in sugar. Cravings had just vanished even when around our favorite things. My friend had been eating sugar throughout the day so this was a minor miracle for her.
Then, one month after that, she showed up looking like a new person. She had lost 25 lbs and was feeling so light and joyful, like “a deer prancing in the woods” as she described! Her routine bloodwork confirmed that she is no longer prediabetic.
Yet another bonus – we both notice that our hair has become thicker and healthier. Since this all happened, we’ve been telling our friends about our experiences, and they in turn are also delighted with the effects of drinking it daily. Some friends have reported a reduced need to pee all the time and dark spots on the skin fading. Of course it’s possible this is all coincidence because of the small size of our unofficial “study” but I do believe that there really is something profoundly healthy about this tea.
The Science
- The scientific, Latin name of Butterfly Pea tea is Clitoria Ternatea.
- The rich hue in butterfly pea tea is due to a class of antioxidants called anthocyanins which have numerous health benefits.
- One published review reports that Butterfly Pea has “diuretic, nootropic, antiasthmatic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, antidiabetic, antilipidemic, anti-arthritic, antioxidant, and wound healing properties.”
A Few Tips
- You can get Butterfly Pea Tea from Thyme Herbal Apothecary or Mountain Rose Herbs. If you choose another supplier, just be sure that the flowers are organic.
- We make a big batch of the tea once a week by adding about a half cup of the dried flowers to a saucepan of water. Depending on the size of the flowers you get, you may need more or less, depending on what color tea you want (blue or purple). You can’t go wrong. Let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes, and then let it cool. Once cooled, strain it into a bottle and store it in the fridge.
- The tea has a unique earthy flavor. You can add enhancements to the tea like a little lemonade, fresh lemon juice, or lavender.
- Don’t ruin your tea by adding artificial sweeteners!
- Have a cup consistently every day and see what happens in a month or two.
I hope that you also have amazing results from your Butterfly Pea experiment. Please let me know how it goes!
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