So you’ve decided to kick your addiction away but each time you try, the urge seems to reel you back in. It’s useless, you end up thinking to yourself. Well, there is hope because you haven’t exhausted all of your options yet. You need something that will curb those urges whenever the feeling seems to get out of hand. Detox tea, a healthy alternative to your otherwise debilitating addiction.
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What is Detox Tea?
Certain kinds of tea are beneficial to one’s health and can clear out and detoxify toxins in the body. Over time, the substance abuse, alcohol, or sugar addiction will have accumulated in the body. Even if you have successfully managed to stop those addictions on your own, you’ll still need to find a way to flush out those toxins so that they don’t wreak havoc on your body. Detox teas, aside from cleansing your body, are high in antioxidants which prevent you from developing certain types of illnesses such as liver cirrhosis, diabetes, or cancer. And due to the unhealthy lifestyle you once had, you are more prone to developing those illnesses if you don’t shape up and take any action.
Health disclaimer
Teas can be a great way to get you back in shape but be wary of pre-mixed detox tea, a lot of things that appear to be helpful can turn out to be quite harmful. It is important to note that store-bought pre-mixed detox teas are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that the FDA doesn’t check in on what companies put into their products. These companies ultimately sell to consumers, such as yourself a miracle tea with “detoxifying” elements, but could contain toxic or allergy-triggering ingredients. Before buying, do check with your doctor or local treatment center first for any contraindications with medications you may currently be on. In addition, drinking detox tea can help flush out the toxins, curb the cravings, and provide an alternative, but this cannot be used for primary treatments especially for those with severe addiction.
Detox Tea for Different Types of Addiction
- Cinnamon Tea – Sugar Addiction
- Milk Thistle Tea and Cardamom Tea – Alcohol Addiction
- Willow Bark Tea, Black Tea, White Tea, and Green Tea – Caffeine Addiction
- Green Tea – Nicotine Addiction
- Puerh Tea Binge Eating Disorder
- Green Tea – Addiction to Prescription Medication for Pain Relief
- Peppermint Tea and Valerian Tea – Addiction to Prescription Medication for Sedatives
- Oolong Tea – Addiction to Prescription Medication for Stimulants
- Chamomile Tea – Addiction to Sleeping Pills
Cinnamon Tea for Sugar Addiction
A big roadblock for a lot of people, especially for those trying to lose weight, is when they start craving sugary drinks like sodas or desserts. But sugar is not just a delicious treat, in fact, it’s far from innocent, sugar is a highly addictive substance, it tricks one’s brain, and acts as a reward system that causes the release of dopamine. And excessive consumption of sugar may lead to morbid obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancers, type 2 diabetes, and eventual dependence on insulin. Addiction to sugar is one of the leading causes of death in America, and what’s startling is that someone dies every seven seconds from complications related to diabetes.
The best detox tea to curb one’s craving for sugar is cinnamon tea. We all know cinnamon is a common ingredient for desserts and the smell just lures us from getting a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls. You can get the same taste and smell with a hot cup of tea, by infusing broken pieces of cinnamon bark in hot water with either chai tea, for daytime drinking; or chamomile tea for a sleepy time drink.
Milk Thistle Tea and Cardamom Tea for Alcohol Addiction
Ethanol found in alcohol activates opioid receptors in the reward centers of the brain and produces endorphins, making you feel good each time you get a drink, but the next thing you know, you’re hooked onto alcohol. Addiction to alcohol can have harmful consequences, it is linked to a variety of illnesses such as liver damage, cancers, cardiovascular problems, gastrointestinal diseases, and metabolic disorders; an alcoholic’s liver is swollen, enlarged, and has scarring. The best detox teas for alcoholics would be something that can cleanse and heal the liver.
Milk thistle is known to have high contents of silymarin that have antioxidant, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties; ideal for the rehabilitation of one’s liver and gallbladder. Milk Thistle is often an organic detox tea for individuals with liver damage such as alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis, and even liver cancer.
Cardamom Tea – This liver detox tea will help lower liver enzymes, triglyceride and cholesterol levels; reducing the risk for liver enlargement and liver weight, which reduces the risk of fatty liver disease. You can get it here!
Willow Bark Tea, Black Tea, White Tea, and Green Tea for Caffeine Addiction
The caffeine works its way into your brain and starts to compete and bind with adenosine receptors making you feel energetic. However, caffeine addiction leads to the brain creating more adenosine receptors. Which means, more caffeine is required to elicit the same response. It’s a vicious cycle that makes you feel even more fatigued when there is an absence of caffeine in your body.
One of the most common signs of caffeine withdrawal is intense headache, combat this with willow bark tea, which is a natural aspirin for pain relief. This detox tea is high in salicylic acid which is often found in liniment to soothe joint and muscle pain.
If you’ve formed a habit of drinking 3 or more cups of coffee a day, gradually reduce your caffeine intake by switching to a detox tea alternative. Caffeine present in a cup of tea is less than the contents in a black coffee, on average there is about 95 mg of caffeine in a cup of black coffee, while black tea packs 47 mg of caffeine, green teas contain 20–45 mg, and white teas delivers 6–60 mg. Therefore, one can gradually reduce the intake of caffeine without immediately reducing the cups per day.
Green Tea for Nicotine Addiction
Smoking addiction leads to increase in size of the red blood cells due to long term exposure to carbon monoxide, and this makes the blood thicker and causes higher blood pressure and increases chances of developing blood clots and various cardiovascular diseases. Cigarette addiction also leads to tar buildup in the lungs, that results in a variety of ailments such as emphysema and lung cancer.
Studies have shown that drinking at least two cups of green tea can detoxify one’s lungs, expelling the effects of smoke inhalation, and reducing the risk of lung cancer and type 2 diabetes. Another method that can be done with this detox tea is through a steam bath, it opens up the airways and helps the lungs drain the mucus providing immediate relief and improves breathing.
Puerh Tea Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating is a life-threatening yet treatable addiction, it is when one noticeably consumes large amounts of food, with the feeling of unable to control the desire to eat. These individuals often feel guilt after every meal and suffer low self-esteem, obesity, and depression. A study showed that healthy fluid intake can help the person feel full and bloated, by drinking a type of detox tea would not only improve one’s digestive system but also help by reducing food consumption.
Along with a controlled diet, drinking tea helps by improving the blood circulation, boosting metabolism, and increases the fat burning process. It does this by slowing down the action of digestive enzymes which means that your intestines effectively break down the calories you ate. Tea also promotes fat oxidation, whereby fat is redirected from being absorbed into the body to getting broken down instead. Tea also lowers your blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and overall bad cholesterol and blood fat levels.
Green Tea – Addiction to Prescription Medication for Pain Relief
Painkillers are highly addictive because they provide a short term feeling of euphoria for both those in real pain and not. The abuse of the medication would lead to dependence and body’s resistance to the effect of the medicine. For those who are in real pain, physicians have suggested to cut back on the medicine and only take it when necessary.
For those in real pain, rather than picking up those painkillers, why not make yourself a hot cup of green tea instead? The Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) found in green tea is a potent anti-inflammatory agent. When a certain part of your body is damaged, the body responds by protecting that area from further damage and is manifested through inflammations. To remedy this, you need to address the root of the problem with the natural anti-inflammatory properties of green tea and not a temporary relief to the pain that most pain-relief medicines do. Another confusing fact about green tea is that it could cause tea drunkenness without the presence of alcohol. Experts say that the L-theanine induces a highly calm state that gives a positive and euphoric feeling.
Peppermint Tea and Valerian Tea – Addiction to Prescription Medication for Sedatives
Depression, anxiety, panic disorders are often given calming and sedative medications. The medicines provided by the psychiatrists are not recommended for long-term use, as these are addicting and do not cure one’s illness but only provide temporary relief. However, for those who want natural maintenance to control their attacks, tea can provide the same calming and sedative effect without the dangerous side effects.
Peppermint contains menthol which has a highly calming effect on your body, and when taken as a tea can have a profound relaxing and sedative effect that is much better (and healthier) than some chemically produced pill you purchase over the counter. You can get your peppermint tea here!
Valerian is a safe, non-addictive herb for many disorders of the nervous system. It is one of the most effective agents in treating anxiety and stress. Taken as a tea, it is effective in suppressing tension in the nervous system by working as a sedative, hypnotic, and anti-spasmodic.
Oolong Tea – Addiction to Prescription Medication for Stimulants
Stimulant medication (often prescribed to patients with ADHD and narcolepsy) and stimulant illicit drugs increases alertness and cognitive function through neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. It is said that individuals abuse stimulants to enhance their performance rather than to get high. One of the possible ways to help with the recovery is through the transition to a detox tea that provides almost the same effect without the dangerous side effects.
Oolong tea -This detox tea has an amazing stimulating effect on one’s body. L-Theanine, is a stimulant that doesn’t have the same hardcore and jarring effects of caffeine normally found in coffee. You can maintain an alert and focused mind especially when studying, reading, or working on your computer without the nerve-wracking and heart palpitating effects of stronger stimulants like over-the-counter medicines and such.
Chamomile Tea – Addiction to Sleeping Pills
When one has difficulties dozing off or getting the right amount of sleep, they are often diagnosed with chronic insomnia. The bigger issue with insomnia is it triggers depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.
Find relief from a warm cup of chamomile tea taken about half an hour before your desired bedtime. Chamomile is most commonly known for its relaxing, sleep-inducing properties. Chrysin, a flavonoid found in the tea is primarily responsible for its reputation as an effective sleeping aid.
So you’ve finally succeeded to kick off that addiction but before you congratulate yourself, do know that you can experience awful withdrawal symptoms. And it is usually at this point when people relapse and bounce back to their old habits. Hang in there, it usually gets worse before it gets any better. But hey, you’ve already won half the battle, all you need is artillery that will get you through! You can augment and vastly improve your withdrawal symptoms with the help of detox teas. These will do the job in flushing out those unwanted toxins and keeping your body detoxed and back to its former glory.
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