I boiled a pot of chrysanthemum tea for everyone today since everyone has been having chesty cough. Plus, we have been gorging on durians for the past 2 days, Baby inclusive! My 3 girls love durians and it’s in their blood coz their daddy, mummy and grandparents all love durians!  And yes, the durian season is back again!

My pot of chrysanthemum tea boiled with ‘kam choa’ (Chinese licorice).  Chinese licorice tonifies the spleen and benefits Qi, moistens the lungs and stops coughing and therefore it is good in treating upper respiratory ailments. It has an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect. It reduces the toxicity of many substances including nicotine and caffeine.
Sometimes I’ll toss in a handful of ‘keiji’ (goji berries or wolfberries) into my pot of chrysanthemum tea. Goji berry is another super food and I’ll write another post on it soon.

Health Benefits Of Drinking Chrysanthemum Tea
Chrysanthemum tea is known by the Chinese to be cooling and good for expelling ‘heatiness’ and toxic materials from the body. This is recommended whenever we have had too much fried, baked and barbequed foods. It is also good for relieving dizziness, migraines, gummy eyes, painful gums, slight toothache and headaches. Chrysanthemum tea can aid in digestion when the tea is taken along with meals.

Drinking Chrysanthemum tea can also help reduce shortness of breath and strengthen the lungs. The cooling effect of the tea can also treat heat-related illnesses such as fever, flu and sore throat. Regular consumption aids in the removal of toxins trapped in the lungs as well as breakdown of mucous formation. Chrysanthemum flowers also make a great rinse for red, swollen and irritated eyes.

I prefer to buy this type of chrysanthemum flowers, which are small compressed flowers, than the bigger flowers.