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Sassafras Officinale/Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a relatively small, ornamental, deciduous tree that is native to Missouri but grown across the eastern United States. The tree has distinctive greenish-yellow blossoms that appear in April or May. But it is the roots and the root bark (or peeled root) that are used for medicinal purposes. Roots may be dried and used for tea and were formerly used as the flavoring for root beer.
Drinking sassafras tea can have several impressive health benefits such as detoxifying the body, breaking fevers, thinning the blood, strengthening the immune system, improving skin health, aiding respiratory health, and reducing infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।" data-rx-term="inflammation" data-rx-definition="Inflammation is the body’s response to injury, infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।">inflammation, among others.
Other Name
- Ague Tree,
- Bois de Cannelle,
- Cinnamon Wood,
- Common Sassafras,
- Kuntze Saloop,
- Laurier des Iroquois,
- Laurus albida, Saloop,
- Sasafras, Sassafrax,
- Sassafras albidum,
- Sassafras officinale,
- Sassafras variifolium,
- Saxifrax.
What is Sassafras Tea?
Sassafras tea is made from the root and bark of the sassafras tree, a deciduous flowering tree native to North America. The flavor of the tea is reminiscent of root beer, which is why many early recipes for the refreshing beverage include sassafras.
Sassafras trees grow from 9–35 m (30–115 ft) tall with many slender sympodial branches, and smooth, orange-brown bark or yellow bark.[rx] All parts of the plants are fragrant. The species are unusual in having three distinct leaf patterns on the same plant: unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three-pronged); the leaves are hardly ever five-lobed.[rx] Three-lobed leaves are more common in Sassafras tzumu and Sassafras randaiense than in their North American counterparts, although three-lobed leaves do sometimes occur on Sassafras albidum. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous and produce a citrus-like scent when crushed. The tiny, yellow flowers are generally six-petaled; Sassafras albidum and Sassafras Hesperia are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees, while Sassafras Izumi and Sassafras randaiense have male and female flowers occurring on the same trees. The fruit is a drupe, blue-black when ripe.[rx]
The largest known sassafras tree in the world is in Owensboro, Kentucky, and is over 100 feet (30 m) high and 21 feet (6.4 m) in circumference.[rx][rx]
However, this tea also contains safrole, which is deemed to be a carcinogen. It is, therefore, not recommended for use by doctors, particularly in large quantities. Only very small doses of sassafras tea are recommended by herbal practitioners, who still use this plant, despite the proven risks. It has been banned in the United States. Even so, the tree is native to eastern North America and is still used in many areas of the world. [rx]
Health Benefits of Sassafras Tea
While there are health risks to consuming an excess of sassafras tea, in moderate amounts it is known to have a positive impact on your liver, circulatory system, immune system, skin, lungs, respiratory tracts, and joints. Much of these benefits come from the volatile compounds in the tea, including alpha-pinene and antioxidant tannins. However, use of this tea should be monitored carefully, and should only be prepared in the right concentrations. If you begin to feel any adverse side effects, discontinue use immediately. [rx]
- Immune System – Sassafras tea has been traditionally used in small amounts to treat the symptoms of cold and flu. It can help reduce nasal congestion and relieve infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।" data-rx-term="inflammation" data-rx-definition="Inflammation is the body’s response to injury, infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।">inflammation in the sinus cavities and throat. [rx]
- Skin Health – The antibacterial and antiseptic properties of this tea make it effective for skin health. It can aid in the elimination of eczema, psoriasis, and other inflammatory issues when consumed in low to moderate amounts.
- Detoxify the Body – As a liver stimulant, sassafras tea can help the body to sweat and detoxify faster, which can further eliminate toxins through the skin. This tea also functions as a great diuretic, meaning that it speeds up urination, which is when excess toxins, fats, salt, and water can be flushed out of the body. For this reason, sassafras tea is also known to boost kidney health when consumed responsibly. [rx]
- Break Fevers – One of the classic uses of this tea is for stubborn fevers that don’t seem to break. Traditional medicine practitioners have been relying on the infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।" data-rx-term="inflammation" data-rx-definition="Inflammation is the body’s response to injury, infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।">inflammation, pain, or swelling. সহজ বাংলা: প্রদাহ/ফোলা/ব্যথা কমায়।" data-rx-term="anti-inflammatory" data-rx-definition="Anti-inflammatory means reducing inflammation, pain, or swelling. সহজ বাংলা: প্রদাহ/ফোলা/ব্যথা কমায়।">anti-inflammatory properties of sassafras tea for generations when they need to break a fever and start the healing process.
- Improves Digestion – Small amounts of sassafras tea can help ease digestion by reducing infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।" data-rx-term="inflammation" data-rx-definition="Inflammation is the body’s response to injury, infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।">inflammation in the gut and digestive tracts, while also helping regulate your bowel movements, meaning that it can eliminate both diarrhea and constipation. [rx]
- Improves Circulation – Sassafras tea has an anticoagulant nature to it that helps with thinning the blood, making it less likely for you to suffer from blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes. While this can be dangerous if you are planning on having surgery or are recovering from an injury, keeping your bloodstream clot-free is usually a very good thing. [rx]
- Acts as a diuretic – Sassafras is thought to have natural diuretic properties (rx). Diuretics are substances that increase your urine production, helping your body excrete water and salt (rx). Diuretics are often used to treat issues like high blood pressure and fluid retention, especially in those who have chronic kidney disease ( rx). Some people also use natural diuretics to flush out water weight and prevent bloating. Nevertheless, more research is needed to determine if sassafras tea has these effects.
- May protect against infection – Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection that is spread by sandfly bites. It’s common in the tropics, subtropics, and certain areas of Southern Europe (rx). Interestingly, specific compounds in sassafras are thought to help treat it. One test-tube study found that sassafras bark extract had anti-leishmaniasis activity against promastigotes — the form of the parasite when it enters the skin of a host (rx). Still, keep in mind that this study used a concentrated amount of a compound isolated from sassafras. Additional studies are needed to evaluate if sassafras has anti-leishmaniasis properties in humans or may help treat other parasitic infections.
Test-tube studies have shown that sassafras and its components may reduce infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।" data-rx-term="inflammation" data-rx-definition="Inflammation is the body’s response to injury, infection, or irritation, often causing pain, swelling, heat, or redness. সহজ বাংলা: শরীরের প্রদাহ; ব্যথা, ফোলা বা লালভাব হতে পারে।">inflammation, act as a diuretic, and help treat leishmaniasis. More research is required to examine the effects of sassafras tea in humans.
How to Make Sassafras Tea?
Methods 1
Sassafras tea can be prepared quite easily at home, and only requires sassafras root, a pot of boiling water, and a strainer, as well as honey or sweetener to enhance the flavor. Take a look at the recipe below.
Sassafras Tea Recipe
- Course: Beverage
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Keyword: sassafras, sassafras tea
- Appliance: Stove
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Servings: 3 servings
Ingredients
- 4 and a 1/4 inches of sassafras root, ( 4 pieces sassafras root 1/4 ” to 1/2-inch in diameter)
- 3 cups of water
Instructions
-
To make sassafras tea, purchase or gather sassafras root and wash it thoroughly. Cut off any excess plant material, such as the green of a potential sapling or the tips of the roots.
-
Bring a pot of water to boil and add the roots. While the roots are steep, the color will begin to change to a deep red or brown.
-
Once the roots have steeped for 5-10 minutes, tendon. সহজ বাংলা: মাংসপেশি/টেনডনে টান।" data-rx-term="strain" data-rx-definition="A strain is injury to a muscle or tendon. সহজ বাংলা: মাংসপেশি/টেনডনে টান।">strain the mixture to separate the roots and any plant material.
-
Add honey or sweetener for flavor.
This tea can be served hot or cold, and most herbalists do not recommend more than 1-2 cups per day for no longer than a month. This should be used as a treatment, rather than a consistently used preventative measure, due to the health concerns associated with this tea.
Methods 2
Ingredients
- Sassafras roots, dried
- Water
- Sugar
Step
- It has been estimated that one cup of strong sassafras tea could contain as much as 200 mg [milligrams] of safrole, more than four times the minimal amount believed hazardous to humans if consumed on a regular basis”.[rx] Aromatic oil derived from the sassafras root bark was formerly much utilized in flavoring confections, soft drinks, and pharmaceutical products.[rx] Such use was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1960 after safrole was found to be hepatocarcinogenic (liver-cancer-causing) in the rat.[rx]
- Find a sassafras tree. It is found in cool damp shady areas in the southern United States. It is a thin tree, usually with few limbs, and leaves that have three unequal lobes opposite the leaf stem. When the sap is down (the tree is dormant for winter), the bark and roots have a distinctive root beer odor when scraped.[rx]
- Get permission from the landowner before going onto private property to search for sassafras trees. Tress-passing and removing trees, or anything else from private property is a criminal offense.
- Dig or pull the tree up with its roots, remove them, and wash and cut them into 2 to 3 inch (5.1 to 7.6 cm) pieces.
- Allow them dry for a week or so. Keep them in a cool, dry place during the drying time to prevent them from rotting.
- Strip the bark (or skin) from the roots after they have dried, cutting it slightly into the woody part of the root. The bark is where the tree stores its sap during the dormant, winter months. Store these strips of root skin in airtight containers like zipper freezer bags until ready to use.
- Boil about 2 to 4 ounces of this bark in a quart of water for twenty minutes or so and then allow it to steep until it cools.[rx]
- Add the same amount of sugar you would for regular Iced Tea adjusting it to your personal tastes.[rx]
- Add more water to make it a gallon and enjoy.
- To make your tea stronger or sweeter add more or fewer roots/sugar.
Side Effects of Sassafras Tea
Despite the potential health benefits associated with sassafras, it has been the subject of heated controversy for decades. This is mostly due to the presence of safrole, a chemical compound in sassafras oil that can be toxic to humans (rx).
In fact, in 1960 the FDA banned the use of safrole and sassafras oil as a food additive or flavoring (rx, rx). According to the National Toxicology Program’s Report on Carcinogens, multiple studies in mice show that safrole may induce liver cancer and tumor growth (rx). Although research in humans is lacking, the organization has classified safrole as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” based on the results of these animal studies (rx).
Also, isosafrole, a compound synthesized from safrole, is used in the production of illegal drugs like MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy or molly (rx). For this reason, products containing sassafras are highly regulated by the government, and many manufacturers remove safrole during processing to avoid trade restrictions. Selecting sassafras tea that is free of safrole and moderating your intake can help minimize any potential adverse health effects.
Finally, note that sassafras tea is not recommended for women who are pregnant, regardless of its safrole content, as it’s thought to stimulate menstrual flow (rx).
Safrole has been shown to stimulate cancer growth in animal studies, and it’s banned by the FDA for use as a food additive. Choose safrole-free sassafras tea and limit your intake to help avoid side effects.
There are a number of serious side effects that can result from drinking sassafras tea, including the following: [rx]
- Sweating
- High blood pressure
- Vomiting
- Rashes
- Hallucinations
- Chronic diseases
- Liver damage
- Miscarriages
Safrole, one of the primary active ingredients in sassafras, is known to be a carcinogen, meaning that it could increase your risk of cancer. In fact, concentrated sassafras oil and sassafras extract can be significantly harmful when consumed in even moderate quantities. While sassafras tea is not nearly as strong, it is still quite powerful, and long-term use is not encouraged.
Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and children should avoid using sassafras tea, as it can cause miscarriages for pregnant women, and can cause severe side effects in children.
If you are having surgery, drinking sassafras tea can be very dangerous. It slows down the nervous system, which provides some of its health benefits. But in conjunction with anesthesia, the amount of safrole found in this tea can give way to major complications, and even prove fatal.
Only use sassafras tea in extremely limited quantities, and only with permission from a trained medical practitioner, who can ensure that it won’t have negative interactions with any other prescriptions or medications you may be using.
In medicinal amounts, sassafras can slow down the central nervous system. This means it can cause sleepiness and drowsiness. When combined with anesthesia and other medications used during and after surgery, it might slow down the central nervous system too much. Stop using sassafras at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.
DOSING
The appropriate dose of sassafras depends on several factors such as the user’s age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for sassafras. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.
INTERACTIONS
- Sedative medications (CNS depressants)Interaction Rating: Moderate Be cautious with this combination. Talk with your health provider.
- Sassafras might cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Medications that cause sleepiness are called sedatives. Taking sassafras along with sedative medications might cause too much sleepiness.
- Some sedative medications include clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), phenobarbital (Donnatal), zolpidem (Ambien), and others.
From Where To Buy
- Pappys Tea Sassafras Instant Concentrate (2 Pack)
- 12oz Concentrate
- No Sugar Added
- ALLERGY CLAIM - DAIRY FREE
- ALLERGY CLAIM - WHEAT FREE
- GLUTEN FREE CLAIM
- LOW CARBOHYDRATE. YEAST FREE
- LOW SALT. VERMONT (VT) NON-GMO
- SOURCE ITEM
- VEGAN
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