The artichoke is a guest at our table. It looks like a flower, but it's actually a tasty and healthy vegetable. It is rich in bioactive substances and its taste qualities make it a refined guest of culinary recipes.
In Vietnam, traditional tea is prepared from artichoke, which is a real elixir of health and youth. That's why they call the vegetable Vietnamese ginseng - that's how is its healing power.
The drink is incredibly rich and dark and all it takes is a spoonful of dried artichoke leaves and boiling water. The slightly bitter artichoke tea can be sweetened and flavored with honey, milk or sugar.
The beneficial properties of this tea are truly numerous:
- they are due to inulin in the composition of the vegetable, which replaces glucose and normalizes blood sugar;
- also fights free radicals and is good for the proper heart function and blood vessels.
- artichoke leaf tea supports the health of the digestive system, normalizes bowel movements, by cleansing the intestines of toxins.
- it cleanses the liver, because it has a powerful detoxifying effect and cleanses the whole body from heavy metals.
- it reduces cholesterol levels in the blood.
- supports the reproductive system of both men and women.
- it is an excellent means for losing weight, which is due to 3 factors - low level of calories, diuretic effect and the ability to absorb fats and eliminate them, thanks to the cynarin contained in the vegetable.
Artichoke tea is perfect for morning and afternoon consumption. It dulls the feeling of hunger. It is easy to prepare and can be used in different recipes.
A tea can be made by boiling 1 artichoke, until it softens, by adding the juice of 1 lime and drinking it warm before eating.
According to a Vietnamese recipe, it is also good to make the traditional eastern drink from purchased loose leaf tea. For the tea, use 1.5 teaspoons per 200 milliliters of water. Boil for 5 minutes. Leaf tea is bitter and needs sweetening. It can be mixed with green tea to soften the taste. This tea is drunk chilled like in Vietnam.
