The Herbalist: Red Raspberry Leaf

My friend Ashley over at the Om Resistance turned me on to the joys of tea recently, specifically starting with Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and its purported use in balancing hormones.

If there is anything that can remotely help to keep my hormones in check and reduce related pain, I try it. Immediately.

So, for the past several months, I have added a teaspoon or so of Red Raspberry Leaf to my different teas as it has a fairly innocuous flavor and is rather pleasant.  Kind of like green tea without the caffeine.

Now, there is part of me that is always slightly skeptical, and in many ways and in many resources, Red Raspberry Leaf can sometimes be reported as a ‘cure-all’ and a ‘detoxifier’, and this automatically raises a flag for me.  As Syndee and Justin at Sawbones always say, ‘cure-alls cure nothing’.

In doing some research into actual studies conducted, it seems that there are enough studies to lend some level of legitimacy to the use of this herb, and additionally much of it seems to show some early promise.  I suggest that it isn’t well-researched as the funding for something that has such limited financial viability as a product is likely hard to come by and human trials, especially on pregnant women, are likely difficult to get approved.

Red Raspberry Leaf from the Garden

This morning, I went wild in the garden and culled the raspberry patch.  In doing so, I had several canes of new leaf and with my recently bartered Nesco Professional Food Dehydrator, I lined up the leaves in the trays and went to town.

Now, I don’t think that this is the most economical thing for me to do, but I must say, there was some satisfaction in picking the leaves myself and putting them in the dryer.  The most important question comes when I am able to brew up some tea:  Is it better than the purchased tea?

Time will tell!

P.S.  If you want the absolute best tea-cup for loose teas I’ve ever used, click here.  I am an Amazon Affiliate, so this helps me keep the site going too!  I have tried several others and this makes being a loose leaf tea drinker easy!