Mountain herbal tea was used in ancient times by many different people of the Mediterranean as a common traditional healing mean. During recent years, it has been put under the microscope regarding its beneficial effects.
It contains a lot of useful components, mainly flavonoids, diterpenes, iridoids, phenylpropanes and monoterpenes. It can be used as an antibacterial, analgesic or anti-inflammatory against bronchitis, emphysema, or stomach disorders. It is believed to be beneficial for the heart blood vessels, to have antihypertensive action, as well as to be useful in the treatment of conditions of the urinary system.
What is also important is its beneficial effects in the prevention of anaemia, and this is why its extract is used in the manufacturing of Melofer, a herbal medicine that contains ferrum and is used in cases of iron deficiency anaemia.
Recent researches have shown that it also has healing and antirheumatoid properties and it can be used in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer, depression and anxiety disorders, which have troubled many people in recent years.
Jens Pahnke, professor of Neurology in the University of Magdeburg and Director of the Research Centre of Neurological Conditions, has spoken about the action of Sideritis scardica against Alzheimer’s disease:
“For the last seven years, we have been experimenting with plants from China, Thailand, Indonesia and all over the world. The 20 members of our research team have been analyzing each plant’s components and testing them, nevertheless without any important results”, the professor has said.
“We found out about the properties of the Greek product through the internet and in 2010 we decided to order it. We had the best possible results! . “More specifically, when it is administered to mice for 25 days, it can reduce the brain damage up to 80%. The second best result is succeeded with Thiethylperazin, which reduces the brain damage up to 70%”. The 38year old professor, who treats about 1500 patients every year, has also tested the product’s benefits to humans. “By drinking mountain herbal tea on a daily basis for six months the disease retreats to the level where it was nine months before and, after that, it stabilizes to a considerable extent”, he explains. “Once I had a patient with memory and orientation disorders who could not even go to the toilet on his own, and now, after I administered mountain herbal tea to him for two months, he is planning to go on a trip to the Alps with a friend”.
The doctor suggests the consumption of several cups of hot or cold tea on a daily basis. After all, commonly accepted that the sooner we take preventive measures for this disease, the better i. “Many patients reach the point that they suddenly forget their way home, and realising that something is wrong and visit us”, said the German doctor. “If, though, they are subjected to specific tests on time, the development of the disease is much slower”. During the next two years, the research team of the Magdeburg University intends to create a medicine, in the form of a pill, based on the Greek tea,Sideritis scardica, that mostly grows at the region of Macedonia. “As a pill, it will be more concentrated and easier to use”.
Certified researches on the benefits of the Sideritis scardica can be found in the following links:
https://www.alzheimer-forschung.de/alzheimer-krankheit/aktuelles.htm?showid=4283 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22622367