Cardamom pods offer a warming, spicy, green flavor in this easy cardamom tea recipe. Add some ginger, honey, and milk to soften and sweeten the flavor. It has been used for congestion, nausea, and to relax. It can also freshen your breathe!
Research on some possible health benefits of cardamom is listed below.
Easy Cardamom Tea Recipe Ingredients
- 2 cups of water
- 1/2 tsp of dried cardamom pods, crushed
- 1/2 Tbsp of minced fresh ginger root
- 1 Tbsp of honey
- 2 black tea bags
- 2 cups of milk or 2 more cups of water
Easy Cardamom Tea Recipe Instructions
- Bring water, crushed cardamom and ginger to a boil.
- Then, reduce heat.
- Next, add honey and tea bags.
- Then, simmer five minutes.
- After 5 minutes, remove the tea bags and add 2 cups of milk or 2 cups of water.
- Once it reaches a boil, immediately remove from heat. With milk, be attentive, as it can expand and overflow quickly.
- Next, strain out ginger if you do not want the pieces in your tea.
- Finally, drink your cardamom tea while it is still hot! Enjoy!
Avoid with young children.
Some Research on Cardamom
Digestive Aid
Cardamom has been used for centuries to help with digestive issues and nausea. Here are a few studies.
- In a study on its anti-ulcer actions, Jafri and Javed (2001) determined potential gastroprotective effects of cardamom.
- In another study, ginger, cardamom, and tarragon essential oils were diluted and applied on the neck. This reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting 50-75% (DePradier, 2006).
- Helicobacter pylori can contribute to gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. In this 2005 study, botanicals that were most effective against H. pylori included cardamom (Mahady, et al, 2005).
Cardiac Health
Cardamom may help in reducing blood pressure. More human studies are needed.
- In this human study, cardamom effectively reduced blood pressure (Verma, Jain, & Katewa, 2009).
- Plus, in this human study, cardamom exhibited additional benefits while lowering blood pressure. The author concluded that the diuretic and sedative effects may be useful in treating hypertension and epilepsy (Gilani et al, 2008).
Improved Cholesterol Levels
Cardamom has shown to reduce cholesterol levels in a few human studies. In one study, eating cardamom improved blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels (Sailesh, 2013). More research is warranted.
Liver Protective
In a randomized study with 87 obese patients took green cardamom three times a day for three months. As a result, there were significantly reduced biomarkers related to fatty liver disease (Daneshi-Maskooni et al, 2018). More research is needed.
Antioxidant Action
A cardamom supplement taken for 8 weeks reduced inflammation and oxidative stress in 80 overweight pre-diabetic female patients (Kazemi et al, 2017). More research is warranted on the antioxidant potential of cardamom.
Respiratory Aid
Cardamom has been used as an age old remedy for congestion. The most prevalent constituent in cardamom, 1,8-cineole (also found in eucalyptus), may contribute to opening the breath ways. In one study, cardamom exhibited bronchial-dilating activities (Khan, Khan, & Gilani, 2011).
Oral Healthy
Cardamom may be useful in freshening breath and fighting dental microbes (Aneja & Joshi, 2009). In one study, people chewing fennel and cardamom seeds showed improved oral saliva and plaque pH (Swathi et al, 2016).
References
- Aneja, K., & Joshi, R. (2009). Antimicrobial activity of Amomum subulatum and Elettaria cardamomum against dental caries. Ethnobotanical Leaflets, 2009.
- Daneshi-Maskooni, M., et al. (2018). Green cardamom increases Sirtuin-1 and reduces inflammation in overweight or obese patients…a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. Nutrition & metabolism, 15(1), 63.
- De Pradier, E. (2006). A trial of a mixture of three essential oils in the treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting. International Journal of Aromatherapy, 16(1), 15-20.
- Gilani, A., Jabeen, Q., Khan, A., & Shah, A. (2008). Gut modulatory, blood pressure lowering, diuretic and sedative activities of cardamom. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 115(3), 463-472.
- Jafri, M., Javed, K., & Singh, S. (2001). Evaluation of the gastric antiulcerogenic effect of large cardamom. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 75(2), 89-94.
- Khan, A., Khan, Q., & Gilani, A. (2011). Pharmacological basis for the medicinal use of cardamom in asthma. Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology, 6(1), 34-37.
- Kazemi, S., et al. (2017). Cardamom supplementation improves inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in hyperlipidemic, overweight, and obese pre‐diabetic women: a randomized double‐blind clinical trial. Journal of the science of food and agriculture, 97(15), 5296-5301.
- Mahady, G., et al. (2005). In vitro susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to botanical extracts used traditionally for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. Phytotherapy research, 19(11), 988-991.
- Sailesh, K. (2013). A study on anti hyper lipidemic effect of oral administration of cardamom in wistar albino rats. Narayana Medical Journal, 2(1), 31-39.
- Swathi, et al. (2016). Effect of chewing fennel and cardamom seeds on dental plaque and salivary ph–a randomized controlled trial. Int J Pharm Sci Res, 7(1), 406-412.
- Verma, S., Jain, V., & Katewa, S. (2009). Blood pressure lowering, fibrinolysis enhancing and antioxidant activities of cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum).
Click here to learn more about cardamom: Cardamom Monograph.
By: Kathy Sadowski, MS in Aromatherapy, RA (ARC), Professional NAHA and AIA Member, LMT
Post Updated: 12/30/18
