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I feel a lot better after drinking this tea - which ingredient(s) are likely to be responsible?

Messages
4
Hi!

I've noticed I tend to feel a lot better in terms of mood (not really happy, but content and less hopeless) and maybe even a little better cognitively after drinking a new kind of tea I bought (to help me sleep; not sure how much it's helped on that front yet). This is an exciting development for me because nothing has ever really helped me like this before, so I'm hoping someone with better knowledge of herbal supplements might be able to take a stab at which ingredient(s) could be having this effect so I can buy them separately.

The tea is Yogi Tea Bedtime. Here are the ingredients:
Fennel (31%), chamomile flowers (17%), peppermint, cardamon, lemon balm, lemon grass, valerian root (6%), sage, lavender flowers, nutmeg

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Hi, as its full of emotional balancing ingredients which are also calming ones, I dont think one can pin point which ingredient the affect you are feeling is coming from as any ingredient which helps with anxiety and helps with boosting calmness will help a person to feel more content. Valerian root though may be the strongest ingredient in there... you could test out if its just that buy buying some valerian root supplements to see if they give same kind of affect (but as I said it may be due to the combo of things you are having in this).

Be aware that Valerian shouldnt be used with certain other drugs. So you should tell your doctors you take this if they are about to prescribe you anything new.
 

Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
I strongly suspect what matters is the taste. Taste can have huge emotional effects. The lift from the first sip of coca-cola (if it lifts you) has nothing to do with the caffeine in the bottle - just the association with happy times from previous caffeine I guess. If you are thirsty the fizz of plain sparkling water is almost as good.

Direct stimulation of sense organs can have a big impact on emotions and other sensations. Ice is a much better painkiller than a pill for a bee sting. Loud noises can drive you crazy.

So I suspect that the effect has nothing to do with any chemical action via ingestion of particular compounds. It is just the direct effect on olfactory sense organs through the aroma. I suspect that extracts from health food shops that taste of nothing at all but are supposed to have the right chemical compounds in does nothing much.

What is striking about your ingredients is that they are all nice strong flavours.
 
Messages
4
Thanks for the replies.

I'll try a valerian root supplement first and then experiment with the others, I suppose.

I definitely don't think it's just the taste of the tea that's doing it - as I've said, nothing has ever had this effect for me before. Even if my mood hasn't been boosted to a dramatic degree, it's noticeable enough that I can say this is likely the most content I've felt in at least 4+ years. The effects also aren't noticeable immediately and take 30+ minutes to kick in.

perhaps you could try to do some inhalation with the tea?
That's an interesting suggestion. How do you think it would be beneficial?
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
Oh, I didn't know that. Could you explain what that means?
Please apologize as I am no good with bichemical explanations.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/minerals/manganese#metabolism-function
A number of manganese-activated enzymes play important roles in the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, and cholesterol (4). Pyruvate carboxylase, a manganese-containing enzyme, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), a manganese-activated enzyme, are critical in gluconeogenesis — the production of glucose from non-carbohydrate precursors. Arginase, another manganese-containing enzyme, is required by the liver for the urea cycle, a process that detoxifies ammonia generated during amino acid metabolism (3). In the brain, the manganese-activated enzyme, glutamine synthetase, converts the amino acid glutamate to glutamine. Glutamate is an excitotoxic neurotransmitter and a precursor to an inhibitory neurotransmitter, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (5, 6).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-Aminobutyric_acid
gamma-Aminobutyric acid (γ-Aminobutyric acid) (also called GABA /ˈɡæbə/ for short) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. It plays the principal role in reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system.
I personally think it is better to drink the tea than supplementing with Manganese, which can be pretty toxic. Additionally, the bioflavonoids from the different herbs probably increase the mineral's bioavailability. However even teas can become toxic if dunken for extended periods of time without breaks.
 

frederic83

Senior Member
Messages
296
Location
France
You can easily buy each ingredients (tea or supplements), it's cheap, and test it separately.

The one that helped me at some level in that list is peppermint.
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
There is ongoing research about the functional (not flavor) use of teas. For instance as found by querying PubMed:
Acta Pharm Sin B. 2016 Mar;6(2):170-81. doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2015.11.003. Epub 2015 Dec 24.
Investigation of free amino acid, total phenolics, antioxidant activity and purine alkaloids to assess the health properties of non-Camellia tea.
Bi W1, He C1, Ma Y1, Shen J1, Zhang LH2, Peng Y1, Xiao P1.
Author information
Abstract

To find novel functional beverages from folk teas, 33 species of frequently used non-Camellia tea (plants other than Camellia) were collected and compared with Camellia tea (green tea, pu-erh tea and black tea) for the first time. Data are reported here on the quantities of 20 free amino acids (FAAs) and three purine alkaloids (measured by UHPLC), total polyphenols (measured by Folin-Ciocalteu assay), and antioxidant activity (DPPH). The total amounts of FAAs in non-Camellia tea (0.62-18.99 mg/g) are generally less than that of Camellia tea (16.55-24.99 mg/g).

However, for certain FAAs, the quantities were much higher in some non-Camellia teas, such as γ-aminobutyric acid in teas from Ampelopsis grossedentata, Isodon serra and Hibiscus sabdariffa. Interestingly, theanine was detected in tea from Potentilla fruticosa (1.16±0.81 mg/g). Furthermore, the content of polyphenols in teas from A. grossedentata, Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala are significantly higher than those from Camellia tea; teas from I. serra, Pistacia chinensis and A. tataricum subsp. ginnala have remarkable antioxidant activities similar to the activities from green tea (44.23 μg/mL). Purine alkaloids (caffeine, theobromine and theophylline) were not detected in non-Camellia teas. The investigation suggest some non-Camellia teas may be great functional natural products with potential for prevention of chronic diseases and aging, by providing with abundant polyphenols, antioxidants and specific FAAs.

Chamomile has a very mild (not strong) flavor. You may also find these articles about chamomile tea informative:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050104112140.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/

Further:
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2016 Oct 25;130:326-335. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2016.01.042. Epub 2016 Jan 21.
The determination of elements in herbal teas and medicinal plant formulations and their tisanes.
Pohl P1, Dzimitrowicz A2, Jedryczko D2, Szymczycha-Madeja A2, Welna M2, Jamroz P2.
Author information
Abstract

Elemental analysis of herbal teas and their tisanes is aimed at assessing their quality and safety in reference to specific food safety regulations and evaluating their nutritional value. This survey is dedicated to atomic spectroscopy and mass spectrometry element detection methods and sample preparation procedures used in elemental analysis of herbal teas and medicinal plant formulations. Referring to original works from the last 15 years, particular attention has been paid to tisane preparation, sample matrix decomposition, calibration and quality assurance of results in elemental analysis of herbal teas by different atomic and mass spectrometry methods. In addition, possible sources of elements in herbal teas and medicinal plant formulations have been discussed.

And with regard to GABA, a free article:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4863311/

Be aware that herbal tea is not all good or bad... Plants take up minerals from the soils where they grow, and some may take up lead...not something you want. Apparently the longer you steep the tea the more lead may leach out into the water, hence this is one reason to follow steeping directions. Cheers!
 
Messages
42
Location
USA
Chiasmus,
I would guess the two main ingredients that have the most impact on mood in the tea are the chamomile and also the valerian root. They also may have a synergistic effect with each other.
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
It could be the combined effect of several or all of the ingredients. Have you tried the Yogi Caramel Bedtime Tea? I like it even better than the 'regular'. :mug: