http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.p...st_item&id=549

Alison McCook, "Chamomile Tea May Help Beat Colds, Cramps", Reuters,
January 17, 2005,
Link:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=7347294

Tea drinkers, rejoice: new research supports claims that chamomile tea
can protect the body from a host of ills, including colds and menstrual
cramps.

During the study, researchers tested the urine of 14 healthy volunteers
who drank five cups of chamomile tea every day for two weeks. They
found that drinking tea produced changes in the urine that suggest
there was an increase in a substance that helps the body fight off
colds.

Tea drinkers also produced higher levels of a substance called glycine,
which can ease muscle spasms. This finding may help support claims the
tea can relieve menstrual cramps, the researchers note.

The study clearly shows that chamomile tea produces changes in the
body. What remains unknown, study author Dr. Elaine Holmes told Reuters
Health, is whether these changes are good or bad overall.

"There are good reasons why the tea may be beneficial, but these
hypotheses require further testing," said the researcher, who is based
at Imperial College London in the UK.

According to Holmes' report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry, chamomile is used as an anti-inflammatory, sedative and
ulcer-fighter. Research also suggests that chamomile may act as an
antioxidant and antimicrobial.

However, so-called "natural" products are not without risk, experts
warn. For instance, chamomile tea can cause a severe reaction in people
allergic to ragweed. Chamomile can also affect the absorption of iron,
Holmes noted.

During the study, Holmes and her team tracked urine samples from seven
men and seven women who drank multiple cups of chamomile tea every day.
The researchers also tested urine samples from the two weeks before and
after participants' weeks of tea drinking.

The researchers found that when participants drank the tea, their urine
showed significantly more hippurate, a substance that can act as an
anti-inflammatory. Drinking the tea also increased urinary levels of
glycine, which may relieve muscle spasms, perhaps explaining reports
that chamomile can ease menstrual problems.

After participants stopped drinking the tea, glycine and hippurate
stayed elevated for up to two weeks, which suggests the effects of
chamomile tea may be long-lasting, the study authors note.

Since hippurate is produced by substances in the gut, "it would appear
that chamomile, which is known to have antibacterial properties, has
changed the bacteria living in the gut," Holmes said.

"Even two weeks after stopping the intake of chamomile tea, the urine
profile did not return to the starting profile, and therefore, the
effects of chamomile tea are prolonged," she added.

The study was funded by Oxford Natural Products plc, which develops
plant-derived products.
SOURCE: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, January 26, 2005.