Fennel is a tall herb with yellow flowers and hollow stems. Originally native to the Mediterranean, it grows worldwide and has been used for hundreds of years as a medicinal plant. Fennel seeds may be dried and used to prepare a potent strong-smelling tea.
The tea tastes slightly like licorice, with a little bitter aftertaste and relaxing scent. Fennel tea can be bought in almost any health food store or supermarket.
Fennel has long been thought to regulate hormones, strengthen your eyesight, improve your digestion, and help memory [1]. Various parts of the fennel plant get used for cooking, and you can usually find its seeds dried in powdered or whole form.
Fennel seeds have a recognizable thin, long shape and are pale brown or green. They give a licorice-like sweet taste and scent to stews, curries, bread, beverages, and desserts.
In few parts of the world, people chew sugar-coated or plain fennel seeds after a meal. Chewing fennel seeds is believed to help prevent gas and aid digestion.
Fennel tea can help you get rid of multiple digestive issues and boost digestion. This tea promotes digestion by stimulating the flow of bile and relaxing the muscles. Fennel seeds are a potent herb well known for improved digestion.
Taking fennel tea can also help you eliminate bloating and gas. It can keep your digestive system in excellent shape. Fennel seeds can help reduce or prevent gas in several ways. Let’s take a look.
Fennel seeds pack tons of fiber in their little forms.
6 grams (a tablespoon) of dried fennel seeds provide you around 2 grams of fiber. By comparison, an apple has around 3–4 grams of fiber. The prescribed daily amount of dietary fiber is up to 25–30 grams.
In stomach flu cases, fiber aids to bulk up and treat watery diarrhea, which helps to slow down and prevent runny or loose bowel movements.
Incorporating fiber into your diet can help relieve constipation, other digestive issues that can cause gas and typically help keep things moving perfectly in the digestive tract.
[Read: Foods High in Fiber]
According to a 2016 review, components naturally found in both fennel seeds and fennel plants have:
This may help eliminate bacteria that can cause gassiness in cases of food poisoning or an upset stomach.
Fennel seeds also minimize inflammation. This can also help improve digestion and soothe irritation or swelling in the intestines.
Fennel seeds can also relax muscles in the intestines, which can help relieve constipation. Soothing muscles in the intestines and the stomach help minimize gassiness from acid reflux or constipation.
Anethole is a significant component that provides fennel seeds of these beneficial effects [4].
Measure one to two teaspoons of whole fennel seeds. The seeds will release a higher quantity of the volatile oils if crushed slightly by the chef’s knife’s flat edge or a large spoon. The crushed seeds, along with other ingredients, can be incorporated without or with a strainer, depending on the specifics of your brewing set-up or your preference.
Cut a small bundle of fennel leaves. Chop into large pieces or bruise the whole fennel leaves to promote the release of the oil. Measure one to two teaspoons of chopped fennel root. Note that it may need to be brewed slightly longer than other fennel variants or additional ingredients due to the root’s rougher texture.
Add the variant of fennel you are using to two cups of water. Bring to a low boil. Scorching temperatures can damage the volatile components of fennel, so the tea should not be brewed for longer than 2 or 3 minutes. Loose tea leaves, bagged tea, or other herbs can also be added to the teapot or strainer, depending on your taste.
Decant or strain the tea into a cup or teapot—flavor with sugar, honey, orange juice, or artificial sweeteners to taste.
Allow the tea to cool until comfortable to drink. This generally takes 5 to 10 minutes. Consume without considerable delay. The longer it sits, the more volatile compounds are released into the air and not into our digestive system.
If you can manage to get fresh fennel seeds from a health food store or from your plant, you can prepare your fennel tea. You can bake the seeds out by laying them flat and drying them in the sunshine for 2 or 3 days, or you can speed up the process by microwaving the seeds in increments of half a minute, checking on them often.
Then just crush the seeds and use them in an empty tea bag or tea ball, steeping in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes.
You can also buy fennel seed tea that is ready to steep.
Keep in mind that the longer you steep the tea, the stronger it will taste. There is no prescribed daily limit established for how much fennel tea is safe to consume. Since fennel tea impacts digestion, start with one cup at a time and see how your body reacts to taking it.
[Also Read: Bay Leaf Tea Benefits]
There is some debate over whether fennel should be used to soothe infant colic. Estragole, which is present in fennel, might not be safe for babies or any individual when they’re exposed to it in large amounts. Pregnant women should avoid drinking fennel tea.
The estrogen that is activated in the fennel seed’s oil could confuse their pregnant body, which is already experiencing a surge in all types of hormones.
Fennel belongs to the carrot group, so avoid drinking fennel if you’re allergic to carrots or other plants in that family — including mugwort or celery. If you have a bleeding disorder or use blood thinners, you should also use caution when drinking fennel tea.
This ancient remedy is under research, and the researchers are learning more about how fennel can heal or treat our bodies. For most individuals, fennel tea can be an effective and safe remedy for everything from insomnia to digestive issues.
Introduce fennel tea into your regimen slowly, making sure to note any adverse effects that it seems to create in your body.