Schisandra tea (五味子茶, Wǔ Wèi Zi Chá) is made from the dried and ripe fruits of Schisandra chinensis or Schisandra sphenanthera. Schisandra is called Wu Wei Zi in Chinese and it is a traditional Chinese medicine.
Schisandra has five flavors: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, and bitter, so schisandra is also called five-flavor berry. Wu Wei means “five flavors”.
Table of Contents
- What Is Schisandra
- How to Make Schisandra Tea
- Benefits of Schisandra Tea
- Side Effects of Schisandra Tea
What Is Schisandra
Schisandra is native to China and is mainly distributed in China. It is also distributed in a small amount in Japan, North Korea, and Russia.
Schisandra chinensis also called northern Wu Wei Zi is mainly distributed in northern China. Schisandra sphenanthera also called southern Wu Wei Zi is mainly distributed in southern China.
Schisandra chinensis is irregularly spherical or oblate. Its surface is red, purple, or dark red, and its flesh is soft. Schisandra sphenanthera is similar to Schisandra chinensis, but its color is darker, and its flesh is wizened and often clings to the seeds.
Schisandra has a long history as food and medicine in China. It was first recorded in <Shennong Ben Cao Jing> as a top-grade Chinese medicine.
Traditionally, the medicinal Wu Wei Zi is mainly made of northern Wu Wei Zi, namely Schisandra chinensis, because Schisandra chinensis has better quality and higher efficacy than Schisandra sphenanthera.
Schisandra is picked when the fruits are ripe in autumn. After it is dried in the sun and its stem and impurities are removed, it can be used as medicine.
In addition to medicinal use, schisandra can also be used to process fruit wine, fruit juice drinks, and health products. In daily diets, people often eat schisandra to supplement vitamins and other trace elements.
Schisandra tea is a very common health tea in life and it is very famous in Asia. There are also instant tea bags of schisandra tea on the market.
How to Make Schisandra Tea
Wash the dried schisandra with clean water, put the schisandra in the cup, pour boiling water, steep it for 10 minutes to drink. According to personal taste, you can add sugar and honey.
Schisandra can be brewed with other herbs, such as Jin Yin Hua, astragalus, wolfberry, jujube, etc. According to different combinations, there will be different tastes and benefits.
The recommended daily dosage of dried schisandra is 2-6g.
Benefits of Schisandra Tea
The medicinal effects and prescriptions of schisandra have been recorded in more than 10 ancient Chinese medical books. Schisandra tea is also recorded as a prescription in modern Chinese herbal medicine books.
Modern medicine has found that schisandra contains 17 kinds of amino acids, including 8 kinds of essential amino acids, organic acids, mainly including malic acid and citric acid, and a small amount of tartaric acid, succinic acid, and oxalic acid.
Schisandra is rich in trace elements, and also contains a variety of vitamins, such as vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, vitamin E, and so on.
Benefits of schisandra tea:
- Anti-aging
- Protect liver
- Relieve cough
- Treat insomnia
- Calm the nerves
- Strengthen heart
- Treat neurasthenia
- Improve lung function
- Improve physical fitness
- Improve kidney function
- Treat cardiovascular diseases
- Treat acute intestinal infection
- Treat impotence and spermatorrhea
Side Effects of Schisandra Tea
Although schisandra is a medicinal material with powerful nourishing benefits, it should not be taken in excess. Otherwise, it may cause hiccups, acid reflux, heartburn, drowsiness, and occasionally allergic reactions.
If you first drink schisandra tea, you can use 2-3g of schisandra to make tea. As the body adapts, slowly increase the dose.
Pregnant women should not drink schisandra tea.