Chai-An Emotion for the Indians ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

For most of the Indians, the day never starts until they’ve had their cup of ‘chai’. For us tea-lovers, the word ‘chai’ is less a beverage and more an emotion!! Chai also acts remedial when taken during cold and cough, flu, headaches, when we feel tired, etc. There isn’t any particular recipe for making chai also, chai itself has a lot of variants and flavors like- Black Tea, green tea, chamomile tea, ginger tea, masala chai,etc. Not only for health but for beauty and home improvements also we can use tea leaves. You can even reuse the already boiled tea leaves left after preparing tea instead of throwing it out. There can be many other spices that can be added to tea to give different health benefits. Before discussing the recipes let’s see the benefit of the spices when added to our daily tea.
Spices: Increasing taste and health in Tea:
Cloves(लौंग)

⦁ Supports digestion

⦁ Relieves pain

⦁ Supports blood circulation

⦁ Rich in antioxidants.

⦁ Antibacterial, Anti-viral, Anti-fungal  properties

Ginger(अदरक)

⦁ Reduces inflammations, if any

⦁ Improves immunity

⦁ Aids in digestion

⦁ Helpful in case of cold, cough, tonsils and flu

Cinnamon(दालचीनी)

⦁ Relieves PMS

⦁ Regulates Blood sugar

⦁ Aids in digestion

⦁ Reduces inflammations

⦁ Antibacterial properties

Cardamom(इलायची)

⦁ Improves Immunity and aids in digestion

⦁ Detoxifies the body

⦁ May prevent respiratory allergies

Fennel Seeds(सौंफ)

⦁ Relieves bloating

⦁ Provides Vitamin C, Potassium and fiber

⦁ Suppresses appetite

⦁ Helps in smooth digestion

⦁ Relieves menstrual pain

Black Pepper(काली मिर्च)

⦁ Antibacterial properties and aids in digestion

⦁ Slows fat built up

⦁ Boosts immunity

⦁ Rich in antioxidants
Other Uses for Tea:

⦁ Feet Odor–  If you have problems due to feet odor, boil tea leaves in water for some time. Now put this water in a tub and soak your feet in it. This gets rid of the odor-causing microbes from the feet and also relaxes you after a long day of work.
⦁ Cuts, Sunburns, and Bug bites– Tea leaves are rich in antioxidants and hence can be applied to cuts and burns to provide a soothing effect. We can strain black tea and rub a little on the cuts to clean the surface. In the case of bug-bites and sunburns, we can keep wet tea bags in the freezer, or soak tea bags in cold water and then, rub or keep on the affected area.  
⦁ Dark Circles and Puffy Eyes– Keep wet tea bags in the freezer, or soak tea bags in cold water and, then keep them on the eyes such that they cover the dark circles as well. This method reduces eye puffiness. The caffeine in the tea leaves reduces the dark circles.
⦁ Hair Conditioner for Daily Shine– Boil 3-4 tsp of tea leaves in half a bucket of water and leave it to cool down. Once you shower and shampoo your hair, wash your hair with this tea water. Make sure you’ve strained it before. If you do this every week natural shine comes back to the hair.
⦁ Furniture and Crockery Polishing–  We can clean our wooden furniture with a washcloth soaked in seawater. This brings shine to the wooden furniture. Also, mixing used tea leaves with a dishwashing bar and washing the crockery with them returns the glass shine on them.
⦁ Manure– Instead of throwing away the used tea, put it in garden pots. This will act as manure to the soil, in turn, making the plants healthy and the garden greener!!
I hope we’ll never consider throwing away our used tea leaves from now on.