My client, Carrie, was having a challenge sleeping at night and experienced symptoms of frequent urination. Her energy was low and she felt nervous a lot. I suggested she try schisandra berry tea. Schisandra berries are called five flavored berry because they have all 5 flavors in Chinese medicine (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and pungent), making them a very balanced medicinal herb.
Because of their wide-ranging benefits, schisandra berries are one of the 50 fundamental Chinese herbs. Here’s what else they are used for:
- Calm the spirit and nervous system
- Relieve insomnia
- Aid with memory and concentration, improves accuracy of work
- Relieve frequent urination, diarrhea, and excessive sweating
- As an adaptogen: they help reduce stress (mental and physical), while boosting energy, libido, and physical endurance
- Lower high blood pressure
- Improves the skin and reduces inflammatory skin conditions.
- Benefit the organs
- Boost the immune system
With schisandra berries, a little goes a long way.
Just a few dried berries are all you need for the above benefits.
Making tea or adding schisandra to your bone broth or vegetable broth can be a super easy way to get the benefits of this healing herb. Unlike goji berries, they are not typically eaten in their dried state due to their medicinal taste.
You will likely see many different ways to make schisandra berry tea. The key here is that a little goes a long way. As my Chinese medicine teacher says, “too much of anything is good for nothing.” This is true for schisandra.
Making Schisandra Berry Tea
- Soak the dried berries overnight – place a bunch of dried berries in a jar or container with enough water to cover the berries . I like to use a wide-mouth pint or quart-sized Ball jar, with 1/4 cup of dried schisandra berries so that I have enough to make 8 to 16 cups of tea (see recipe, depends on how many tablespoons of berries you want to use). You can use any amount of berries, just be sure that you have enough water to cover them. Soaking removes the tannins. You can soak for 4 hours or overnight. (You can store soaked berries in the refrigerator for up to a week if you are soaking extra for several cups of tea).
- Strain out and discard the soaking water.
- Place 1 to 2 tablespoons soaked berries in 4 cups of water in a saucepan on your stove top. Simmer on medium low (do not boil) for 15 minutes with the lid on.
- Strain the water into a tea mug and enjoy. This makes 4 cups of tea. Some people like to add fresh slices of ginger while simmering the tea. Others like to mix honey and lemon into their cup for added taste.
We buy our organic schisandra berries at MountainRoseHerbs.com, where you can buy organic herbs and spices in bulk to save money.
Have you had schisandra berries before? How have you used or enjoyed them?
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