Thinking and drinking something healthy for me are interconnected actions. It helps me think better, because having a nutritious beverage boosts the brain! Plus, it is not my idea, Greek philosophers supported it also.

There was a popular herb in ancient Greece called sideritis or mountain tea – ‘tsai tou vouvou’ in modern Greece.

In botany terms, Sideritis is a genus of different plants many among them with special ‘power’. Sideritis in Greek or ‘ironwort’ in English means ‘that contains iron’, but it also contains a lot of antioxidants and flavonoids. It is actually one of the best caffeine-free all-day beverages and keep your mind working! More or less, let’s see what its plant can offer:

• Respiratory system. Acting nice and slow in combination with honey, it makes a great impact, helping as a treatment for colds or infections in the upper respiratory tract

• Digestive system. It can be considered a mild anti-convulsing substance, but overuse can cause stomach aches.

• Brain function. Many studies support sideritis as a powerful treatment against Alzheimer’s, helping to keep the brain active and reducing the degeneration of brain cells and deposits of plaque in them.

• Anxiety and depression. There is a place for this plant among medicine that elevates the extracellular concentration of all three monoamine neurotransmitters (serotonin, noradrenalin and dopamine).

• Blood pressure. Sideritis lowers the blood pressure and relaxes blood vessels. This may be the reason for relaxation and the reduction of anxiety levels.

• Immune booster. Drinking 2 cups daily can help you prevent many viruses

Dioscurides and Theophrastus were right, and modern medicine offers a variety of research that demonstrates the benefits of this little fellow – our buddy, ironwort. Research results again proved the obvious: nature offers us what we need – we only have to look in the right places.

* The above is not medical advice but mere suggestions for improving your diet. Before
reach herbal use you should consult your doctor, especially those who have health issues, are pregnant or are under the age of 6.

Evropi-Sofia Dalampira holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and an MSc in Botany-Biology.