Health Benefits of Cerasee Tea

Cerasee tea, also known as cerassie tea, is made from the medicinal herb bitter melon (Momordica charantia). Bitter melon is native to Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and then introduced as cerasee to Latin America and the Caribbean by the African slave trade.

Cerasee is a creeping herbaceous vine which grows freely along fence rows of the Caribbean with yellow and orange flowers. Cerasee fruit can be eaten without harmful effect and is typically very sweet when ripe. In Jamaica, cerasee leaves and stems are boiled or drawn into a tea and taken for a number of ailments ranging from diabetes to parasitic worms.

Jamaicans believe that cerasee tea should be consumed by pregnant women to ensure their newborn babies will be born with good skin tone and that their birthing process will be easy. After childbirth, consuming cerasee tea for nine nights is said to tone up the skin and organs involved in pregnancy and childbirth.

Aside from these questionable island uses, cerasee tea is also used to aid constipation, abdominal pains and is sometimes given to children for fevers and colds. Fresh leaves and stems can be crushed and rubbed on the skin to treat skin problems, rashes, eczema and insect bites. Cerasee tea is often used to reduce menstrual pains and treat urinary tract infections.

Health Benefits Of Cerasee

Cerasee tea is rich in vitamins A and C, phosphorus, iron and antioxidants. According to an article published in the Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines, cerasee (bitter melon) acts as an antioxidant which contains anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, antibacterial, anti-obesity, and immunomodulating properties. Cerasee tea is rich in catechins, the same healthy compounds found in green tea. Catechins are a flavonol, a natural antioxidant that promotes natural detoxification and helps reduce toxins, chemicals and metals in your blood and body tissues.

Cerasee tea lowers blood sugar. Growing research suggests that natural compounds found in cerasee may have blood sugar lowering effects similar to those of insulin. This would make cerasee tea useful as an alternative treatment of diabetes mellitus. This insulin-like activity may also help protect against insulin resistance and while moderating your blood sugar.

Cerasee tea has been used for hundreds of years as a tonic and natural remedy for colds, fever and pains due to inflammation including arthritis and rheumatism. In many countries, including Africa and the Caribbean, cerasee is cultivated, cooked and served as a vegetable dish. Tea made from boiled root of Cerasee is often used to help pass kidney stones.