The Health Benefits of Pine Needle Tea

I have always loved tea. I would even say I'm a tea fanatic and have always been interested in trying out new kinds of tea. I even grow my own tea in my garden. I've made my own green tea, black tea, mint tea, the list goes on. Pretty much all tea has it's own health benefits, but one tea that stands out especially during the pandemic as well as the end of the pandemic is pine needle tea. Pine needle tea has a very pleasant woodsy smell to it. The smell alone can be very relaxing. The tea itself, has a very subtle citrus taste to it. Which is kind of surprising since I initially assumed pine needle tea would have an intense taste to it. There are so many benefits to drinking pine needle tea including the immune system boost that it can give you. Of course you can not just go up to a random pine tree and pick the needles. As some pine needles are toxic! I would suggest taking pine needles from an Eastern White Pine, but there are other varieties that you can use.

Benefits to Pine Needle Tea

Vitamin C: Pine needle tea is very high in vitamin C. There is more vitamin C in pine needle tea than there is in a single orange. This is huge for people who are either sick or want to avoid getting sick. Since we all know how important vitamin C is for maintaining a strong immune system to fight both the flu and the common cold.

Vitamin A: Traditionally, Taoist priests drank pine needle tea because they believed that the tea helped them live longer. We know now that pine needle tea is high in Vitamin A which helps improve eye sight, skin regeneration, as well as improve the production of red blood cells.

Other benefits: Pine needle tea is is also rich in antioxidants which reduces free radicals that are harmful to the body and can cause disease. There have also been reports of pine needle tea being good for your heart. The tea helps protect you from LDL oxidation and can help further minimize damage to the heart due to chemicals, pollutants, and other factors.

Pine Needle Tea and Pregnancy

Many sources I have found have suggested not to ingest this tea while pregnant as it may cause complications during pregnancy.

How to Make Your Own Pine Needle Tea

Gathering your pine needles:

Pine trees are very common in the US. Even here in Florida, you can find pine trees out in the forests and nature preserves. Like I mentioned before, you can't use just any pine tree. Some pine needles like the Common Juniper are toxic when consumed. Eastern White Pine is what's commonly used to make pine needle tea. Many recipes call for young pine needle for your brew. This is because younger pine needle is sweeter in taste and older pine needle does tend to taste bitter, but older pine needle does have a higher concentration of vitamin C. Personally, I don't mind bitter tea, but it's something to keep in mind when collecting your pine needles.

Brewing your tea:

If you don't want loose tea, you will want to first put your pine needles into some kind of tea filter or infuser before putting it in a pot or tea kettle full of fresh water. You then want to boil your water and let the tea brew in your pot or kettle. If you don't want that much tea at once. You can boil your water, add it to your cup, and then brew the tea in your cup with a tea filter.