Before you make any kind of dandelion tea, you should be aware that like many herbs, dandelions might cause complications if you have a medical condition or are taking medications. Dandelions might also cause reactions in people allergic to ragweed or related flowers like daisies. Please, please note that we are not medical doctors. Consult yours if you want to try out dandelion tea for any health reason.
Dandelions are as pervasive in folk and alternative medicine as they are in lawns. Taraxacum officinale, a member of the Asteraceae family, is used throughout the world in Chinese, herbal, naturopathic, folk and other medical traditions.
Proponents of dandelion tea claim it has many benefits. The plant is high in vitamins A, C and D, and contains zinc, iron and magnesium. The leaves have more fiber and protein than lettuce or spinach and the plant is a great source of beta-carotene, among other nutrients. As you might imagine, those nutritional benefits are going to be more present in a salad of dandelion greens than in a cup of tea, though.
Dandelion is purported to be an antioxidant, an anti-inflammatory and an anti-viral agent. Alternative medical practitioners claim that it detoxifies and purifies the body, aids in digestion, lowers blood sugar and cholesterol and acts as a tonic.
You’ll read about it being good at fighting everything from weight gain to HIV, from indigestion to cancer. If that range of applications makes you suspicious, it should.
If something health-related works, there should be evidence that it works. Fortunately, dandelion does seem to have properties that have put it on the radar of many conventional medical researchers. So let’s take a tour of just some of the most promising benefits scientists have been investigating and some of the evidence for those benefits.
The Potential Benefits of Dandelion Tea
Anti-Depressant
There’s something cheering about the sight of these sunny little flowers. Recent research suggests that their happy appearance might be backed up by anti-depressant properties, as well.
A 2013 study found that extracts of dandelion roots and leaves had “antidepressant-like effects.” Like most studies of dandelion properties, these studies are conducted on animals like mice, even though it’s been proven that lab animals are very poor predictors of how diseases and their remedies will behave in humans.
Nevertheless, dandelion tea is sometimes used as an alternative to conventional antidepressants, with anecdotal success.
Anti-Inflammatory
Much like its antioxidant properties, the anti-inflammatory properties of dandelion are usually put forward as a non-specific benefit; as something that’s generally good for one’s health.
Various studies on animals support the idea that dandelion root extract has anti-inflammatory effects, particularly on the lungs, pancreas and colon. In fact, it’s thought that dandelion root might be a useful complement to conventional remedies for inflammatory bowel diseases and colitis.
Inflammation is a component of many major health issues, from heart disease and diabetes to Crohn’s disease and colitis. That said, there’s no evidence that taking an anti-inflammatory in a general way either prevents or treats these health issues.
Diuretic
A diuretic is a substance that increases the production of urine. A 2009 study demonstrated a “significant” increase in urination in a 5 hour period in people who had ingested dandelion extract.
The diuretic effects make dandelion tea a possible option for those who suffer from bloating and water retention. They might also make dandelion tea helpful for bladder and urinary tract infections, although this needs significantly more research.
Digestive Issues
There’s a long history of dandelion tea being used to relieve digestive issues. In people, dandelion tea is often used as an appetite stimulant, to relieve indigestion and stomach complaints and for constipation.
A 2012 overview of the “biological activities of dandelion” discusses 1981 research that found that symptoms of colitis were vastly improved in human sufferers who were given an herbal remedy that contained dandelion.
The same overview cites studies that explore the inulin in dandelion root. Inulin is a soluble fiber that can relieve gastric irritation and acts as an effective prebiotic in lab tests. Inulin is also thought to stimulate insulin production. Dandelion’s high inulin content is one of the reasons it’s hoped that there might be future research that finds dandelion could be effective as part of a treatment for diabetes.
Liver Function
In 2017, research found that the polysaccharides present in dandelion root “could protect the liver” from acetaminophen-induced liver injury. That led the research team to conclude that these polysaccharides could have hepatoprotective effects in humans.
A 2010 study likewise explored that hepatoprotective potential, suggesting that dandelion root extract could protect against alcohol-induced stress on the liver. Further, 2003 research on rats concluded that dandelion leaf extract was hepatoprotective against the damage of a high-cholesterol diet.
This, of course, is not the same as proving that dandelion tea can restore or promote liver function. It does, however, dovetail with historical uses of dandelion to cure jaundice and other liver-related complaints.
Dandelion Tea and the Fight Against Cancer
Perhaps most impressively, 2011 lab research on dandelion root found it promising as a treatment for chemoresistant melanoma. The study found that dandelion root extract “induces apoptosis [i.e. cell death] in human melanoma cells without inducing toxicity in noncancerous cells.”
Animal-based 2016 research confirms the promise of dandelion root extract in the fight against cancer, finding that “oral administration of DRE [dandelion root extract] retarded the growth of human colon xenograft models by more than 90%.”
These studies in no way imply that drinking dandelion root tea prevents or treats cancer. It’s interesting research to keep an eye on, though, and an encouraging reason to support cancer research.
How to Make Dandelion Tea
The great thing about dandelions is that you don’t need to go to a health food store to find them. The same dandelions you pull out of your yard are the ones used to make commercial dandelion tea, tinctures and other extracts.
They’re very sustainable to harvest, and depending on where you pick them, you might even be doing other people a favour. That said, only pick your dandelions from spaces that you’re 100% sure haven’t been sprayed with pesticides. There’s no point cancelling out the potential good effects of dandelion with the known terrible effects of pesticides.
Dandelion flowers and leaves can be harvested and steeped right after washing. For dandelion flower tea, use ten flowers, petals only, for every cup of hot water. Make sure to remove the petals from the calyx (the green part). If using leaves, chop 6 leaves for every cup of hot water. Younger leaves are tastier – the older leaves tend to be too bitter for most people’s tastes.
Many people use infusions of dandelion root as a coffee substitute, claiming that it has a similar, earthy taste. Brew the roots fresh, dried or roasted and ground.
To roast, first wash the roots and pat them dry. Chop them and place them on an oven sheet. Roast at 400°F for 30 minutes, grind, and then roast the grounds for another 5 minutes. You want them to be brown and dried through. Use 1-2 tsp of dried or roasted root per cup of hot water.
Then enjoy!
Feature image: Tina Witherspoon; Image 1: Lisa Hobbs
