MURSALSKI TEA – THE BULGARIAN SUPERHERB
Nowadays the avalanche of recommendations to use one or another plant often outshines some unique specimens of the medicinal flora. One of them is mursalksi tea (Sideritis scardica). Its Bulgarian name derives from the region Mursalitsa, above Mugla village situated in the Rhodopes. It can be found in other places in the mountains in southern Bulgaria and rarely in other regions in the Balkan Peninsula or around the world. It is also known as pirin tea, mountain tea, shepherd tea, olympian tea and more. Mursalski tea is in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria as an endangered species, but it is successfully cultivated for it can supply the market.
Since antiquity the herb has been highly valued by folk medicine. According to a legend the entrance to the underground kingdom in the ancient times has been near the place, where subsequently were the richest fields of mursalksi tea. Precisely on these lands Orpheus has walked, after he could not take out Eurydice from the dark depths, shedding tears. They have turned into the first stalks of mursalksi tea ... The Latin name of the plant (Sideritis scardica) contains the Greek word for "iron"" in compliance with its usage in antiquity for healing wounds caused by iron weapons.
Dating from far-off antiquity mursalksi tea has been used for healing illnesses affecting the respiratory, digestive and excretory systems, for the prostate, for male and female infertility. Others have used the herb against rheumatic and similar pains, as well for stopping stress and anxiety. Impressive is the longevity of people from the regions, where mursalksi tea is widely spread; of course for this contributes the general lifestyle in the mountain regions.
What does science tell us about this curative plant? The herb contains more than 20 flavonoid types, many other polyphenols and phenolic acids, essential oils, as well as important for the correct function of the organism minerals: calcium, phosphorus, iron, silicium, manganese, copper and more; amino acids, vitamins from group B and others. This natural cocktail of components has a multilateral positive effect on the body. It has antioxidants, detoxifying, invigorating, strengthening the nervous system (by balancing neurohormones like serotonin and dopamine), diuretic (cleaning the urinary tract) and anti-anaemic effect.
It lowers blood pressure and respectively the risk from heart attack or brain stroke and arrhythmia, it controls the fat and carbohydrate exchange. It expands the blood vessels which can be explained by the presence of ferulic acid and chlorogenic acid, which interact with the nitrogen oxide - a mediator for enhancing the blood stream in human and animal models.
Mursalski tea is used in the complex of steps to cure cold and lung problems, it assists in the secretion and balances the immune reaction of the body as it acts antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. It is recommended to drink it against chronic gastritis, enterocolitis and other intestinal diseases as it protects the mucosal lining from harm. Its preventive features may spread in direction towards oncological pathology - contemporary researches suggest that under the herb's influence the melanin synthesis is regulated, which is abnormally high when the skin suffers from malignant melanoma.
For people in good health condition the products from mursalksi tea are amazing not only in terms of far distant prevention, but also for direct improvement of the physical shape and mental condition. New research emphasizes the role of the tea's substances for recovery of the microbiome - the complex of healthy microorganisms in the intestines and other places in the organism. It is important for digestion, immunity and tonicity, as well as for metabolism, including the maintenance of normal body weight as a supplement towards the alimentary and motoric regime.
In conclusion, the herb deserves wide attention from society and specialists, as the spectrum of its action can be expanded, if used not only for tea but also as an extract (in dry of liquid forms) or the usage of the blossoms and leaves as ingredients for shakes, soups, porridge, etc. We have to be thankful to Nature because it made our country a main habitat for this splendid plant!