What is Butterfly pea flower tea (Blue Herbal Tea) and why should you drink it?

Butterfly Pea Flower Tea or simply known as Blue Tea is a popular caffeine-free herbal tea with rich history and scientific benefits. C. ternatea is called Aparajit (Hindi), Aparajita (Bengali) and Kakkattan in Indian traditional medicine. The extracts of C. ternatea have been used in Ayurveda, as an ingredient in “Medhya rasayana”

It is made by steeping dried leaves of Clitoria ternatea flower, which is native to South Asia. Butterfly pea flower tea has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic practices. The beautiful blue hue comes naturally from the petals and can even change color depending on the pH of the infusion. For example: Addition of few drops of Lemon Juice with give a purple color!

This Article reviews Blue tea, its benefits, downsides and how to prepare it.

What is Butterfly Pea Flower Tea or Blue Herbal Tea?

Blue Tea is an herbal infusion made from dried leaves of Clitoria ternatea flower, commonly known as Butterfly Pea flower. The infusion is often suited to taste with addition of ingredients like mint, ginger and honey.

Butterfly pea flower contains a pigment called anthocyanins. These compounds give characteristic red, pink, blue, yellow, white and purple colors to butterfly pea flowers. (1)

In its pure form the Blue tea is Blue in color but changes its color to red, violet or green on the basis of final pH of infusion resulting from addition of water, lemon, honey or ginger.

Benefits of Blue Tea

Listed below are the scientific benefits of Butterfly Pea Flower Blue Tea.

Rich in Antioxidants

Antioxidants are molecules that play a vital role in protecting your body’s cells from damage. These combat free radicals, unstable molecules that can harm your cells and contribute to various health issues.

Delphinidin, the main antioxidant in Butterfly pea flower is responsible for wide range of antioxidant properties and also impart the characteristic blue color to the flower.

Following are the main scientific benefits of antioxidative properties of anthocyanins in butterfly pea flower:

Promotes Heart Health

1. Consuming herbal butterfly pea flower tea daily may keep your heart healthy by reducing cholesterol levels and improving blood pressure by maintaining healthy platelet function. (2)
2. Studies conducted in animals have demonstrated that Butter pea flower exhibit vasorelaxation properties thereby widening the blood vessels to enhance flow. It help in maintaining a healthy blood pressure(3)
3. It also exhibit antithrombotic properties resulting in prevention of blood clots, a common risk factor for stroke (4)
4. Another study in obese people found out that consuming Butterfly pea flower extract after High Fat meals resulted in low serum triglycerides level and accumulation of fat. (5)
5. Consumption of flower extracts also resulted in resistance of heart muscles to strokes. This means, the anthocyanins increase mycocardial glutathione levels thereby modulating hearts antioxidant defenses. (6)

Anti Cancer Properties

1. A study in rats found that anthocyanins inhibit the growth of esophageal tumors. (7)
2. It is associated with reduction in spread of breast cancer (8)

Anti Diabetes Properties

Butterfly pea flower extracts may have extraordinary capacity to regulate blood sugar levels.

1. A study performed in mice, found that extracts of butterfly pea flower significantly reduced the blood sugar levels when compared to commonly used anti-diabetic drugs. (9)
2. Another study found that its extracts are helpful in reducing blood sugar levels and increasing liver protective protein. It means the extract helped in healing liver during diabetes. (10)
3. A review found that leaves and flower extracts of butterfly pea flower have anti-diabetic properties. (11)

Other Benefits:

1. Anti-microbial Properties- Some research suggests that p-coumaric acid could have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects, which may help protect against disease. (12)
2. Skin and Hair health- When applied topically, butterfly bean flower can prevent early signs of skin aging, such as loss of firmness, fine lines, and uneven skin tone and texture. Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, it helps to treat rashes, swelling, itching, dermatitis or allergies affecting the skin. (12)
3. Mental health: Many researches demonstrated the improvement in brain activity of rats. It also shows beneficial effect by preventing the progression of cognitive deterioration in Alzheimer’s Disease. It may increase the level of acetylcholine in the brain, a compound beneficial for concentration, memory and other cognitive tasks. (13)

There are many research publications citing the benefits of Butterfly Pea Flower to make Blue Tea. However, most of these studies are done on animal models in controlled laboratory environment. Their true effect on humans may vary from person to person. However, in Ayurveda, different parts of flower have been traditionally used for treatment of diabetes and other ailments.

Side Effects:

Although, no side efffect have been observed from drinking herbal tea infusions, a research suggest that ingesting huge amount of root or flower extracts may be harmful for nervous system. (14)

Takeaway?

Blue Tea from Butterfly Pea flower plant is a great powerhouse of numerous benefits.

It high antioxidant activity provide it numerous medicinal use while its blue color allows it to be used in food industry as coloring agent. Next time, when you are looking for a herbal, why not rely on ayurveda and pick up “Butterfly Pea Flower tea”!