The Hip Sip: Rose Hips Tea, Queen of Vitamin C

Honored by the Greek poet Sappho as 'The Queen of Flowers', rose hips have as extensive healing benefits as the all-healing herb tulsi, which is similarly venerated as sacred in Hinduism for universal healing abilities. Rose hips is especially powerful for increasing immunity, with potent vitamin C content, the highest among all produce, in fact, which creates a delicious sweetness and tartness like the Vitamin C fruits we most often reach for—citrus. Paired with other immunity increasing botanicals, such as elderberry, and vibrant flavors from fruit such as goji, recovering from sickness has never been so tasty. Think cranberry, but with the sweetness of honey.

Who Is The Queen?

The queen sources her tea not from rose petals, but from hidden fruit just below the beautiful blossoms of the plant, and the pods of edible seeds. These fruit of the rose plant are primarily from the rose species Rosa Canina, or, the dog rose plant, and they are just as kind to your health as your puppy. Rose hips tea helps soothe your body with the warmth of a pet's hug, if your pet could also help you recover more quickly with vitamin C.

Queen of Vitamin C

Rose hips fruit contain so much vitamin C, during wartime families would store the plant throughout citrus shortages amidst halted naval trade, to help heal children as well as sailors who did not have access to oranges to help with scurvy. According to the curator of botany at the Museum of Nova Scotia, rose hips have up to 25 times the amount of Vitamin C in oranges. In fact, according to a study comparing vitamin C content within plant foods, rose hips is higher in vitamin C content than any other fruit or vegetable on the planet. Next time you are feeling sniffles approaching, a cup of rose hips tea can be even more powerful than the orange juice you reach for to gain your essential antioxidant increasing vitamin C.

More Than Immunity: Vitamin C Unlocks Antioxidant Protective Capabilities

Vitamin C not only increases immunity, but works as a fantastic antioxidant, reducing the harmful oxidation—or, the degradation of our cells through cellular degeneration in response to food, stress, and our environment—in order to work against illness, promote circulation to rid our body of pathogens for detoxification, as well as help defend our bodies as an antiviral in the midst of sickness. Vitamin C also helps relieve stress, as reduced oxidation contributes to lowering of inflammation, inflammation which can cause not only bodily stress from our body overworking physically amidst our systems fighting to maintain homeostasis, but mentally and emotionally within our brain, which can suffer from fogginess and depression and anxiety in the midst of free radical activities’ (oxidation) which interfere with necessary regeneration and healing for our bodies through life’s ailments. The antioxidant levels in rose hips are actually higher than the all time champion, blueberry.

These benefits of Vitamin C and antioxidants work synergistically, with antioxidant activity reducing inflammation to help ease pain, especially osteoarthritic (joint) pain, and as mentioned, to help to soothe stress in the brain while easing oxidative stress which can cause even more damage and strain through mental overactivity, all while also supporting during exhaustion to increase levels of energy. These benefits are maximized due to rose hips’s rich bioflavonoid content which help to promote the absorption of vitamin C in the body, and work to enhance uptake of vitamins we are already consuming from the foods we are eating.

Like the Hip: Sip The Rose Hips

The selection for health repair is clear: let’s brew some rose hips like the hip kids do, for the vitamin C from the flower queen, and all of the soothing benefits that are like a warm hug from a puppy for our whole being. Thank you, Rosa Canina! With the help of Rosa Canina, when you are feeling low, with the sniffles, exhaustion, or through an emotional cold like depression, the rose offers a solution: you can, and you will. With Rosa Canina fruit, you can and you will get better soon.

Pairings

Rose hips pairs very will with the immunity increasing botanical elderberry, and for a rich flavor addition, ‘The Homestead Lady’ suggests the addition of goji berry, a rich superfood which is also full of Vitamin C as well as Vitamin A, another essential vitamin for immunity. The flavor profile of rose hips is quite unique, which you might akin to the taste combination of an apple pie, the meeting of tart and sweet. The granny smith-like cup offers this unique mix that balances the palette, and can also have a note of citrus. ‘The Tea Shop’ also suggests a pairing of rose hips with other berries, to complement the fruit notes, tartness, and sweetness, or moringa, which also contains antibacterial properties for sickness and helps alleviate depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Alone, rose hips is sweet like honey, with the tartness of a cranberry. Yet the tea is often enjoyed in combination with other flowers, such as hibiscus.

Floral, sweet, tart, this is the sour patch rose hip kid without the processed sugar, chemicals, and synthetic sweetness, and all the fantastic vitamins for healing and illness prevention. If you are enjoying the tea loose, it will be helpful to strain to remove potential debris and seeds, as this is tea from the fruit, not the petals and the leaves—this needs some reminding after drinking rose petal tea! Because of the incredible vitamin C content, a study was conducted to specifically measure the optimal time to brew the tea for maximum vitamin C in your beverage: the result was 6-8 minutes. So let's start steeping!

Whether you already knew the queen of flowers, or this is a newly discovered remedy, or maybe an old one rediscovered from childhood that you haven’t enjoyed in ages, treat yourself to a ten minute mindfulness session, and watch your tea steep as the rose hips create an essence that is beautifully orange and pink, like a peach. After you enjoy, for another spa moment, if you are enjoying the beverage with a tea bag, remove the bag after steeping and save the tea to utilize with your favorite carrier oil or moisturizing face cream. The tea will act as a toner and an astringent, firming skin. Through its high vitamin C content rose hips increases collagen production, which enhances skin elasticity and vitality, to brighten your face outside, just as it is healing you within as you sip. Moringa and Goji would also work synergistically if they happen to be in your tea mix when applied to the skin for rejuvenating.

Enjoy your rose hip sip. Hail to the queen of flowers, and of vitamin C.

Now, time for tea!

Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28587101

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3668991/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5629151/

https://www.earthfoodandfire.com/wild-rose-hip-tea/

https://www.teashop.com/blog/rosehip-tea-health-benefits

https://homesteadlady.com/rosehip-tea-sweet-vitamin-c/

https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rose-hip

https://simplelooseleaf.com/blog/brewing-tea/how-to-make-rosehip-tea/

https://rosehipfarm.co.za/top-10-rosehip-tea-recipes/

https://www.artoftea.com/blogs/tea-profiles/roses-vs-rosehips-whats-the-difference

hibiscushttps://senchateabar.com/blogs/blog/rose-hip-tea

https://taooftea.com/product/rose-hips/

https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Wild_Rose_Hips_8759.php