Muña Tea
Muña, also sometimes called Andean mint, is a green plant that grows in the Andes highlands near cities like Cusco and Puno. It is high in calcium, iron, and phosphorus, making it beneficial for strong bones and teeth. Among the many benefits of the herb, it helps ease altitude symptoms, especially if you experience stomach pain at high altitudes. It has carminative and digestive properties, it relieves flatulence and diarrhea conditions and has hardening benefits of bones and teeth due to its high amount of calcium and phosphorus. According to modern medicine, muña contributes to the function of the nervous system and prevents osteoporosis. You simply just can't go wrong with using muña.
In Peru, the use of muña tea has a long tradition. In naturopathy it has always been used for healing purposes and it is also indispensable in home medicine. Since the period of the Incas, the men from the Andes used the muña root as a portable refrigerator because it has the property to preserve food for many days. The leaves, flowers and stems are used to make tea. As in the past, we collect and process the wild muña plant by hand. We do not use any plastic containers for storage, as the softeners they contain can severely impair the quality and thus the effect of the tea.
Preparation and effects
Pour boiling water over one or two teaspoons of dried muña leaves per cup and let steep for about 15 minutes. Then strain and sweeten as needed.
The effect of muña and its use can have a preventive, alleviating or at best even healing effect on our organism. As a tea preparation, it can not only be drunk. It unfolds its effect in the throat area by vigorously gargling the tea. In the case of nasal and frontal sinus problems, they can be used by inhalation, in which the vapor of the herbs scalded with boiling water is inhaled. Cloths soaked in herbal tea can be placed on painful areas of the body as a poultice. Larger quantities of herbal tea (strain beforehand) can also develop their full effect as a bath additive.