There's a saying that goes, "Life begins at 40." And as I'm nearing that age, I do feel the need to take care of my body now if I don't want to spend my retirement years in poor health. And one way that I am trying to bolster my immune system and overall well-being is through herbal medicines.

I am a firm believer that everything that is written in the bible is true. And there is one passage from the Book of Ezekiel that goes like this:

Ezekiel 47:12 - Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.

And while this is a vision of Ezekiel and a metaphor, I can't help but realize that the line, "Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing," is also true even if taken out of context. There are many fruit-bearing trees that have leaves with medicinal properties. Some popular trees with such characteristics include guyabano, guava, and mangosteen among many others.

I've tried guyabano and guava leaves as tea before. But recently, I've discovered that the mango tree also has medicinal leaves. And we happen to have a fully-grown mango tree in our backyard that we don't pay attention to except when it's time to harvest its fruits. It's leaves are thriving so much that I can probably drink tea from it every day and not worry about affecting the tree at all.

Benefits of Mango Leaf Tea

So what exactly are the benefits of drinking Mango leaf tea? According to a DOST article, they are rich in polyphenolic compounds. It has antidiabetic, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. What's more, it also has anti-aging and skin whitening effects.

Preparing Mango Leaf Tea

Brewing Mango leaf tea is very easy. I just thoroughly rinse five to six leaves in running water and drop them into a pot, or in this case, I use an electric kettle. I just boil it and let it sit for a few minutes in order for the extracts to seep out into the water. I drink it throughout the day and then refill it with water and boil the leaves one more time.

As for the taste, it's very mild compared to other tea extracts I've had like guava, guyabano, or oregano. There's a hint of mango in the smell and taste. I believe first-time fruit leaf tea drinkers won't have a hard time trying this.

God has blessed the Philippines with a variety of medicinal plants that can be found everywhere. And it's not just in the trees and shrubs, even on the sidewalks you can find very potent medicinal plants like pancit-pancitan, tawa-tawa, and paragis. I think it's about time that we pay closer attention to this hidden gift of free healing.

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