Dwarf Mormon Tea

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Had a lady email me a question that I thought I’d bring to everyone’s attention. She said she found some Dwarf Mormon Tea at a nursery and wanted to know if it would work like the Ephedras that grow in the Western US.

Here is my answer…

Dwarf Mormon tea is usually Ephedra minima (or Ephedra monosperma as it’s sometimes called). It grows in China and Siberia and is a different critter than the American Ephedras. It’s much stronger. It’s similar pharmacologically to the Ephedra Sinica that the Chinese call Ma Huang and it’s illegal to sell products containing it in the US.

It is medicinal but has more intense effects than its American cousins. Great for asthma but can cause serious elevations in blood pressure and heart rate. That’s why it got banned. People were taking it as a weight loss aid because it hyped up their system to burn more calories (like the amphetamine weight loss pills they used to give women in the 50s and 60s). The problem was that people were falling over dead from the cardiac effects…not good.

I’d probably stay away from it. There are better and safer plants for asthma which grow locally.

Patrick

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

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