"I want to drink graviola tea for health purposes. How much and how often should I take it?"
Before I answer this question, I would like to begin with saying, as I do in all my blog articles, that soursop, graviola and guanabana are all three words for the same plant, the Annona muricata. I tend to stick to just two terms, graviola and soursop, so as to keep my articles a bit cleaner (but I honestly prefer the word graviola over soursop!). You can learn more about the Annona muricate plant here.
So, let’s get to the main topic: “How much soursop tea should I drink on a daily basis for healing purposes?”
For those of you who enjoy an occasional cup of graviola tea (aka soursop tea), this question may sound a bit silly. But for those who use soursop for health reasons, it is actually quite pertinent, and unfortunately there is no textbook answer to the questions of “how much?” or “how often?”. Because this is a frequently asked question from my customers, I have decided to dig through the available information and write up this summary article.
First and foremost, it is important to keep in mind that soursop is not a “medically” recognized treatment. This means that doctors do not learn about it in med-school, and the FDA does not regulate it as a pharmaceutical product. Because of this there is no “off the package”, “doctor-recommended”, “pharmacist-endorsed” dosage or frequency. Therefore, to answer the question, “How much soursop tea should I drink/take and how often?”, we have to turn toward other sources and piece together a suggested serving amount: herbal teas for health in general and the advice of frequent consumers of soursop tea.
Please note, none of the following information is meant to give you “the dosage” for soursop tea consumption when using it for health. It is intended to provide you with additional information so that you can better make your own decision.
Drinking Herbal Tea for Health
When it comes to drinking herbal tea for health there are two schools of thought: 1) Start slow and keep it simple; 2) maintain the tea in body throughout the day.
Start slow and keep it simple
One of the best descriptions out there from the first school of thought comes from Victoria Zak’s 20,000 Secrets of Tea, The Most Effective Ways to Benefit from Nature’s Healing Herbs [1]. In her book Zak suggests that the first step is simply to identify which tea you wish to benefit from and begin with one cup per day. Zak does not address graviola tea directly, but focuses on herbal teas for health in general.
According to Zak, you do not need to drink multiple cups of tea per day to get the full benefits of an herb. If your morning cup has the desired effect, i.e. you feel positive about the way it interacts with your body, then the one cup per day is usually enough. When taking the tea for a healing treatment, then you can add a second cup later in the day, try it for one week, and see how you feel.
Maintain the tea in your body throughout the day
The second school of thought follows that repeated ingestion of an herb throughout the day is required to maintain an adequate amount of the herb’s active ingredients within the blood. Most articles put the number at up to three cups a day (i.e at or around meal-time) as this generally corresponds to your body’s cycle of food and energy consumption.
What regular soursop users say
I sometimes get feedback from our customers and have studied lots of internet discussions among soursop users.
The following are a couple of pointers that stand out:
- Drink up to three cups per day along with your regular diet.
- You can either start off with three cups per day and then adjust down should you have trouble digesting them, or you can start off with one cup per day and work your way up according to how you feel.
- Adjust the amount of soursop you take according to your body weight and tolerance. If you are small, try drinking less. If you are of normal weight, feel free to go up.
In general, most regular soursop users stick to one to three cups per day.
Is there a maximum amount of soursop that I should know about?
What most manufacturers of graviola teas, supplements and people who have written about this topic suggest is not to use soursop (or any herbal tea) for extended periods of time. Take an occasional break of several days or weeks after undergoing a soursop regime.
According to Cancer Research UK, graviola is most likely safe to use so long as it is in combination with a regular, healthy diet.
Conclusion
To sum it all up and answer the question “How much and how often should I drink soursop/graviola tea?” (if you are doing so for specific health reasons), the simple answer is: 1 to 3 cups per day. But feel free to moderate this amount according to how you feel, your size and just as importantly, your convenience.
If you need help preparing graviola tea, including how much tea to use per cup, check out this detailed article and video.
Anything else I should know?
It is generally considered unsafe for pregnant woman to use soursop. This is because soursop can inhibit the growth of fast growing cells (i.e. the fetus), and may even stimulate contractions in the uterus. Also, people with Parkinson’s disease should probably not use soursop until there is more definitive research. If you would like to know more about potential side effects of soursop, check out this article.
References
[1] Zak, Victoria: 20,000 Secrets of Tea, The Most Effective Ways to Benefit from Nature's Healing Herbs. New York, New York: Dell Publishing, 1999. Print