I know that drinking guava leaves has many medicinal benefits.  One of which is to help ease painful menstrual cramps.  I have only tried the packaged guava leaves sold in tea bags and think they are helpful.

But I wonder if these Brazilian guava leaves would also do the same.  So I picked a handful of guava leaves and took them home with me.  I have made a few cups of tea with them.  They taste a little bit different then the packaged guava leaves.  It’s not as bitter and taste much more light with a bit of tang.

Photo of Brazilian guava leaves and also little buds of either fruit or blossom.  They look more like the flower buds.  Photo taken by Cambree in San Jose, Ca.

The leaves are also a bit fuzzy all around.  But it’s not itchy unlike other hairy plants.  Even if the trees won’t bear any fruits, I still think a good idea to grow it for the leaves.  This way you have brew your very own cup of guava leaves anytime.

The photo of leaves I took in San Jose, CA look a bit different then these leaves from Trades Wind Fruit.  But as long as the fruits are guavas, then I think the leaves have the same benefits.

Ripe and round Brazilian guava.  Trades Wind Fruit describes them as, “Round or pear shaped fruit similar in size and appearance to the common guava. The rind is yellow, enclosing a white acidic pulp with a guava-strawberry flavor. “  I can’t wait to go back to the orchard when these are ripe and ready for picking.  These little fruits are also pack with vitamins and nutrients.

Photo from Trades Wind Fruit.

Tea Review: Guava Leaves Tea by ABC Tea House

Of the two brands of guava leaves tea I’ve tried, this is my favorite brand. It is from ABC Teahouse of China. The box said it contains 100% guava leaf.

The other brand I’ve had is Hung Phat from Vietnam. The box said it contain guava leaf and fruit. I actually thought this would be better as it contains fruit pieces. But I could not even finish my first cup. Of the whole box, I’ve only used no more then 3 tea bags. It is very bitter tasting. So after seeping the tea for several minutes, I opened up the tea bag from Hung Phat and found there were more then guava leaf and fruit pieces. It also look like small pieces of twigs or bark too. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but they should at least label it on the package. And I would think that more pieces of the guava plant, the better. But in this case, it just taste worse.

The guava tea leaf from ABC Tea House is much smoother tasting and not as bitter. I opened this tea bag and did find all guava leaves. This brand was bought at a Chinese grocery store for $2.99 per box. As I wrote in a previous post, guava leaf has many benefits. In Asian countries, it is mostly used to soothe stomach aches and dieting. But recenlty I found out that it is also suppose to help with menstrual cramps too.

In the past couple of years, my menstrual cramps have been really painful. Studies show that adding more calcium to your diet would help with the cramps. So I drank more milk, ate more cheese and yogurt. Even tried taking calcium supplements, but they all seem to help in the beginning and the pain came back. Now that I started to drink guava tea leaf with the first sign of PMS, I have found that it has also help my mood swings. I have only been drinking this for 1 month and did notice a big improvement on my PMS already. But I can’t say how conclusive it is for me, so I’ll have to wait and see after 3 months of drinking.