Health Benefits of Senna

Senna is a herb, whose leaves and fruit are used to make herbal medicines. Senna is an FDA-approved non-prescription herbal laxative. It is used to treat acute constipation and even to clear bowels prior to diagnostic tests like colonoscopy.
Senna fruit is gentler than Senna leaves which led to the concern against long-term use of Senna leaf and not Senna fruits. You should not use Senna if you are suffering from Diarrhoea or pain in stomach as it will aggravate the situation more. Consult a physician prior to using if you are nursing a baby or pregnant. Discontinue its use in case of watery stools or Diarrhoea.

Serving Ideas For Senna

Senna is normally used by those suffering from acute constipation with some serving ideas of Senna. For relief, one should consume about half teaspoon of the liquid or one tablet or capsule of 50 mg or 100 mg. After taking Senna, bowel movement must normally occur within 6-12 hours.

Senna Tea : One of the popular serving ideas of Senna is herbal preparations in the form of tea. Senna tea comes in small teabags and may be found in health food stores, but most people love to use loose leaves of Senna and brew tea themselves. Steep the leaves in a pot full of boiling water for about ten minutes. The leaves can even be dropped in cold water and steeped for about 10-12 hours. Using cold water to steep those leaves would leave less resin in the tea so, chances of abdominal cramping is lowered. 

How Does Senna Works ?

This medicine aids in relieving occasional constipation. It belongs to a group of medicines known as laxatives. It contains sennosides that works by inducing bowel muscles to contract more frequently and with extra force. This enhanced muscle action moves the bowel contents to rectum to be evacuated and relieve constipation completely.
Do not take this herb for more than 7 days at a stretch. You must take plenty of fluids while taking Senna. Consult your physician if you don’t experience bowel movement or your symptoms don’t improve after 3 days, or they worsen during usage of this herb.

Advantages of Senna

Senna is used with various health concerns so you can use and get following benefits and advantages of Senna.

While a number of researches have established health benefits of the Senna consumed in capsule or powder form, few researches have stressed at the high potential of drinking Senna tea. Health benefits of Senna are on the higher side than side-effects.

The available studies include a brief study published in the journal Investigative Radiology in the year 2005. For the research, volunteers took either Erythromycin (an antibiotic effective for treating some bacterial infections) or Senna tea. While both these treatments resulted in increasing the movement of stools through bowels, Senna tea seems to be more effective than Erythromycin.

Side-effect Of Senna

Senna is mostly safe for adults as well as children over the age of two when used in short-term. Senna is an FDA approved non-prescription herbal preparation. Senna can sometimes cause some minor side effects which include cramps, stomach discomfort, and acute diarrhea.
During pregnancy and Lactation: Senna is mostly safe during pregnancy as well as breast-feeding a baby when used in short-term. Side effects of Senna aggravates when consumed long-term or in even in high doses.