Teas for what ails you

There's nothing like a cozy cup of tea to bring comfort on chilly winter days. And exciting research shows that you can tailor your warming mug to provide relief from aches and pains, hot flashes, blood-sugar spikes and more. Here's how to brew the perfect healing cuppa

- ANN GREEN

Lower blood sugar with cinnamon tea

Pairing your meals with cinnamon tea may help keep your blood sugar in check. A study by the Joslin Diabetes Center found that consuming cinnamon daily (roughly 1 tsp. total, spread across three doses) significantly reduced blood-sugar spikes after carb-heavy meals. The polyphenols in cinnamon may improve insulin sensitivity, helping pull sugar from your bloodstream and deliver it to your cells where it's used for energy. To do: Dunk a bag of cinnamon tea (or stir a couple of pinches of ground cinnamon) into hot water, steep and sip!

Tame hot flashes with aniseed tea