Red tea, sometimes called rooibos or red bush tea, has extremely high vitamin C content. Tea made with the rooibos plant turns red due to red pigment in its stems and leaves, according to Drugs.com. The rooibos shrub belongs to the legume family of plants and is native to South Africa. Some 8,000 tons of rooibos tea are produced there every year, about half of which is exported, according to BBC News. The organic version gives you health benefits without toxic agrochemicals, according to Dr. Andrew Weil, founder of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.
Antioxidant Action
Red tea is a source of antioxidants, according to a 2007 study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. This might make rooibos a healthy alternative to caffeine-containing drinks, advises lead study author L.J. McGaw. Antioxidants combat free radicals in your body. Free radicals cause damage to cell DNA and are implicated in heart disease and cancer, according to the BBC.
Brain Health
Red bush tea may protect against central nervous system damage in some areas of the brain, advises Drugs.com. Rooibos is effective because it prevents age-related products of oxidation in the brain, according to Philip H. Elzer and Krassimir T. Metodiev, authors of "Risk Infections and Possibilities for Biomedical Terrorism." In a study on rats published in the journal "Neuroscience Letters," rooibos prevented age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides, which can hamper brain signal intensity, according to lead study author O. Inanami. Rats that did not receive rooibos had an age-related decrease in the signal intensity in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and hippocampus. Rats that received rooibos showed little change in signal intensity in these brain areas, and their magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, images were similar to those of young rats, according to the study.
Anti-Cancer Activity
Rooibos may have anti-cancer activity. In a 2005 study on rats published in the journal Cancer Letters, the plant's extract inhibited skin cancer tumors, though it did not do so as well as green tea, reports lead study author J. Marnewick. While the potential for this benefit exists, this red tea is not as well-studied as green tea, according to Weil. Thus far, no studies on red tea suggest that it has benefits equal to green tea.
References
- "Risk Infections and Possibilities for Biomedical Terrorism;" Philip H. Elzer and Krassimir T. Metodiev; 2004
- BBC News: Rooibos (Redbush) Tea
- Science Direct: Neuroscience Letters; The Suppression of Age-Related Accumulation of Lipid Peroxides in Rat Brain by Administration of Rooibos Rea (Aspalathus Linearis); O. Inanami; 1995
- PubMed.gov: Journal of Ethnopharmacology; Evaluation of Athrixia Bush Tea for Cytotoxicity, Antioxidant Activity, Caffeine Content and Presence of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids; L.J. McGaw; 2006
- PubMed.gov: Cancer Letters; Inhibition of Tumour Promotion in Mouse Skin by Extracts of Rooibos (Aspalathus Linearis) and Honeybush (Cyclopia Intermedia), Unique South African Herbal Teas; J. Marnewick; 2005
Member Comments