The Benefits of Rooibos Tea

It's no secret to my clients, customers or readers that I'm always reading labels and analyzing what goes in my body.  Recently I've been searching for nutritious teas.  Yes, water is important but if I'm going to drink, maybe there's a way to get even more out of that drink.  Part of being a babe and accomplishing, what appears to others as super human, is really just being organized and getting more done with less effort.  Rooibos tea helps us do that.

Green tea has exploded in popularity over the last few years because of it's health benefits.  But what if you want to (and I strongly suggest you do) avoid the stimulating affects?  More about that soon in another post.   A while back I suffered from adrenal exhaustion and now, anything stimulating, eventually just makes me very tired.  Herbal teas are fine but I like a tea with a bit of body, that's earthy, complex and, if I can help it, with no "flavours" added.

Enter red rooibos tea.

Rooibos is an Afrikaans word meaning 'red bush'.  Rooibos tea is not really a tea, in that it doesn't come from THE tea plant (Camellia sinensis).  It is however, made from leaves and stems of Aspalathus linearis.  The oxidization of these leaves gives it it's red colour.  In this case oxidization is not a bad thing.  In fact Rooibos tea is full of anti-oxidants!  Not quite as many as green tea, but close and remember, there are no stimulating effects what so ever! (Check out the Adrenal Fatigue post coming soon to learn why babes do not want to drink stimulants).

Okay so we have our flavonoids for anti-oxidants.  Great.  It's got a one up on water.  But studies have also shown that it is also anti-inflammatory and helps prevent DNA damage.  Wow.  Not bad for a little cup of tea.  For more scientific information on Red Rooibos benefits check The Inhuman Experiment blog.

Red Rooibos is a mild tasting tea and contains no tannins.  Tannins are the part of tea (Camellia sinensis) that makes it taste bitter if you let it steep too long.  I love Rooibos because you can leave it in while you drink and you don't have to worry about the steeping time!  One less thing to worry about is a bonus in my book!

Some people claim that it's very high in vitamin C and minerals but I haven't found enough evidence to believe this.  Let's stick to our green leafy vegetables for that shall we?

If you're just switching to tea and drinking less of other beverages I have a great all natural iced tea recipe for you.  Our family loves this so much that we actually don't make it too often.  When we do we just drink it until it's gone!  But it's a great way to start drinking tea.  Eventually changing the ratio to have more tea and less juice.

So, if you're going to drink something, why not drink something with heaps of flavonoids, no tannins and absolutely no caffeine?  Why not Red Rooibos?  Try is as part of the All Natural Iced Tea Recipe and let me know what you think.

Be well,

Bonnie