Why drink Rooibos?
Antioxidants
Free radicals harm DNA in our cells and making us more prone to diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke, etc. Antioxidants have the ability to bind to these free radicals before the damage.
The Antioxidants found in Rooibos are as much as green and black tea. The distinctive antioxidants - abundant monomeric flavonoids included Aspalathin and Nothofagin . Aspalathin has not been found in any other plant material and Nothofagin has a very limited distribution in nature. There are also other identified antioxidants:
Flavonoid
(mg/g/ +/- SD)
Isoorientin
0.833 +/- 0.007
Orientin
1.003 +/- 0.010
Aspalathin
1.234 +/- 0.010
Vitexin
0.330 +/- 0.002
Rutin
1.269 +/- 0.006
Isovitexin
0.265 +/- 0.002
Isoquercitrin & hyperoside
0.429 +/- 0.002
Luteolin
0.029 +/- 0.00
Quercetin
0.107 +/- 0.002
Chrysoeriol
0.022 +/- 0.001
Enhance Sleep
Aspalathin and nothofagin have the ability to lower the levels of the stress hormone - cortisol in the body. The lower cortisol in our body, the better sleeping quality will have.
Also the magnesium and calcium in Rooibos calms the nervous system and helps to manufacture the sleeping hormone melatonin.
Cancer and DNA
Preliminary studies in animal models show that Rooibos is better than green tea in suppressing abnormal cells. In fact, when the animal cells were exposed to mutagens simultaneously with rooibos tea, the highest concentration of rooibos tea completely restrain the abnormal cells, bringing their percentage down to the level of the controls that were not exposed to any mutagen.
Also Orientin is a strong free radical scavenger. It reduced by half the number of cancer-associated changes in cells of human blood exposed to radiation. The research somewhat supports rooibos’s traditional use as a cancer preventative.
Brain & aging
Increases in lipid peroxides in the brain may harm neuronal cells and cause to age-related diseases.
Aspalathin had a similar potency as Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and quercetin in green tea, a good inhibitors of lipid peroxidation. Rooibos tea persists the level of TBARS, an indicator of lipid peroxidation.
The administration of rooibos tea protected several regions of the brain against lipid peroxidation accompanying aging.
Skin
A recent study shows low concentrations of rooibos extracts may be able to prevent the development of skin cancer by stopping the multiplication of cancerous cells and removing the cells by prompting them to commit suicide.
Once the skin has been exposed to the sun's ultra violet (UV) rays, rooibos extracts will remove precancerous damaged cells and also block the onset of inflammation – the latter being one of the processes that promote the formation of tumours in skin
Liver disease
Rooibos tea help liver tissue regeneration after prolonged intoxication and had less fibrotic tissue in their livers and lower tissue malondialdehyde levels. Rooibos tea "can be recommended not only for the prevention but also as a co-adjuvant for the therapy of liver diseases."
Cardiovascular
As study shown the person at risk for cardiovascular consume six cups of Rooibos tea daily for six weeks. There are significant reductions in LDL-C and triglycerides and a significant increase in HDL-C.
High amount of Rooibos is mixed type of ACE inhibitor. Oral ingestion of 400mL Rooibos tea causes a statistically significant reduction in ACE activity.
Reduce Stress
Cortisol is well known stress hormone in our body. Chronically exposed to high level of cortisol is connection of increasing anxiety, high blood pressure, heart diseases, suppressed immunity and diabetes.
However, flavonoids of Rooibos (Aspalathin and Nothofagin) contribute to stress-lowering effect which lowers the production of cortisol by the body's adrenal glands during periods of Stress.
Consuming caffeine when you are stressed is simply revving up your body’s stress response.
Moreover, taking caffeine drinks for instant green tea during stressful time would only worsen a sensitive Central Nervous System which Rooibos did not.
Minerals
It does provide measurable amounts of several minerals and electrolytes. You will unconsciously intake the minerals while sipping a cup of rooibos.
Name
Volume
Iron (Fe)
0.07 mg
Potassium (K)
7.12 mg
Calcium (Ca)
1.09 mg
Copper (Cu)
0.07 mg
Zinc (Zn)
0.04 mg
Magnesium (Mg)
1.57 mg
Fluoride
0.22 mg
Manganese (Mn)
0.04 mg
Sodium (Na)
6.16 mg
Caffeine & Tannin
Rooibos tea is 100% caffeine-free with no oxalic acid preservatives, additives and artificial colour. It is definitely an excellent alternative to green tea, black tea or even coffee. And Rooibos is also low in tannic acid that will not inhibit the absorption of certain minerals like iron.
Drink
Caffeine (mg)
Tannin (%)
Rooibos Tea
0
1
Coffee
60 to 150
4.6
Wheat Tea
60 to 90
7 to 15
Oolong Tea
60 to 90
7 to 15
Green Tea
15 to 43
7 to 15
Anti-inflammatory
the rats were given dextran sodium sulfate to induce colitis, had higher SOD levels drop in haemoglobin levels