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Rooibos The Miracle tea

Updated on August 23, 2011

Rooibos (pronounced "roy-boss") tea is a South African/Afrikaans term which translates to "redbush", the name given to a bushy shrub that grows in the Cederberg province near Cape Town, South Africa. The redbush plant produces small yellow flowers and has needle-like leaves, which are collected, chopped and then bruised with special hammers, and then sun-dried and typically fermented. Since the fermentation turns the leaves a red-orange color, the sun-dried product is used to make the traditional red tea.

But an alternative, possibly even more healthful treatment does not include the fermentation or oxidation step -- and produces what is referred to as "green" Rooibos. This unfermented Rooibos has a yellowish color and a milder taste, while the red tea has a stronger taste described as sweet and fruity. While red Rooibos still packs the impressive load we'll discuss next, green Rooibos can be preferred because it contains an even higher level of antioxidants than the red, fermented variety. There is some debate in this area, however, as some studies have found that the fermentation process actually increases some other healthful elements despite decreasing antioxidant levels, so don't let lack of availability of the unfermented variety dissuade you.

Red or green, here come the health benefits: researchers at Iwate University in Japan recently found that Rooibos tea protects the brain & nervous system against a process known as "lipid peroxidation". This process occurs when damaging free radicals attack nervous tissue and brain cells, resulting in destruction of the protective outer layers of the brain cells, which leads to cell death. Over time, the damage accumulates and can lead to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The Japanese researchers gave Rooibos tea to a group of rats for a two-year period, and then examined their brains. Remarkably, they found that there was hardly any difference between the brains of the older rats treated with Rooibos tea, compared with the brains of new-born rats. By contrast, the brains of control rats that were not given Rooibos tea showed normal age-related changes, such as widespread destruction of brain tissue.

The scientists concluded that this amazing protection was due to the tea's ability to prevent the age-related build-up of damaged material in the brain.

Rooibos tea also contains a number of active ingredients and have been shown to treat a variety of other conditions from skin allergies, eczema, stress, sleep problems, stomach upset, indigestion and nervous tension. The plant's high mineral content (magnesium, calcium, zinc and iron), flavonoids, and other elements help fight inflammation and age-related degeneration. Further, scientists at the University of Milan, Italy have found that Rooibos tea contains one of the most powerful of all known flavonoids, called "aspalathin2", which helps to explain the strong brain-protective effects.

Rooibos tea may even help chronic diseases such as cancer and HIV:

South African scientists are now examining the effects of Rooibos tea against a variety of carcinogens (chemicals that cause cells to become cancerous), with preliminary results suggesting these harmful chemicals are rendered less damaging in the presence of Rooibos extract, and there is strong evidence that cancer risk may be reduced in people who consume Rooibos regularly. On the HIV front, researchers at the Okayama University in Japan have shown that Rooibos tea may also have positive effects against HIV, finding that Rooibos tea increases several immune chemicals such as interleukin-2, which can recognize and attempt to destroy the virus.

In addition to the high level of polyphenolic antioxidants, another reason that Rooibos is starting to take off as a health beverage is that, unlike many other teas, it is completely caffeine-free, low in tannins, and thus lacks the bitter astringent taste experienced with regular teas such as black and green teas. This low tannin content is great for those with digestive problems who have difficulty with tannin-rich regular teas or coffee. Tannins bind iron and therefore reduce the absorption of iron, which can be significant for those with low iron intake (some teas like black and peppermint tea may inhibit iron as much as 80 to 90 percent!).

Stomach-settling, relaxing effects: Rooibos possesses antispasmodic properties, and is commonly used in South Africa to treat babies that have colic and stomach cramps. South Africans also use the tea for calming intestinal spasms and digestive upsets in adults. When combined with the lack of caffeine and overall calming qualities, this makes Rooibos a wonderful after-meal and evening tea, with many people claiming that drinking Rooibos in the evening helps promote more restful, quality sleep and stress reduction.

Cancer and immune system protection: many of the flavonoids in Rooibos possess anti-mutagenic activity, with animal studies showing that Rooibos has potent anti-cancer and immune system protecting action.

Skin, liver, colon and more: Rooibos has also been shown to help inhibit skin tumors as well as help with skin infections, and as a result many in the skin care industry feel that Rooibos may be the new frontier for inclusion in skin care products. In South Africa, many apply Rooibos tea directly to the skin daily to help with everything from sun damage to age spots to infections and more.

It helps to lower cholesterol.

Lower blood pressure

control blood sugar levels

sooth stomach aches

relvies allergies

Helps Colicly Babies

Helps with weight loss

Rooibos is 50 times stronger then green tea .

4 cups of Rooibos cuts your risk by heart disease by 69%

Rooibos prevents cardio-vascular disease.

Rooibos promote Longevity .

In recent years it has been proven that Rooibos Tea contains the SOD action (anti oxidation action). This discovery helped solve the mystery of this tea. SOD seems to be very effective in prevention of aging and improvement of beauty. On this subject there have been many international conferences held around the world, and medical scientists have taken a strong interest on SOD.

SOD is the very substance that has been spotlighted for several years as the "enzyme for preventing aging." During research, it was discovered that Rooibos Tea has the same substance as SOD. The secret of the "miracle tea" which has been talked about for many years, has turned out to be the SOD-like action. Rooibos Tea (Aspalathus linealis) contains the same effective substance as SOD. A test proving this was conducted by Dr. Toshikazu Yoshikawa os Kyotofu Medical college. Dr. Yoshikawa is a leading scientist in the study of active oxygen. He has been responsible of organizing many international academic conferences. He is one of the most remarked scientists today. The following is Dr. Yoshikawa's comments:

This is how we determined that eFasTeam Rooibos Tea contains the SOD like action. In order to prove that eFasTeam Rooibos Tea has the same action as SOD, we used an EST spectrometer which can directly measure the amount of magnetic energy in active oxygen.

The EST graphs show the specific signals which are shown below when active oxygen is detected. Whenever eFasTeam Rooibos Tea has the SOD like action, the signal waves become smaller since the amount of active oxygen lessens. A result of experiments shows that when compared with the case where no eFasTeam Rooibos Tea has been added (as the top signal shows), eFasTeam Rooibos Tea shows a strong antioxidant action (which works to neutralize active oxygen).

Official Certification of SOD Action in eFasTeam Rooibos Tea.

Top: The wave of active oxygen displays larger.

Bottom: eFasTeam Rooibos Tea neutralizes active oxygen;

thus' the wave becomes les than half of the above.

Aspalathus linealis (eFasTeam Rooibos Tea) has been proved to have 50 times more anti oxidation action than green tea! Test done by the University of Kumamoto, Department of Medicine.

eFasTeam Rooibos Tea is also called "Asphalathus linealis". Dr. Hiroshi Meada of the University of Kumamoto, Department of medicine, proved that this asphalathus linealis contains far more anti oxidation action than any other drinks available.

It has been known that some drinks such as teas contain anti oxidation action. However, compared with these drinks, Asphalatus linealis contains much stronger anti oxidation action and is capable of preventing fat to change into lipid peroxide. Dr. Hiroshi Meada is a leading scientist in the study of the effect active oxygen and super radical have on an organism.

Japanese scientists studying rooibos tea in the 1960s discovered that it contains a powerful antioxidant that could retard aging, and quercetin, which is believed to have potent anti-inflammatory properties. Rooibos tea also contains aspalathin, which counteracts the atherosclerotic processes that result in heart disease. Marketers in Japan promote rooibos tea as an anti-aging tea and import large quantities.

 

 

Results from a clinical trial showing that Rooibos significantly reduces the risk of heart disease were announced at a Rooibos Science Café at the MTN ScienCentre in Cape Town on 26 November 2008. About 150 members of the media, health sector and the Rooibos industry attended the event and were delighted about this new and conclusive evidence of the health promoting properties of Rooibos in humans.

Researchers traced the protective effect of Rooibos by looking at two important markers in the blood, as well as the oxidative status of the 40 adults who participated in the study. They found a significant decrease in conjugated dienes and malondialdehydes of 35% and 50% respectively – two blood markers that indicate oxidative damage – in the group that drank six cups of Rooibos per day for 6 weeks. “This means that Rooibos may help to slow down atherosclerosis, or the hardening of arteries," explained Dr Jeanine Marnewick, who led the clinical trial at the Oxidative Stress Research Centre at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. On top of this, Rooibos also increased the levels of the body’s own “super anti-oxidant” called glutathione and helped to reduce the levels of “bad” LDL-cholesterol significantly.

“This is incredible news for Rooibos and the public,” said Mientjie Mouton, a director of the South African Rooibos Council. “We need scientific evidence to substantiate what we have always known – that Rooibos is good for you!”

Dr Marnewick also explained that they asked study participants for feedback on how they felt during the clinical trial. “Many of them reported feeling irritated during the washout period when they could not drink Rooibos, and much calmer once they were enjoying their six cups of Rooibos per day. That is why she will continue the clinical trial to look at the effect of Rooibos and stress.”

At the same science café Dr Carl Albrecht, head of Research at the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) gave an overview of nearly a decade of research at South Africa’s Medical Research Council into the ability of Rooibos to prevent or slow down cancer. He also emphasised the importance of the ability of Rooibos to reduce oxidative stress in the body, as shown by the results of a study on rats, published in 2003. “I am elated that Dr Marnewick and her team were now able to prove that Rooibos also has this effect in the human body,” he added. Oxidative stress plays a role in the development of a whole range of diseases, including cancer, stroke, heart and liver disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Another important milestone was the discovery, published in 2004, that Rooibos can prevent and slow down skin cancer in mice. “The next challenge is to prove that Rooibos can also prevent cancer in people, and I believe that there is a good chance that we’ll be able to prove this,” Dr Albrecht said.

This Rooibos Science Café was organised by the South African Rooibos Council who invests in Rooibos research, along with funding partners such as South Africa’s National Research Foundation as well as the Medical Research Council and CANSA.

 

Nutrend Rooibos Tea

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