Rooibos tea is gaining popularity as a tasty and healthy beverage. Consumed in southern Africa for centuries, it has become a beloved beverage around the world. It is a tasty, caffeine-free alternative to green and black tea.
What’s more, advocates praise rooibos for its potential health benefits, promising that its antioxidants may protect against cancer, heart disease and stroke. But you might wonder if these gains are supported by proof. This article explores rooibos tea’s health benefits and potential side effects.
What’s Rooibos Tea?
It’s created using leaves from a tree called Aspalathus linearis, usually grown on the western coast of South Africa.
Rooibos is a herbal tea and isn’t related to black or green tea.
Conventional rooibos is created by fermenting the leaves, which turns them a red-brown colour.
Green rooibos, which is not fermented, can be offered. It tends to be more expensive and grassier in flavor than the traditional version of the tea, while also boasting more antioxidants.
Rooibos tea is generally absorbed like black tea. Some folks add milk and sugar — and rooibos iced tea, espressos, lattes and cappuccinos also have removed.
Contrary to some claims, rooibos tea is not a good source of vitamins or minerals — besides copper and fluoride
But, it is full of powerful antioxidants, which may offer health benefits.
1. Low in Tannins and Free from Caffeine and Oxalic Acid
Caffeine is a natural stimulant found in both black tea and green tea.
Consuming moderate quantities of caffeine is generally safe.
It can even have some advantages for workout performance, concentration and mood.
But, excessive consumption was linked to heart palpitations, increased stress, sleep problems and headaches.
Thus, some people decide to prevent or restrict caffeine intake.
Because rooibos tea is naturally caffeine-free, it is an excellent alternative to green or black tea.
Rooibos also has lower tannin levels than normal black or green tea.
Tannins, natural compounds present in black and green tea, interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients, such as iron.
Finally, unlike black tea — and green tea, to a lesser extent — red rooibos includes no oxalic acid.
Consuming high levels of oxalic acid may increase your risk of kidney stones, making rooibos a fantastic option for anybody with kidney issues.
2. Packed With Antioxidants
Rooibos is associated with health benefits due to its high levels of health-promoting antioxidants, including aspalathin and quercetin.
Over the long term, their effects may diminish your chance of illnesses, like heart disease and cancer.
There’s some evidence that rooibos tea may increase antioxidant levels in the body.
However, any growth recorded has been little and does not last long.
In one 15-person study, blood levels of antioxidants increased by 2.9percent when participants drank red rooibos and 6.6% when they drank the green variety.
This uptick lasted for five hours following the participants drank 17 oz (500 ml) of tea produced with 750 mg of rooibos leaves.
Still another study in 12 healthy men decided that rooibos tea had no significant effects on blood antioxidant levels compared to a placebo.
This is possibly because the antioxidants in rooibos are short lived or inefficiently absorbed by the human body.
3. May Boost Heart Health
Antioxidants in rooibos are connected to a healthy heart.
This may happen in different ways.
ACE indirectly increases blood pressure by causing your blood vessels to contract.
But this didn’t translate to any changes in blood pressure.
There is more promising proof that the tea may improve cholesterol levels.
At a study in 40 overweight adults at high risk of cardiovascular disease, six cups of rooibos tea daily for six weeks diminished”bad” LDL cholesterol while boosting”good” HDL cholesterol.
However, the identical effect was not seen in healthy people.
Healthy cholesterol levels give added protection against different heart ailments, including heart attacks and strokes.
