Rooibos Tea's Health Benefits

Look out green tea because rooibos tea's health benefits might out do yours. Rooibos tea, also known as red bush tea, mountain tea, life long tea, herbal allergy tea and red tea, has more antioxidant properties as green tea and absolutely no caffeine. People used rooibos tea for a long time as a tea substitute. Because the seeds were so tiny and difficult to harvest, it made collecting enough to plant almost impossible, so for hundreds of years the plants remained in the wild. Farming the plants became possible when one resourceful Khoi woman found that ants collected and stored the seed. She collected the ants' stockpile and sold them to Dr. Le Fras Nortier who used them to create the first farms to cultivate rooibos.

This red tea drink has a naturally sweet taste and there's no need for the addition of sugar or artificial sweeteners but it's more than just a hot drink for the end of a cold hard day. It has medicinal and the same anti-aging properties because of its high antioxidant content.

Electrons need to travel in pairs. Free radicals have odd numbers of electrons and when they enter your body, they go on safari for an electron from your cells. They steal it from the cell membrane, which changes the chemical composition so food can't get in and waste can't leave the cell. Eventually, the cell and its DNA, the cells pattern for reproduction, dies and you get ill or old. Antioxidants give up an electron so the free radical doesn't attack the cell. Hence, you stay younger and healthier. One study shows that the antioxidant flavanoids in rooibos tea were as much as 50 times more potent than even green tea.

Besides the wonderful effect of the antioxidants on your body, it also is an anti-spasmodic. One young mother, Annique Theron, found that the rooibos tea helped stop her baby's colic. She did further research on rooibos tea and extolled its virtues in a book called, "Allergies: An Amazing Discovery." The book led to others investigating its medicinal properties even further.

Rooibos tea has helped those with insomnia, nervous tension, allergies, digestive problems and even hypertension. While it helps with the hay fever, it also promotes healthier bones and teeth because of its calcium and manganese content. When applied to the skin, rooibos tea helps relieve rashes, acne and eczema.

Tannin in oolong, black and green tea actually blocks the absorption of iron. Red tea, rooibos, contains very little tannin so it's a great drink for those that have difficulty with iron absorption or suffer from depleted iron reserves, such as pregnant or lactating women.

Dieters will appreciate the fact that it comes with its own natural sweetener, kilojoule, which is calorie free. There's no need to use artificial sweeteners or high calorie sugars to have a great drink with your meal or refreshing, soothing cup of tea in the evening.

So, make it a decorative tea fest and serve both red and green tea for a healthy addition to your diet. You'll find the rooibos tea won't keep you awake, relaxes you and yet tastes sweet and delicious.