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Aspalathus linearis, Red Tea Rooibos

Rooibos, or red tea, is native to the Cape Town region of South Africa. Long used as a beverage tea, it was popularized as a medicinal herb in the late 1960s by Annique Theron, who claimed it could relieve colic. Since then, it has been advocated for a variety of conditions, including stomach distress, allergies, warts, eczema, anxiety, insomnia and minor injuries.

The tea is harvested during summer. It is green when picked, but becomes red during fermentation.

Rooibos tea is marketed as a treatment for a wide variety of conditions, including all those mentioned above. However, no proposed uses of this herb have any meaningful supporting scientific evidence.

Like other forms of tea, red tea contains antioxidant substances in the phenol family. This alone is the basis for many of the health claims attached to it. However, innumerable substances contain antioxidants; furthermore, the theory that antioxidants provide widespread health benefits has, in recent years, largely collapsed.

Nonetheless, test tube studies, at least, hint that red tea might be helpful for preventing heart disease, preventing liver injury, and reducing cancer risk.

However, all of this evidence remains far too weak to be relied upon at all. In general, only double-blind, placebo-controlled studies can prove that a treatment is effective. Test tube studies are at the opposite end of the spectrum; they are useful as basic research, but the overwhelming majority of potential benefits seen in the test tube do not pan out in human trials. Therefore, at present, while rooibos may be a pleasant beverage tea, any medicinal claims attached to it are without scientific foundation.

Dosage

Rooibos tea is made by steeping one teaspoon, or one tea bag, of the herb in a cup of water.

Safety Issues

As a widely used beverage tea, roobios is presumed to be safe. It does not contain caffeine.

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