Rooibos tea

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Deliciously edible!

Food and Diet

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Dubious diets
Food woo
The plant itself

Rooibos Tea is an earthy nutty flavored herbal tea that is starting to be touted as a new health craze.[1][2]

Like most "super foods" Rooibos claims start in the normal sane realm...

  • Organic - true, only one country and company supply it that pledged to be organic.[3]
  • Caffeine free - Most herbal teas are.
  • Full of antioxidants - True, many things are.[4] The two studies looking at the antioxidant levels gave vastly different results. One stated Rooibos had 50% more then green tea, and the other a good bit less then green tea.[5]
  • It can be consumed by people who have problems with regular tea (tannins/oxalic acid) - Just like many herbal teas.

Then start diverging in the bizarre...

  • There are claims (mostly New age type) that it's an old Japanese secret to long life - Of course, no one had seen this product before the eighteenth century, when it started being used as a substitute for black tea by poor Dutch settlers in South Africa. It doesn't grow anywhere else, and it doesn't ship well. It hadn't started being produced commercially (or even seen in Japan) until 2000 and after the Apartheid ended.
  • Toxin cleanser[6] - Researchers have found correlations for anti-fungal effects for skin infections on 11 dart frogs.[7] It wasn't taken internally.
  • It contains healthy minerals - There are no listings of mineral contents of Rooibos tea outside of a nutritional supplement label or crank websites. Each seems to have its own list of what is in the tea.
  • Protects the immune system - Nothing supports that, save the figments of people's imagination.
  • Supports and cures gastrointestinal issues - Nothing supports that, save the figments of people's imagination.
  • Protect against cardiovascular disease and diabetic vascular complications[8] - Nothing supports that, save the figments of people's imagination.
  • Protects against cancer - Hell, what super food doesn't?
  • It is safe for infants and pregnant women - Okaaaay, and many other things aren't?

[edit] The skinny

Mmmh tea

Like most herbals, if you like it, enjoy it. It can't hurt (in moderate use), and it might even be good for you. You may, in fact, decide that you like it, and then periodic doses of the enjoyment of such nice hot beverages may cause you to smile more often and be more fun to be around, possibly leading to increased sexual opportunities.

Just don't expect it to perform miracles.

[edit] Footnotes

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