That doesn’t mean tea is dangerous or cancer causing but it is something you should avoid if you happen to be getting treatment using Velcade.

Just thought I’d give people a quick ‘heads up’ on that one.

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tea and health, tea

Rooibos is Afrikaans for “red bush” which is the name it often goes by in the US and UK such as…. It bears no relation to the Camellia Sinensis plant responsible for our beloved green and black teas.

Rooibos does contain high levels of antioxidants such as aspalathin and nothofagin which aren’t found in traditional Camellia Sinensis and with lower caffeine content and tanins it has fewer side effects common in very high levels of tea intake. Although its worth noting tea has quite low level of caffeine anyway and few people suffer caffeine related side effects from tea unless sensitive.

I did note in a previous post on which tea is healthiest that Rooibos contains just 60-80mg of antioxidants per cup compared to the whopping 300-450mg available in green tea. Even black tea that has gone through a heavy oxidation process has more than rooibos with 130-200mg per cup.

Although it has to be said that amount of antioxidants isn’t the only indicator of the health benefits of rooibos. With its lower caffeine and tannin content it can be a useful alternative to those suffering from caffeine sensitivity.

Rooibos tea also happens to be a nice tea to drink for its own sake! I won’t switch to it as my ‘tea’ of choice any time soon but its certainly one I now keep in my cupboards whenever wanting the occassional nutty and sweat red bush.

My Top 3 Rooibos Teas

1. 
   Tazo Tea African Red Bush
2. 
   Teavana Blueberry Infused Rooibos Tea
3. 
   Loose Leaf Adagio Rooibos

How much caffeine is in X

Well – Jasmine tea is no exception and you’ll be happy (maybe sad – I dunno!) to know that ots similar to that of green tea. Jasmine tea contains very little caffeine of note and averages:

5-20mg per cup

1. Tea Reduces Risk of Stroke – More specifically ischemic stroke and just 1-2 cups per day of green or oolong tea can have a beneit. Read more.
2. Tea Fights AIDS – The antioxidant EGCG has been found to hinder the ability for the AIDS virus to infect individuals. Read more.
3. Green Tea Fights Incurable Leukemia – Another win for the EGCG compound found in tea and this time shown to shrink lymph nodes and reduce white cell counts in leukemia patients. Read more.
4. Green Tea Weakens Lung Cancer Cells – Studies are starting into the potential use of green tea to weaken cancer cells in the lungs making them more susceptible to treatment. Read more.
5. 3 Cups of Tea Cut Heart Attack Risk – This is old news but a new story so it makes the list. Read more.

What did I find?

Pu erh tea has been drunk in china as a tonic for digestion. Far more so than any other tea. In traditional Chinese medicine it is believed to have high levels of Qi (chi) which helps to flush the body of toxins.

Yunnan Natural Medicine Research Institute in China found it to have a significant impact against cancer cells of the throat and mouth.

In another cancer study they found a side effect of the consumption of pu erh caused a reduction in weight, lowered cholesteral and lower triacylglycerol levels.

Pretty good and it makes a dam nice cup of tea too.

My recommendations…

A great tea brick called
Horse Pu-erh (2002)
is available from Mighty Leaf Tea.

Read more about this US study.

So how safe is hibiscus tea when you’re expecting?

Well its not someone you should do in the first three months as it can have an impact on hormone levels and it has been shown to cause a decrease in male fertility.  After 3 months moderate drinking of hibiscus flower tea should be perfectly safe.

Hibiscus Flower Tea is available from Now Foods.

If we say the health score of a tea is based on its levels of antioxidants (flavinoids, catechins) then we could draw up the following table…

Pos	Antioxidants	Tea
1	400-600mg	White Tea
2	300-400mg	Jasmine Tea[1]
3	300-450mg	Green Tea
4	130-200mg	Black Tea
5	60-80mg	Rooibos ‘Tea’[2]
6	? (low)	Instant Tea
7	20-110mg	Iced tea[3]

[1] Jasmine tea’s base is green tea and its total antioxidant content is boosted by the presence of jasmine.
[2] Although Rooibos isn’t of the same species and not strictly a tea it is commonly reffered to as a tea. Now although many have claimed it has a higher antioxidant content than tea this isn’t true although it does contain a variety of unique antioxidants.
[3] The general consensus is that iced tea is the most heavily processed and thus least antioxidant rich of the teas. However, Lipton do claim that their tea with lemon contains an unusually high amount of flavinoids. How much we believe this is up to you.

(Hakim IA, Hartz V, Harris RB, Balentine D, Weisgerber UM, Graver E, Whitacre R, Alberts D. Reproducibility and relative validity of a questionnaire to assess intake of black tea polyphenols in epidemiological studies. Cancer Epidem Bio & Prev 2001; 10:667-78).

Antioxidant Activity of Black Tea vs. Green Tea (Ki Won Lee and Hyong Joo Lee) Department of Food Science and Technology School of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University Suwon 441–744, Korea

Tulsi Bush

Tulsi tea is made with one of the key plants used in Ayurvedic practices.  Its used primarily as an adaptogen – which means it helps your body adapt to stresses and balances the body’s natural flow.

Tulsi tea has quite a reputation in Ayurvedic practices as being the cure-all for many problems as well as being a general ‘elixir of health’.

Some of its claims include:

• Painkilling properties due to its concentrations of eugenol.
• Diabetes treatment due to its lowering of blood glucose levels.
• Cholesterol busting properties.
• High in antioxidants.
• Good for cataracts.
• Some studies have even shown it to treat radiation poisoning!

It has a taste and aroma that takes some getting used to.  If you’ve ever drunk a very strong black tea without anything added then you’re getting close to the dry astringency of a tulsi tea.

Get some Organic India’s Tulsi Tea