I love tea! My tea cabinet is overflowing with tins, paper boxes, and bags of both bulk tea and tea bags so I can always find the right herbal tea to fit whatever my need is at that particular moment.
A little congested? A cup of alfalfa or stinging nettle tea work well due to their natural antihistamine properties.
Stressed out? A cup of chamomile tea will calm you down in no time.
So, where does tea fit into a healthy diet?
Red Tea: An African Herbal Gem
For the past few weeks, I’ve been drinking a morning cup of red tea, also known as rooibus or redbush tea. I’ve switched recently because I find that don’t do well if I have a cup of green tea every morning as even a small daily dose of caffeine tends to weaken my adrenals and contribute to early afternoon fatigue after awhile. I really can only enjoy green or (my favorite) English Breakfast tea on occasion as caffeine so quickly develops into a habit if you’re not especially careful.
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I don’t prefer decaffeinated black or green tea because, to me, this is an unnatural over processing of these herbs. I would rather choose a tea that is naturally caffeine free, such as red tea.
Red tea is native to the continent of Africa and is primarily grown in South Africa’s Western Cape. Local people have traditionally used red tea for centuries, and the Dutch settlers in South Africa used it as an alternative to expensive black tea whose supply was dependent on trading ships from Europe.
Red tea has an earthy and a slightly nutty flavor. The first time I tried a cup, I didn’t really care for it much. Red tea grows on you after awhile, though, and I now I simply love it.
Red tea is naturally decaffeinated and loaded with antioxidants. Scientifically, no adverse effects whatsoever have been attributed to rooibus tea. Red tea possesses antifungal as well as antimutagenic properties. It is also alleged to beneficially modulate the immune system and to assist with nervous tension, skin problems, and digestive complaints.
I personally find that a warm cup of red tea gives me a lift in the morning with no caffeine required. This effect is perhaps due to red tea’s beneficial effects on digestion, as anything that reduces digestive burden results in an improved energy state!
I also love to have red tea on hand because it is a caffeine free choice for the kids whenever they ask for a cup.
Like many plants, rooibus readily takes in flouride from the surrounding soil, so make sure you buy organic rooibus as commercial fertilizers contain large amounts of flouride.
A Healthy Alternative to Coffee Based Lattes, Cappuccino and Espresso
“Red espresso” is served in South African coffee shops and is concentrated rooibus served in the same manner as coffee espresso.
Red tea is delicious with milk and makes an excellent caffeine free latte or cappuccino.
In the summer, iced red tea is a very pleasant alternative to the black tea based iced teas on the market.
For those attempting to shake the coffee or, in my case, the green/black tea habit, a switch to red tea may be just the ticket!
What is your favorite tea of late?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: Wikipedia
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I also drink rooibus, but I make iced tea with it. To me, it tastes exactly like black tea does, minus the caffeine, so I still can enjoy my iced tea, and I sweeten it with Stevia.
I'm not a big hot tea drinker, so I've never tried it that way. But, it does make wonderful iced tea!
Dr. Laura
Another wonderful afternoon pick me up is Fermented Spirulina by Grainfields, I have felt such calm and steady energy from this amazing superfood. I have felt like the energizer bunny ever since starting this, I have 1 oz first thing in the morning, and then 1/2 an ounce in the late afternoon and cannot believe how good it makes me feel. It is one of the Superfoods that Weston Price Foundation recommends and I sure wish I had tried it long ago!!!
Juliann
I have been drinking red rooibus for a few years now. It helped me kick the coffee habit as it just made a good replacement. I just love it. To me, it is a very comforting thing to sit on the patio, in the early morning, with my cup of rooibus. And thank you for the latte idea. I am going to try a cup with some milk (raw, of course). Blessings ro you, Sarah.
Dawn
My husband and I drink a lot of rooibus. Now can you tell us how to pronounce that word?
Our other favorite is dandelion root tea (DandyBlend) is one brand. It's the yummiest coffee alternative we've ever come across.
Third favorite would have to be raspberry leaf tea, which we used to buy, but now we just harvest the leaves of rampant raspberry in our backyard. Yum! It's a nice rich flavor like red tea, but very different.
That's funny Margaret! Good question on the pronunciation – better to just call it red tea which is sure a lot easier to say!
Thanks for the post, Sarah.
I had never heard of this rooibus tea.
Funny you mentioned this today. I have really been enjoying chai tea but didn't want the caffeine anymore(it is typically made with black tea.) Just the other day at Trader Joe's I found Ruby Red Chai Tea. Its organic, no caffeine and I love it! Thanks for your blog. I've found it very helpful. We LOVE your panna cotta recipe!
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn, glad you like the panacotta! I make no less than a big bowl of this about every week. It is my husband's midafternoon snack nearly every single day!
Sarah , can you please advise good brand of Red Tea & Nettle Tea Powders nd source to buy Red Tea and Nettle Tea –
-Rag
I also enjoy red rooibos tea! (I've heard it pronounced ROY-bose)
I can't really dring green tea straight-up, so I've been mixing it with peppermint (a natural stimulating herb), cloves, ginko and others to cut back on the caffeine.
Drinking tea is one of my favorite morning activities
I love matcha tea.
Yogi tea makes an organic red tea as does Choice brand.
Hi Sarah, thanks for all the good info you put out. It is overloading me, lol. But i am taking it in bits as i am new to the whole foods way. I have never heard of any of these teas before. I was looking up Yogi tea and found a place called TheLuckyVitamin.com and looked them up on fb. Well they put up a post about the health benefits of lecithin.(i know this is totally off subject) Lecithin sounds to me like something i should steer clear of. I believe i see it in a lot of prepackaged foods. Here is the link to it. http://blog.luckyvitamin.com/supplements/health-benefits-of-lecithin/
I just wonder if this is true or not. Thanks for all you do. I enjoy your videos and show my family the right way to nourish the body. They seem willing, but are very skeptical of raw milk. I am willing to try it. But we live in South Ga and i don't know where to access it at. Thank you so much again.
Hi Ashley, skip the lecithin. These vitamin stores have a silver bullet supplement for everything. Just rely of nutrient dense whole foods for your nutrition and take just a couple of whole food supplements like cod liver oil is all you need.
To find a source of clean raw milk in your area, to to westonaprice.org and find the local WAPF Chapter Leader for your locality.
I can't drink rooibos- it tastes like warm cough medicine to me! *lol* But since I gave up caffeine (not counting chocolate) about 2 years ago, and I avoid hibiscus (small chance of it affecting fertility) and mint tea (may be bad if you're pregnant), I've been bouncing around from herbal tea to herbal tea. Even before giving up caffeine, my favorite was smoked Yerba Mate, and I've heard that the caffeine in Mate becomes "matteine" rather than caffeine. But for my reasons, I'm not willing to risk it.
My current favorite is lemon ginger Tulsi, which I'd never heard of until Dr. Mercola mentioned it. It's delicious, so I'm sticking to it until they start bringing out all the spicy Christmas blends. One of those was my favorite until I ran out, and now I can't remember what it was called!
Margaret- I read somewhere that it's pronounced "roy-boss", and looking at Melissa's pronunciation, I'm pretty sure that we're both right on the first part being "roy". Can't guarantee the second!
@WordVixen – I live in the Western Cape of South Africa and can confirm that you are correct – it is pronounced “roy-boss”. Rooibos is an Afrikaans word which (as Sarah pointed out) means “red bush”.
Mali Korsten (The Korsten Chronicle)\’s last post: Fresh Basil Pesto
As y0u have started on the topic of tea, I wondered if you could do a post on the topic of tea additives. A few years ago, I was shocked to notice that many herbal teas on the market have soy lethicin as an ingredient (virtually of the Celestial Seasons brand teas, which may not be a surprise, but also some of the groovier brands). In fact, many of the teas in my local food co-op have all kinds of things added to them, it seems to be harder and harder to find "pure" teas. The solution of course is to go back to the old fashioned way of just collecting the herbs oneself, but I admit that I like the convenience of a teabag. I guess they needed one more place to park all the excess soy by-product, and so they decided to put it in…tea? Would love to hear your comments.
I also love rooibos tea, but didn't like it at first. I lived in South Africa for several years and really have grown to love it. It is pronounced ROY boss with a little roll on the r.
I get my rooibos teas from Teavana, a on-line site and a store (one in Portland, OR). Several mixes to choose from, so far all I've tried are great!
I’m not sure if you comment on old post but if you do…. do you know if red teas are safe to consume when you are pregnant?