Tea from the African Bush

From the Himalayas to the Cliffs of Dover, people drink tea with
faithful ritual. In Tibet they take it with butter, in England with
cream. And now there's good reason for Americans to take it
seriously.

The tea plant, Camellia sinensis, comes in many forms—black,
green, oolong. What makes Camellia so healthful is its polyphenols,
antioxidants that protect against cell damage and help prevent diseases
like age-related decline, cancer and heart disease. But herbal teas like
chamomile don't have the same benefits. That is, all except one. The
South African "rooibos," meaning red bush in Afrikaans, has the benefits
of Camellia without the caffeine.

Daneel Ferreira, M.D., of the University of Mississippi, studied
and compared rooibos with Camellia and found that both contain a similar
amount of polyphenols. And a study at Cambridge University in the United
Kingdom bears out the benefits. Researchers found that tea drinking is
associated with higher bone-mineral density. And among the 1,256 women
studied, tea drinkers were up to 20 percent less likely to suffer bone
fractures. Also, at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, tea
polyphenols helped prevent the development of arthritis in lab
mice.

With rooibos's many benefits, Americans should consider
incorporating England's afternoon tea ritual—for both its soothing and
healing potential.