Down Syndrome: A Day to Day Guide: Roobios Tea Protects Brain Against CNS Damage

Benefits

protects the brain & nervous system against a process known as "lipid peroxidation." This process occurs when damaging free radicals attack nervous tissue and brain cells, resulting in destruction of the protective outer layers of the brain cells, which leads to cell death. Over time, the damage accumulates and can lead to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
prevents age-related build-up of damaged material in the brain
treats a variety of other conditions from skin allergies, eczema, stress, sleep problems, stomach upset, indigestion and nervous tension.
helps fight inflammation and age-related degeneration.
Stomach-settling, relaxing effects: Rooibos possesses antispasmodic properties, and is commonly used in South Africa to treat babies that have colic and stomach cramps. South Africans also use the tea for calming intestinal spasms and digestive upsets in adults.

What is Rooibos?

Pronounced "roy-boss", tea is a South African/Afrikaans term which translates to "redbush", the name given to a bushy shrub that grows in the Cederberg province near Cape Town, South Africa. The redbush plant produces small yellow flowers and has needle-like leaves, which are collected, chopped and then bruised with special hammers, and then sun-dried and typically fermented. Since the fermentation turns the leaves a red-orange color, the sun-dried product is used to make the traditional red tea.

What's the best type?

But an alternative, possibly even more healthful treatment does not include the fermentation or oxidation step -- and produces what is referred to as "green" Rooibos. This unfermented Rooibos has a yellowish color and a milder taste, while the red tea has a stronger taste described as sweet and fruity. While red Rooibos still packs the impressive load we'll discuss next, green Rooibos can be preferred because it contains an even higher level of antioxidants than the red, fermented variety. There is some debate in this area, however, as some studies have found that the fermentation process actually increases some other healthful elements despite decreasing antioxidant levels, so don't let lack of availability of the unfermented variety dissuade you.

Health Benefit Details

Red or green, here come the health benefits: researchers at Iwate University in Japan recently found that Rooibos tea protects the brain & nervous system against a process known as "lipid peroxidation". This process occurs when damaging free radicals attack nervous tissue and brain cells, resulting in destruction of the protective outer layers of the brain cells, which leads to cell death. Over time, the damage accumulates and can lead to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Japanese researchers gave Rooibos tea to a group of rats for a two-year period, and then examined their brains. Remarkably, they found that there was hardly any difference between the brains of the older rats treated with Rooibos tea, compared with the brains of new-born rats. By contrast, the brains of control rats that were not given Rooibos tea showed normal age-related changes, such as widespread destruction of brain tissue.
The scientists concluded that this amazing protection was due to the tea's ability to prevent the age-related build-up of damaged material in the brain.

Rooibos tea also contains a number of active ingredients and have been shown to treat a variety of other conditions from skin allergies, eczema, stress, sleep problems, stomach upset, indigestion and nervous tension. The plant's high mineral content (magnesium, calcium, zinc and iron), flavonoids, and other elements help fight inflammation and age-related degeneration. Further, scientists at the University of Milan, Italy have found that Rooibos tea contains one of the most powerful of all known flavonoids, called "aspalathin2", which helps to explain the strong brain-protective effects.

Rooibos tea may even help chronic diseases such as cancer and HIV:
South African scientists are now examining the effects of Rooibos tea against a variety of carcinogens (chemicals that cause cells to become cancerous), with preliminary results suggesting these harmful chemicals are rendered less damaging in the presence of Rooibos extract, and there is strong evidence that cancer risk may be reduced in people who consume Rooibos regularly. On the HIV front, researchers at the Okayama University in Japan have shown that Rooibos tea may also have positive effects against HIV, finding that Rooibos tea increases several immune chemicals such as interleukin-2, which can recognize and attempt to destroy the virus.
In addition to the high level of polyphenolic antioxidants, another reason that Rooibos is starting to take off as a health beverage is that, unlike many other teas, it is completely caffeine-free, low in tannins, and thus lacks the bitter astringent taste experienced with regular teas such as black and green teas. This low tannin content is great for those with digestive problems who have difficulty with tannin-rich regular teas or coffee. Tannins bind iron and therefore reduce the absorption of iron, which can be significant for those with low iron intake (some teas like black and peppermint tea may inhibit iron as much as 80 to 90 percent!).

Stomach-settling, relaxing effects: Rooibos possesses antispasmodic properties, and is commonly used in South Africa to treat babies that have colic and stomach cramps. South Africans also use the tea for calming intestinal spasms and digestive upsets in adults. When combined with the lack of caffeine and overall calming qualities, this makes Rooibos a wonderful after-meal and evening tea, with many people claiming that drinking Rooibos in the evening helps promote more restful, quality sleep and stress reduction.
Cancer and immune system protection: many of the flavonoids in Rooibos possess anti-mutagenic activity, with animal studies showing that Rooibos has potent anti-cancer and immune system protecting action.

Skin, liver, colon and more: Rooibos has also been shown to help inhibit skin tumors as well as help with skin infections, and as a result many in the skin care industry feel that Rooibos may be the new frontier for inclusion in skin care products. In South Africa, many apply Rooibos tea directly to the skin daily to help with everything from sun damage to age spots to infections and more.

Products

Here's a list of organic, loose leaf Roobios Tea products.
Be sure to get $10 off your first VitaCost vitamin order.

The Study

Neurosci Lett. 1995 Aug 18;196(1-2):85-8.

The suppression of age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in rat brain by administration of Rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis).
Inanami O, Asanuma T, Inukai N, Jin T, Shimokawa S, Kasai N, Nakano M, Sato F, Kuwabara M.

Source

Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka, Japan.

Abstract

The protective effects of Rooibos tea (RT), Aspalathus linearis, against damage to the central nervous system (CNS) accompanying aging were examined by both the thiobarbituric acid reaction (TBA) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods in brains of chronically RT-treated rats. Ad libitum administration of RT was begun with 3-month-old Wistar female rats and continued for 21 months. The contents of TBA reactive substances (TBARS) in the frontal cortex, occipital cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum in 24-month-old rats after administration with water were significantly higher than those in young rats (5 weeks old). However, no significant increase of TBARS was observed in RT-administered aged rats. When MR images of the brains of 24-month-old rats with and without RT as well as 5-week-old rats were taken, a decrease of the signal intensity was observed in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum in MR images of aged rats without RT, whereas little change of the signal intensity was observed in MR images of the same regions of 24-month-old rats treated with RT, whose images were similar to those of young rats. These observations suggested that (1) the age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in the brain was closely related to the morphological changes observed by MRI, and (2) chronic RT-administration prevented age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in several regions of rat brain.

Sources

http://www.brainready.com/blog/rooibos_for_brain_body_and_.html
http://ikaasss.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/rooibos-for-brain-body-and-more/

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