What You Should Know About the Health Benefits of Red Tea

Just when you thought you had an understanding of the world of tea, along comes another tea to confuse the issue. White tea, green tea, black tea. And now there’s yet another colored tea to catch your eye on the grocery store shelf. It’s red tea and it’s growing in popularity among tea drinkers worldwide. While white, green, and black tea all come from the same Camellia sinensis plant and differ only in terms of their degree of processing. Red tea originates from an entirely differently plant known as Aspalanthus lineari grown in the mountains of South Africa. This pleasant, slightly sweet tasting tea is more commonly known as Rooibos tea or red bush tea. This tea is attracting the attention of the health conscious crowd who leisurely sip the drink for its reported health benefits. Are there significant red tea benefits you should know about?

You’ve no doubt become familiar with the health benefits of green and white teas. Their potential role in improving heart health and even preventing and treating cancer has won these teas a host of loyal fans. Since red tea originates from an entirely different plant, it’s difficult to extrapolate the health benefits of the white and green teas to red tea. One thing that is known about red tea health benefits is that it does contain antioxidants, the natural free radical scavengers thought to play a role in preventing chronic disease and even offset the effects of aging. The levels of antioxidants in red tea are similar to those found in the green and white teas. Red tea also appears to be high in flavonoids which are thought to have cancer preventative properties. Red tea also carries the distinction of being rich in a relatively rare antioxidant known as aspalathin which is though to have beneficial health properties.

What has research shown about the health benefits of red tea? Unlike green and white teas, there have been far fewer studies assessing red tea health benefits. Some preliminary studies in animals have shown red tea may offer some protection against certain types of tumors as well as liver disease. Animal studies have also demonstrated protection against age-related loss of brain function. Certainly more research is needed before red tea can be afforded the same status as white and green tea.

One potential red tea health benefit is that it contains no caffeine. This means that persons with caffeine sensitivity can enjoy this tea without worry and still benefit from the high levels of antioxidants. Plus, some people prefer the slightly sweeter taste of red tea over the more vegetable taste of green and white teas from the Camellia sinensis plant. Another red tea health benefit is the lack of calories. This makes it a healthy alternative to high calorie, sugar laden soft drinks.

The bottom line when considering red tea health benefits is that it’s high antioxidant content make it likely this drink will have some positive health effects but more research will be needed before it can be considered equal in status to green or white tea from a health standpoint.