Red Tea Health Benefits: Can it Prevent Heart Disease?

The health benefits of tea are well publicized. Most of the studies have looked at the benefits of drinking green tea and to a lesser extent white tea. But theres a new tea on the block and it has some potential health properties, including the potential to lower the risk of heart disease. Its these apparent red tea health benefits that are causing the medical community to take notice. Red tea, often known as rooibos tea, is like green and black tea in that it contains antioxidants but comes from an entirely different plan known as Aspalathis linearis which grows at high elevations in South Africa. What are the health benefits of red tea and how might it help to lower your risk of heart disease?

Although red tea is a source of antioxidants, the antioxidants are different than the ones found in green, white, and black teas including lesser known free radical scavengers such as quercetin, aspalathax, rutin, and orientin, among others. Antioxidants have long been known for their ability to offset free radical damage to cells, potentially reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer.

Although red tea health benefits relative to cancer have yet to be proven or extensively studied, a human trial was recently conducted on the health benefits of red tea as it relates to cardiovascular health. This study, conducted on forty participants, showed that drinking six cups of red tea daily for six weeks reduced the type of oxidative damage that could lead to the development of heart disease. It also demonstrated that short-term use of red tea was safe and resulted in no serious side effects related to the liver or kidneys. The results of this study illustrating red tea health benefits relating to the heart was published in the journal Heart Disease Weekly in September of 2008.

Because red tea is not derived from the Camellia sinensis plant, it contains no caffeine and is essentially an herbal tea in contrast to the black, green, and white teas. This makes it safe for those who have caffeine sensitivity and for people who already have heart disease or hypertension and dont want the negative effects of caffeine on heart rate and blood pressure.

Despite the apparent health benefits of red tea illustrated in this study, more trials will need to be done to determine whether red tea health benefits are significant in terms of the general population. In the mean time, red tea appears to be safe when consumed in moderate quantities and is a good alternative to caffeine rich black, green, and white teas. It can be found in most natural food markets and health food stores.