Replace coffee with rooibos tea to naturally boost energy and health

Benjamin Franklin famously said, "In all things, moderation." When it comes to coffee, there are worse things you could be putting in your body, (assuming you are using organic, fair trade coffee). Still, it's a good practice to take a break from anything you consume a lot of, a couple of times a year for a couple of weeks. So if you're looking to get off of coffee, or just take a break from it for a while, rooibos tea is a nice alternative with lots of health benefits.

What is it?

An herb from South Africa, rooibos has been made into tea and enjoyed for generations. It is a broom-like legume and comes in both red and green varieties. The most available is the red, which is oxidized, giving it the reddish-brown color of tea and a slightly sweet taste.

The green variety is unoxidized and is processed in a manner similar to that of green tea, making the end product a bit more expensive, and subsequently less popular and a bit more difficult to find. It does have twice the flavonoids as the red. The flavor is described as 'malty and slightly grassy' - somewhat different than the red variety.

Like other teas, rooibos has flavonoids that act as antioxidants, making it popular with the health conscious. It is also low in tannins compared to most black teas, and is caffeine-free. Rooibos is rich in many minerals including iron, calcium, potassium, copper, fluoride, manganese, zinc, magnesium and alpha hydroxy. It is purported to provide a whole host of health benefits, including:

• Reduces heart disease by providing protection through ACE inhibition

• Contains quercetin and luteolin, which are known to have cancer fighting qualities

• Is an anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-mutagenic and anti-spasmodic

• Eases nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems

• Limits uric acid production, which can help gout sufferers

• Soothes asthma and eczema

• Boosts the immune system

• Cures nagging headaches

• Fights insomnia

• Strengthens bones and teeth

• Relieves severe stomach cramps

• Eases hypertension/lowers blood pressure

• Is considered to have anti-aging properties

• Prevents DNA damage

• Suppresses fasting glucose levels

• Improves glucose uptake and insulin secretions after a meal

• Aids in liver tissue regeneration

• Acts as a bronchodilator

• Has no known side-effects

Variety of uses

In recent years, rooibos has been growing in popularity in Europe and the United States. You may even find it in your local coffee shop. Coffee shops around the world have begun offering rooibos-based variations of coffee drinks, such as "red espresso", "red lattes" and "red cappuccinos".

Rooibos tea can be consumed by kidney stone sufferers because it has no oxalic acid. It can be used to ease colic or stomach pains in infants for instant relief. It is a great thirst-quencher for athletes and can calm hyper children. One study found that special extraction of the alkaline extracts present in rooibos tea leaves seem to suppress HIV-induced cytopathicity, leading to the conclusion that daily intake may suppress HIV infection. (The extraction is important because regular rooibos tea doesn't have the anti-HIV activity.) Other studies find that rooibos is effective at preventing brain aging.

If you find rooibos tea at your local coffee shop or health food store, give it a try. Consider requesting it if you don't. It is a great beverage with rare nutrients not readily found in other plants. It's good for you and tasty too. You may like it enough to give it a permanent place in your diet.

Sources for this article:

http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com

http://www.organicfacts.net

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos

Candida And Fungal Infections May Cause Cancer...

Eliminating These Fungal Infections Is Vital For Getting Rid Of Cancer
Some doctors theorize that candida or other systemic fungal infections cause or at the very least contribute to the development of cancer. This makes sense. A body wide candida infection plays havoc on the immune system. Not only does the immune system become overwhelmed and worn out from fighting the infection, but candida (or other fungus) excrete toxins that further weaken and harm the body. 

The major waste product of candida is acetaldehyde, which produces ethanol. Ethanol may be great in cars, but in your body it causes excessive fatigue, and reduces strength and stamina. In addition, it destroys enzymes needed for cell energy, and causes the release of free radicals that can damage DNA. 

Ethanol also inhibits the absorption of iron. Because iron is one of the most important oxygen supports in the blood, ethanol in your body creates low oxygen levels. And you know what happens when your body can't oxygenate well. Deal with candida if you want to beat cancer.
There is a simple test to tell if you have candida overgrowth.

First thing in the morning, before you put ANYTHING in your mouth, get a clear glass of water. Better still; leave it by your bed the night before. Work up a bit of saliva, and then spit it into the glass of water.

Check the water every 15 minutes or so for up to one hour. If you have a candida yeast infection, strings (like legs) will travel down into the water from the saliva floating on top, or "cloudy" saliva will sink to the bottom of the glass, or cloudy specks will seem to be suspended in the water. If nothing develops in 30 to 45 minutes, you are probably candida free.

Some doctors implicate fungi as a cause of leukemia. In 1999 Meinolf Karthaus, MD, watched three different children with leukemia suddenly go into remission upon receiving a triple antifungal drug cocktail for their "secondary" fungal infections. 

In 1997 Mark Bielski stated that leukemia, whether acute or chronic, is intimately associated with the yeast, Candida albicans, which mutates into a fungal form when it overgrows.
Milton White, MD. believed that cancer is a chronic, infectious, fungus disease. He was able to find fungal spores in every sample of cancer tissue he studied. Some other doctors agree with him. Such as the Italian doctor who has his patients take a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, baking soda, in a glass of water half an hour before breakfast. This alkalinized the digestive tract so that it would help eliminate candida. 

Author Doug Kaufmann asserts that fungi in foods may play a role in cancer. He has seen children become free of their documented leukemia once the child's parents simply changed the child's diet. Kaufmann's diet is base on the widely published problem of mycotoxin contamination of our grain foods. 

Grains such as corn, wheat, barley, sorghum, and other foods such as peanuts, are commonly contaminated with cancer-causing fungal poisons called mycotoxins. One of them, called aflatoxin, just happens to be the most carcinogenic substance on earth. 

He says we consume, on average, from 0.15mg to 0.5mg of aflatoxin per day. So it is not sugar alone that is the problem in our western diet, but fungal toxins that are found in the sugary grains. More than once has Kaufmann interviewed a caller (on his health talk show) who absolutely craved peanut butter and popcorn just prior to their diagnosis of cancer. 

Kaufmann feels that antibiotics may play a role in this. Antibiotics destroy the normal, protective gut bacteria, allowing intestinal yeast and fungi to grow unchecked. Resulting in Candida overgrowth. This can lead to immune suppression, symptoms of autoimmune diseases, or even cancer. 

"If the onset of any symptom or disease, cancer included, was preceded by a course of antibiotics," he says, "then look for a fungus to be at the root of your problem."

Source: cancerfightingstrategies.com