Rooibos (pronounced “roy-boss”) tea originates from the Aspalathus linearis shrub in South Africa. This red herbal tea has a naturally sweet, subtle, and earthy taste and can be enjoyed as a hot or cold beverage. While it’s common for adults to enjoy the aromatic pleasantries of rooibos tea, what about toddlers and babies? Is there a benefit to giving this specific tea to your baby? And is it safe? Let’s cover this amazing tea!
Rooibos tea contains many benefits to both babies and toddlers alike. Among them are the 17 benefits listed below:
- Reduces Colic
- Is Caffeine Free
- Great for Hydration
- Rich in Antioxidants
- Promotes Better Sleep
- Provides Teething Relief
- Alleviates Allergy Symptoms
- Helps Manage Blood Sugar
- Contains Healthy Minerals
- Provides Heart Support
- Fights Obesity
- Helps Fight Against Cancers
- Contains No Tannins
- Aids in Digestion
- Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties
- Is Brain Healthy
- Is Naturally Sweet
While black and green tea have a history of over 1,000 years, rooibos is much newer than both at a mere 300 years. Though rooibos is younger than its tea cousins, green and black tea, it has been found to contain several benefits to those who drink it.
Let’s walk through 17 reasons it is good for babies, toddlers, and adults.
#1: Reduces Colic
Symptoms of colic may include extreme crying fits that don’t necessarily have a trigger. Babies that suffer from colic will usually have an enlarged stomach (as if they are needing to pass gas), clenched fists, inconsolable crying, fussiness, and screaming.
Grosche shares that mothers in South Africa use rooibos tea to aid in calming babies with colic down. While there haven’t been any scientific studies to back up the claim that rooibos helps with colic, there are still physicians in South Africa that recommend the use of rooibos to help soothe babies with colic.
#2: Caffeine Free
Unlike black, green, and oolong tea, rooibos is an herbal tea. This means that it was not brewed from the Camellia Sinensis plant but from the Aspalathus linearis shrub in South Africa. Due to rooibos being an herbal tea, it doesn’t contain caffeine.
Without having to worry about the jitteriness, irritability, and other unfavorable side effects caffeine can have on your little one, rooibos is a safe alternative for both babies and toddlers.
Note: If you’re looking for a caffeine-free option that is safe to drink while pregnant, rooibos tea is a good option due to both being caffeine-free and full of antioxidants.
#3: Great for Hydration
For those hot and dry summers, or just days where your baby is just needing a little extra hydration, rooibos contains just what you’re looking for.
The polyphenol antioxidants, which include flavonoids and phenolic acids, in rooibos have been reported to help with accelerated rehydration by the National Library of Medicine.
If it’s already difficult trying to get your toddler or baby to stop long enough to drink or eat anything, check out these rooibos popsicles here. With all the benefits of rehydrating, they are low on sugar and serve as a great alternative to high caloric snacks.
“From offering antioxidants to improving sleep, the benefits of rooibos tea are numerous.”
TEA CROSSING
#4: Rich in Antioxidants
Among all the other amazing benefits of rooibos tea, here is a list of antioxidants that it contains:
- Aspalathin – helps balance blood sugar and improve insulin resistance
- Quercetin – shown to decrease tumor growth and block the formation of lipid peroxides
- Nothofagin– has a similar makeup as aspalathin, and contains anti-inflammatory properties
- Rutin – helps to decrease the formation of sorbitol and managing diabetes.
- Isoquercitrin – helps guard against stress, cancer, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and allergic reactions
- Orientin – anti-inflammatory and anti-adipogenic properties
- Isoorientin – anti-inflammatory properties, helps aid against diabetes
- Luteolin – like quercetin, it’s shown to decrease tumor growth and block the formation of lipid peroxides
- Vitexin – neuroprotective effects, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties
- Isovitexin – an isomer of vitexin, includes similar properties
- Chrysoeriol – anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-microbial, and anti-viral properties
The antioxidants above are considered to be flavonoids, or plant chemicals, that provide a variety of health benefits. Rooibos also contains phenolic acids (which are also found in fruits and veggies) which also have antioxidant activity.
#5: Promotes Better Sleep
Since rooibos tea doesn’t contain any caffeine it won’t interrupt your baby’s sleep schedule. With the mixture of magnesium and calcium, rooibos may actually help in providing better sleep for your baby or toddler.
Ever wonder why a warm cup of milk brings on sleepy eyes? Both milk and rooibos contain calcium. As said by William Sears, M.D. to Medical News Today, “Calcium helps the brains use the amino acid tryptophan to manufacture the sleep-inducing substance melatonin.”
#6: Provides Teething Relief
Due to the variety of different anti-inflammatory antioxidants in rooibos tea, it has natural properties to help with your baby’s teething discomfort.
While rooibos can be consumed as a warm or cold drink, you can also try freezing rooibos so it can be used as an alternative to sugary popsicles and other cold treats to help soothe your baby during teething.
#7: Alleviates Allergy Symptoms
No one enjoys the stuffy nose and puffy eyes that come with allergy season, especially babies. Fear not! As an alternative to antihistamines, rooibos tea contains allergy fighting antioxidants (like quercetin) to help aid the war against allergies.
The best part? While rooibos tea alleviates common allergy symptoms including runny nose, watery and itchy eyes, it also doesn’t come packed with the icky side effects of drowsiness or dry mouth like most allergy medicines do.
While the studies showing the benefits rooibos has on allergies are still few, there is research that shows promising results. Edublox shares that rooibos may have a beneficial effect on the immune system based on lab studies, but also mentions that more studies must be done to confirm the results.
#8: Helps Manage Blood Sugar
While studying the effects of rooibos tea, it has been discovered that because of the antioxidant aspalathin, there are antidiabetic properties that help maintain blood sugar levels which then leads to a decreased risk of complications.
Healthline reports that rooibos tea is currently “the only known natural source of the antioxidant aspalathin.” Currently studies have only been done on animals and are still needed to fully understand the antidiabetic potential that rooibos tea has.
Remember that the effects may vary per person and will be compromised when adding sugars or other sweeteners to the tea. Benefits may appear over time, when consistently giving your baby or toddler the recommended amount each day.
#9: Contains Healthy Minerals
Minerals are so important for growing babies and toddlers. They help build strong bones, healthy teeth, and even benefit your baby’s immune system and blood. How exactly are you supposed to give your baby the minerals they need when they no longer bottle or breastfeed?
A great option is a tablespoon or cup of rooibos tea per day, depending on the age of your baby.
Some of the top minerals that rooibos tea contains, along with their benefits are below:
- Magnesium – Great for regulating nerve and muscle functions, helps maintain blood sugar levels and blood pressure, makes protein, bone and DNA
- Calcium – Helps to build and maintain strong bones
- Manganese – Helps with liver function and digesting protein and amino acids
- Zinc – Beneficial to the immune system and metabolism
- Iron – Very important mineral which helps hemoglobin transfer oxygen in your blood from your lungs to your tissues
- Potassium – Helps proper function of vital organs
Remember: Not all benefits may be noticed after drinking one cup. If you feel like your baby is lacking important nutrients, consult your pediatrician.
#10: Provides Heart Support
A study on the effects of drinking six cups of rooibos tea a day for six weeks shares that the participants (who were at risk of cardiovascular disease) had shown an incredible change in their good and bad cholesterol levels. While the bad cholesterol had gone down, the good cholesterol went up.
You may ask: how does rooibos help my baby’s heart? Since rooibos contains aspalathin and nothofagin, it’s similar to having little antioxidant superheroes fighting off the toxins that can harm your baby’s heart.
While the above study was done on adults who drank rooibos tea, it’s still an effective way to help your baby’s heart health.
Always check the recommended amount before giving your baby rooibos tea and check with your doctor if there are any medications or other medical concerns.
#11: Fights Obesity
Currently the CDC reports that obesity rates in children between 2-19 years old stand at 18.5%, or around 13.7 million children. While the rates increased the older the child gets, for children between 2-5 years old the numbers were still around 13.9%.
As stated above, rooibos helps with the metabolism. Slow metabolisms usually account for one part of weight gain. Other benefits drinking rooibos tea has for your baby and toddlers weight includes the being a zero-calorie beverage and antioxidants that increase leptin levels (which aid in weight management).
#12: Helps Fight Against Cancers
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has shared that drinking rooibos tea may help “prevent tumor growth.” Again, there have not been many studies done in humans and the lab results are based on animal response.
Also reported: while rooibos tea may help slow down the growth of tumors, it has also been shown to aid in estrogen production. Those that have hormone-sensitive cancers should always consult their doctors before drinking rooibos tea.
Many of the antioxidants in rooibos tea have shown that they have anticancer properties. These properties allow them to inhibit, or slow down the growth of certain cancerous cells. Rooibos tea has also shown positive results against premalignant cells in a study shared by the National Library of Medicine which can be found here.
#13: Contains No Tannins
Tannins have been found to decrease the nutritional value of foods that contain them because they decrease the efficiency of the body’s ability to absorb nutrition.
Rooibos tea is one of few that contains a low level of tannins, or tannic acid. What this means for your baby is that they will be able to easily absorb the minerals and antioxidants that rooibos tea offers.
Tannins can also cause tea to taste bitter. With fewer tannins, it’s less likely that your rooibos tea will have a bitter taste and more likely that your toddler or baby will drink it. Two wins for rooibos, zero wins for tannic acid.
#14: Aids in Digestion
Digestion is positively affected due to the anti-inflammatory properties of most of the antioxidants that rooibos tea contains, the top being quercetin, orientin, and vextin. With the combination of the above antioxidants, rooibos may be able to help with stomach pains, inflammation, cramps, and other stomach issues.
Though the tannin levels in rooibos tea are low, the tannins are beneficial when reducing symptoms of diarrhea in your baby or toddler.
“Relax and enjoy this supportive tea with your baby or toddler. You’ll both benefit.”
TEA CROSSING
#15: Offers Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Rooibos tea’s anti-inflammatory properties don’t only benefit your baby’s stomach, but can alleviate pain in other areas of the body as well.
With the pain-relieving aspects of rooibos tea, it has been noted that it can aid in relief against arthritis pains. Rooibos tea also has high amounts of vitamin C, which can help repair any collagen or connective tissues in your baby’s joints.
#16: Is Brain Healthy
The polyphenolic compounds in rooibos tea have several different benefits for your baby’s brain health from providing calming effects to protecting neurons from degenerating.
In the case of stress, rooibos tea helps counter the negative effects of cortisol, the stress hormone, by taking out the oxidative by-products that had been released.
What this means for your baby and toddler is that they will be able to focus and concentrate better. Find out more about how rooibos tea helps concentration here.
#17: Naturally Sweet
Ever heard “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”? The best part (out of the many benefits) about rooibos tea, is that you won’t need a spoonful of sugar to get your baby or toddler to enjoy this smooth and gentle tea.
By being naturally sweet, your toddler is able to enjoy a tasty treat without the worries of high fat or sugar content that most desirable treats have. Depending on how long you steep rooibos tea, the flavor may change a hint by bringing out more of the nutty and rich flavors.
If you’re still looking for a sweeter beverage, trying a hint of maple syrup or monkfruit may help create the perfect cup of tea for your toddler’s next tea party.
What Age Can I Start Giving Rooibos Tea to My Baby?
Rooibos tea is considered to be safe from newborn ages and up.
When offering it to newborns, rooibos should be introduced in between milk feedings and in very small quantities and with no extra additives (like sugar or honey) for around six months before increasing the amount.
Remember: Rooibos should not replace your baby’s main source of food and should be used only to supplement nutrition.
How Much Rooibos Tea Can My Baby or Toddler Have?
For babies who are still breastfeeding or taking bottles, it’s recommended that you give no more than a tablespoon of rooibos tea in between regular feeding times.
Depending on the baby, it may fill your baby’s belly and cause them not to be hungry when it is time for their regular feeding. So, be sure to start with a small amount of rooibos tea and increasing it based on your baby’s appetite.
Note: Be sure to check the temperature of the rooibos tea before giving it to your baby. Rooibos tea should be given after it has cooled as not to burn your baby’s mouth.
Toddlers are able to handle between 1-3 cups of rooibos tea each day. Remember to start with a small amount of rooibos when you’re first introducing it to your toddler to make sure there are no side effects or allergic reactions.
Are There Any Side Effects to Drinking Rooibos Tea?
Currently there has only been one case reporting negative effects of drinking excessive amounts of rooibos tea. In the report, the patient had a history of hyperlipidemia and kidney disease.
The report confirmed that hepatotoxicity was caused by the consumption of herbal tea and that once the patient stopped drinking herbal tea, his condition improved. A full report of the case can be found here.
While herbal teas are safe for the majority of people, it may affect those that are being treated with chemotherapy or have liver damage. Always consult a doctor if you have concerns about how rooibos tea will interact with preexisting conditions or medications.
From offering antioxidants to improving sleep, the benefits of rooibos tea are numerous.
The top 17 reasons that rooibos tea is good for your baby or toddler include the following:
- Reduces Colic
- Caffeine Free
- Great to Rehydrate
- Rich in Antioxidants
- Promotes Better Sleep
- Provides Teething Relief
- Alleviates Allergy Symptoms
- Helps Manage Blood Sugar
- Contains Healthy Minerals
- Provides Heart Support
- Fights Obesity
- Helps Fight Against Cancers
- No Tannins
- Aids in Digestion
- Anti-Inflammatory Properties
- Brain Healthy
- Naturally Sweet
Always remember that rooibos tea should not replace your baby’s main nutrients, but should be used to support a continued healthy lifestyle.
Relax and enjoy this supportive tea with your baby or toddler. You’ll both benefit!