Rooibos Tea: The Benefits by a true believer

I am a through and through Rooibos believer. Armed with Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream and some Rooibos teabags I can tackle anything... 

Having spent over ten years of my childhood in South Africa I have grown up with Rooibos and considered it standard, normal tea. Until I lived in the US and UK that is when I realised that Rooibos was herbal and naturally caffeine-free tea.

So, I now go about my life educating others on the benefits of Rooibos, or as the Brits call it by the English translation, Red Bush Tea. 

A Brief History: Rooibos is a red 'tea', natively grown and harvested in South Africa where it is picked, sun dried, then brewed. Locally it is drunk both "black" (sans milk) or with milk and sugar. Personally I like it stewed for a long while, with milk as a standard cuppa, or iced with sugar and cinnamon.  It has a warm and glowing amber colour.

Benefits of Rooibos

1. It is a pure and natural product: no colorants, preservatives or additives
2. It's calorie free
3. It's rich in antioxidants (fight cancer causing free-radicals)
4. It's rich in Vitamin C
5. It has anti-inflammatory properties (soothing to stomach, colic or skin irritations)
6. It lowers the production of cortisol (the body's stress hormone)
7. It is caffeine free

Well, off to make a brew. Drink up and Enjoy!

sources:

SA Rooibos Association

Health24.com - Rooibos

Goals for June

I am a total lover of goal setting, I have enough time in my life to focus on self improvement and therefore have set the following goals for June:

1. Drink rooibos tea everyday
2. Gym 5 times a week
3. Walk 30 minutes a day

Well so far I haven't quite managed to stick to it. I am about 90% there which for me is good enough. Unfortunately I totally fell off the wagon last Saturday at a free flow 'brunch' function where I drank so much wine it ended in me falling asleep at 4pm and not getting out of bed until 8am the next day. I don't think that much wine or 16 hours sleep is that good for anyone. <SO embarrassing>

Anyway, the outcome of all of this so far is:

• I feel good about myself, confident, sexy, healthy (disappointed in the wine-overdose though)
• My skin is much clearer having recently been overwhelmed by spots and grease due to having stopped hormonal contraceptives, finally it seems to be balancing nicely
• Skin texture is improved 
• I am definitely slimmer and more toned

So far so good on day ten. Lets make this week count and get back on track!

Good luck to all you other goal-setters out there. What are your goals for June?