Centuries ago in the cradle of mankind, South Africa, the Khoisan tribe discovered a bush growing only on the hillsides of the striking Cederburg Mountains, and using a process probably copied from Malay slaves, began brewing the leaves for their amazing herbal benefits.

As a plentiful wild plant, it was gathered and widely used as a tonic, well known for its delicious taste and beautiful red color. The people also began using the steeped leaves to soothe sunburn, rashes and other skin irritations topically, and African Redbush Tea became one of the most widely used herbs in the country.

Not until the last part of the 20th Century were the powerful antioxidant properties of the Redbush ("Rooibos" in Afrikaans) hailed by scientists who identified the flavinoid quercetin, prominent in the tea extract, as one of the most pharmacologically active flavinoids. Quercetin and luteolin, both present in the tea, have been shown additionally to be both anti-spasmodic and anti-inflammatory. Caffeine free, it undergoes no chemical processing to extract caffeine and is still processed the same way it was centuries ago; gathered, mashed and dried in huge yards under the African sun.

Recently, award-winning research by leading South African scientist Janine Marnewick, Medical Research Council, Tyberg, South Africahas shown that "skin that was topically treated with fermented and unfermented rooibos (African Redbush Tea) before cancer promotion, showed a 75% decrease in the development of skin papillomas!  Both the development and size of the skin papillomas were delayed and decreased respectivelyl  The study was repeated and the results confirmed." www.redbushtea.com, Spring 2005 Newsletter