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← The ApothecaryFabaceaeleaves (needle-like) and fine stems, fermented ('red') or unfermented ('green')Fact-checked 24 October 2026

Rooibos

Aspalathus linearis

Also calledRedbush · Red tea

A South African shrub whose dried, usually fermented, needle-like leaves make a red herbal tea with a growing worldwide market. Traditionally given for infant colic, allergies, asthma and skin problems; the human evidence is one small uncontrolled study on blood lipids, with the rest in animals and cells. It is a rare dietary source of the dihydrochalcones aspalathin and nothofagin. A few case reports link it to liver injury.

What it is used for

  • Diarrhoea
    Limited

    Widely used for abdominal spasm and diarrhoea. An aqueous extract relaxed rabbit gut muscle, mainly by opening K-ATP channels, and had antidiarrhoeal and antisecretory effects in mice. No human studies.4

  • In 40 adults at risk of heart disease, six cups a day of fermented rooibos for six weeks lowered LDL cholesterol (4.6 to 3.9 mmol/L) and triglycerides and raised HDL compared with a control period, and improved markers of oxidative stress. The study had no separate control group or blinding.3

  • A 2018 meta-analysis of 12 rodent studies found that rooibos extracts or their polyphenols lowered blood glucose in diabetic animals overall, with the clearest effect for the compound PPAG; extracts and aspalathin alone did not reach significance. No clinical trials on diabetic outcomes have been done.7

  • Alleviation of allergies is among rooibos's traditional medicinal uses in South Africa; no clinical trials were found.1

  • Recorded as a traditional South African remedy for asthma; untested clinically.1

  • Used traditionally for 'dermatological problems'; no trials of rooibos for any named skin disease were found.1,5

How it is prepared

infusion

Fermented (red) or unfermented (green) rooibos steeped in hot water as a tea. In the one lipid study, adults drank six cups a day for six weeks; no monograph sets an amount.

Study dose only (Marnewick et al. 2011): six cups of fermented rooibos daily for 6 weeks.

Cholesterol

Amounts are as recorded by the named source, not a recommendation.

Safety

Pregnancy
Insufficient data
Breastfeeding
Insufficient data
Children
Traditionally given to infants for colic, but no safety studies in children were found.

Side effects

  • Rare liver injury (case reports)

Toxicity

A 2007 review found no reported adverse effects from drinking rooibos as a tea. Since then, case reports have described liver injury: a 52-year-old man developed acute hepatitis with jaundice after a month of daily rooibos-and-buchu tea, confirmed as toxin-type injury on biopsy, and recovered after stopping it. The cause is not known; the authors suggest variability between small batches of tea.

In the healing traditions

  • African traditional medicine

    Rooibos

    In South Africa, the tea is given for infantile colic, allergies, asthma and dermatological problems. It is also widely used for abdominal spasm and diarrhoea.

    As reviewed by Joubert et al. 2008; Gilani et al. 2006

Active compounds

aspalathin
C-glucoside dihydrochalcone, rare in the diet; improved glucose tolerance in some obese and diabetic mouse models, but not significantly in the pooled rodent meta-analysis
nothofagin
second dihydrochalcone; aspalathin and nothofagin inhibited the kidney glucose transporter SGLT2 in lab studies
orientin, isoorientin, vitexin, chrysoeriol
flavones; orientin, vitexin and chrysoeriol relaxed gut muscle like the whole extract
rutin and isoquercitrin
flavonols
phenylpyruvic acid-2-O-glucoside (PPAG)
phenolic compound that lowered blood glucose in rodent studies

History

Rooibos is an indigenous South African plant with a record of traditional medicinal use there. It is now produced commercially for the herbal-tea market, and research has turned to possible nutraceutical and cosmetic products made from it.

Sources

  1. 1.Joubert E et al. South African herbal teas: Aspalathus linearis, Cyclopia spp. and Athrixia phylicoides – a review. J Ethnopharmacol 2008 (abstract)
  2. 2.McKay DL, Blumberg JB. A review of the bioactivity of South African herbal teas: rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia). Phytother Res 2007 (abstract)
  3. 3.Marnewick JL et al. Effects of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) on oxidative stress and biochemical parameters in adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. J Ethnopharmacol 2011 (abstract)
  4. 4.Gilani AH et al. Antispasmodic effects of rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) is mediated predominantly through K+-channel activation. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol 2006 (abstract)
  5. 5.Engels M et al. Tea not tincture: hepatotoxicity associated with rooibos herbal tea. ACG Case Rep J 2013
  6. 6.Sinisalo M et al. Possible hepatotoxic effect of rooibos tea: a case report. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 2010 (title only)
  7. 7.Sasaki M et al. A beneficial role of rooibos in diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Molecules 2018
  8. 8.GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren (IUCN category via GBIF)

Reference, not prescription. Nothing here is medical advice. Herbs can interact with medicines and be dangerous in pregnancy; tell your doctor or pharmacist about anything you take.