Rooibos?

[NHE]

Should we drink rooibos tea? After reading the following article, I'm thinking probably not. It has been found to increase IL2 and Ifn-gamma, two proinflammatory cytokines known to make MS worse.

http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/rooibos-tea

Rooibos was shown to enhance the activity of glutathione-S transferase and UDP-glucuronosyl transferase in rat liver (11) (16), allowing cells to protect against oxidative stress, and to reduce the effects of hepatocarcinogens. A study on the oxidative stress in rats found serum superoxide dismutase and urine 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) concentrations as markers for DNA damage to be significantly reduced following administration of rooibos (17). Some studies found that the non-oxidized teas have greater antimutagenic effects compared to the oxidized forms. This is probably due to reduction in total polyphenol content with oxidization (11) (18) (19). Rooibos also modulates immune function: It induces higher IL6, IL10 and IFN-gamma levels and increases cell-mediated immunity (3); it also increased IL2 levels while suppressing IL4 (4). The anti-inflammatory effects of rooibos are thought to be due to its inhibition of COX-2 enzyme

[WarmOutToday]

i grow my own tea in my backyard. not rooibos, but a lot of others. contrary to belief rooibos is not a herb, it's considered a legume. but i rarely drink any of them anymore. tea, coffee, most hot drinks make me feel sluggish. maybe it's just heat in general.

sometimes i drink peppermint tea (just put peppermint leaves in warm water). it's a hot drink, but also has a nice cooling effect


i know this has nothing to do with the study, i just thought you might be interested in a "tea growers" two cents.

[BBE]

Based on the results bellow, it is hard to tell if Rooibos is increasing the bad IFN-gamma and IL-12 genotype or the good one.

Two hundred and eleven patients with relapsing-remitting form of MS were enrolled in this study and compared with 359 healthy individuals. Using polymerase chain reaction based on sequence-specific primer method, the cytokine genes were amplified, and alleles and genotypes were detected on gel electrophoresis.
RESULTS:
Significant increases for IFN-gamma AT (+874) genotype (54.5% vs. 37.8%, p = 0.0002) and IL-12 AA (-1188) genotype (60.8% vs. 49.7%, p = 0.014) were found in MS patients in comparison with healthy controls. A significant decrease in IFN-gamma TT (+874) genotype (17.7% vs. 27.5%, p = 0.01) and IL-12 CA (-1188) genotype (30.9% vs. 45%, p = 0.001) in MS patients was also detected. No significant differences of IL-2 G/T (-330) and IL-2 G/T (+166) in alleles and genotypes were observed between MS patients and normal subjects.
CONCLUSIONS:
It could be suggested that the genetic variation in IL-12 A/C (-1188) and IFN-gamma A/T (+874) cytokine genes could be risk factors for MS patients.