Pat

Yes, this is a traditional "treatment" for colic which is popular in 
Southern Africa.  I've known mothers give Rooibos in bottles to 
babies - which is not recommended since we support exclusive 
breastfeeding for six months.  Rather than feeding it to the baby, a 
better alternative is that mothers drink it themselves, on the 
rationale that the colic-containing goodies in the tea will come 
through to the baby in the milk.  Who knows??....  Personally, I 
don't like the taste, but many moms love it and we used to always 
have both ordinary (Indian) and rooibos teas available at LLL 
meetings. The spelling omits the 'i' in the second syllable.

There's more about rooibos tea at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18621121

J Ethnopharmacol. 2008 Oct 28;119(3):376-412. doi: 
10.1016/j.jep.2008.06.014. Epub 2008 Jun 22.
South African herbal teas: Aspalathus linearis, Cyclopia spp. and 
Athrixia phylicoides--a review.
Joubert E, Gelderblom WC, Louw A, de Beer D.

Abstract

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis (Brum.f) Dahlg.) and honeybush (Cyclopia 
Vent. species) are popular indigenous South African herbal teas 
enjoyed for their taste and aroma. Traditional medicinal uses of 
rooibos in South Africa include alleviation of infantile colic, 
allergies, asthma and dermatological problems, while a decoction of 
honeybush was used as a restorative and as an expectorant in chronic 
catarrh and pulmonary tuberculosis. Traditional medicinal uses of 
Athrixia phylicoides DC., or bush tea, another indigenous South 
African plant with very limited localised use as herbal tea, include 
treatment of boils, acne, infected wounds and infected throats. 
Currently rooibos and honeybush are produced for the herbal tea 
market, while bush tea has potential for commercialisation. A summary 
of the historical and modern uses, botany, distribution, industry and 
chemical composition of these herbal teas is presented. A 
comprehensive discussion of in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo biological 
properties, required to expand their applications as nutraceutical 
and cosmeceutical products, is included, with the main emphasis on 
rooibos. Future research needs include more comprehensive chemical 
characterisation of extracts, identification of marker compounds for 
extract standardisation and quality control, bioavailability and 
identification of bio-markers of dietary exposure, investigation of 
possible herb-drug interactions and plant improvement with regards to 
composition and bioactivity.
PMID: 18621121  [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Pamela Morrison IBCLC
Rustington England, formerly Harare Zimbabwe


At 05:00 04/02/2014, you wrote:
>Date:    Mon, 3 Feb 2014 15:08:19 -0600
>From:    Pat Young <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Roobios tea
>
>anyone heard of this tea for colicky babies?  Thanks, Pat in SNJ


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