Rooibos tea, flare?

[ellie6]

I have been doing really well, feeling good until now. I had a cup of Rooibos tea and shortly afterwards my joint pain went from 0-100. I could hardly walk. I have searched for answers as to why but can only find benefits, not side effects. Does anyone know why this may happen?

[A Friend]

@ellie6 wrote:

I have been doing really well, feeling good until now. I had a cup of Rooibos tea and shortly afterwards my joint pain went from 0-100. I could hardly walk. I have searched for answers as to why but can only find benefits, not side effects. Does anyone know why this may happen?

Ellie, sorry for the problems you’ve encountered. Reactions like this don’t feel good, but often can serve as a learning tool for ourselves and others.

I did a search to learn about Rooibox tea. A number of links showed up, but I clicked on the Wikipedia link. The following is an interesting and informative excerpt. There appears to be several “trails” for your adverse reaction. Gout is mentioned, and gout can cause inflammation and pain, so that “might” be a clue — though it is supposed to help. I didn’t read the whole article (am rushing), but below is an excerpt copied and pasted, and the last paragraph mentions an incident of contamination of the tea, and a mention of a possible genetic reaction to the tea. This link to Wikipedia can help us learn about this tea. I had not heard of it before.

An excerpt copied & pasted:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos
Nutritional and health benefits[edit]
Rooibos is becoming more popular in Western countries, particularly among health-conscious consumers, due to its high level of antioxidants such as aspalathin[2] and nothofagin, its lack of caffeine, and its low tannin levels compared to fully oxidized black tea or unoxidized green tea leaves.[3] Rooibos also contains a number of phenolic compounds, including flavanols, flavones, flavanones, and dihydrochalcones.[4]
Rooibos is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems.[5] Rooibos tea has been shown to inhibit in vitro activity of xanthine oxidase, but an in vivo study has not been conducted. Xanthine oxidase (XO) plays a role in conversion of purine to uric acid in humans and reducing the activity of XO could limit uric acid production, which would aid in treatment of gout. In in vitro tests only, for the specific concentration tested, the infusion was shown to be less than half as effective as allopurinol, which is the drug typically prescribed to inhibit XO activity in treating gout.[6]
Two flavonoids found in rooibos, quercetin and luteolin, have been known to have cancer fighting qualities.[7] Rooibos does not contain the antioxidant Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) found in tea.[8]
Traditional medicinal uses of rooibos in South Africa include alleviating infantile colic, allergies, asthma and dermatological problems.[9]
Scientific experiment[edit]
Human studies of rooibos are scarce in scientific literature.[10] Animal studies show that rooibos has potent antioxidant, immune-modulating and chemopreventive effects. A review found no documentation of adverse side effects of consuming rooibos tea.[10] A recent report identified a possible case of hepatotoxicity due to rooibos consumption, but concluded that further study was needed as the herbal tea may have been contaminated by another hepatotoxic compound, and or that the subject may have had a genetic predisposition to react negatively to one of the other bioactive properties found in the tea.[11]
END OF EXCERPT
Hope you feel better soon.

AF

[lemons]

Hello Ellie6, when I was first diagnosed with RA last year I bought every supplement I could find to lower my inflammatory markers. I spent a fortune and one thing I found that made me feel horrible was cats claw or devils claw tea, I cant remember now. I made the mistake of taking so many supplements alongside Minocin, that if I felt an improvement in symptoms, I was clueless as to what ones were of any benefit. I have since had to do an elimination of supplements to identify which ones help. I now take the bare minimum, so if I start to slide backwards I can re introduce the ones that I believe helped the most.

[A Friend]

@lemons wrote:

Hello Ellie6, when I was first diagnosed with RA last year I bought every supplement I could find to lower my inflammatory markers. I spent a fortune and one thing I found that made me feel horrible was cats claw or devils claw tea, I cant remember now. I made the mistake of taking so many supplements alongside Minocin, that if I felt an improvement in symptoms, I was clueless as to what ones were of any benefit. I have since had to do an elimination of supplements to identify which ones help. I now take the bare minimum, so if I start to slide backwards I can re introduce the ones that I believe helped the most.

Lemons,
Your plan sounds good to me, too. Something that came to my mind about my own first months… was that the medication alone can cause enough die-off to keep our bodies reacting and trying to detox the wastes. While I believed the die-off was a good and necessary thing, on hindsight (if I’d had the benefit of it then), I would probably have concentrated on supplements, diet, etc. that support our liver (silymarin, milk thistle, and ImmunoPro used wisely at first makes glutathione and helps with whole body detoxification by furnishing amino acids for the metabolic system. I use it daily now, but I haven’t used it while still taking Minocin.

All of the toxic waste has to be processed through the liver. (And although many medical people and others constantly demean tracking our pH and urine pH, it’s my experience and belief that this can be one of the best tools. This is not a scientifically correct test, but it DOES help us know if we are overly acidic or not, and we can tweak our diets and notice an immediate change when we consume more alkaline food. If our pH stays highly acidic, we will have pain and provide unfriendly organisms a home to multiply in. I had improved and done well when I first began AP, but later it was when my own pain had gradually gotten so bad (bone and fascia pain) that I reached out to an ND for any ideas from her. I knew her already and respected her, but had not gone to her for medical help. She suggested I test using these strips. I was as acidic as the strips could measure. I believe my body lacked minerals to neutralize the die-off/acidic wastes and had to begin storing them in the fascia of my body… with my bones beginning to suffer for lack of minerals left in them. I soon learned enough that the constant pain went away; but, it took a few months of tweaking my consumption of more alkaline foods, got beef and pork out of my diet, etc. And, added high dose magnesium chloride liquid to my lemon drink daily. That is one of the magnesiums that are used at high dose for IVs. I read in Dr. Sherry Rogers book (my new physician suggested I read it) about magnesium chloride. I was about to look into IVs, but monitoring pH and taking the MagChlor stopped the incessant pain.

By the way, your namesake (the fruit) lemons is an important part of my daily intake. I don’t drink orange juice because of the high sugar, but with a tad of Kal powdered stevia/lemon juice/pure water, it makes a good drink, and a base to put my Vitamin C powders in… and tastes good. I was using so many lemons I kept running out, that I now buy the pure lemon juice (not from concentrate) from the health store, but still buy some fresh lemons also.

Best,
AF

[lemons]

Hello A Friend, do you have bionic fingers ? your posts are like short novels but you send them so quickly !! The reason I chose the name Lemons is because when I was in my late teens I went to live in Turkey and lemon trees were everywhere. In the spring the smell of the blossom was just lovely and then in the summer the trees were dripping with fresh fruit. The smell reminds me of being young, slim and happy ! Now Im middle aged, plump and not as happy as I would like to be, so Im now a bitter lemon ! x

[A Friend]

@lemons wrote:

Hello A Friend, do you have bionic fingers ? your posts are like short novels but you send them so quickly !! The reason I chose the name Lemons is because when I was in my late teens I went to live in Turkey and lemon trees were everywhere. In the spring the smell of the blossom was just lovely and then in the summer the trees were dripping with fresh fruit. The smell reminds me of being young, slim and happy ! Now Im middle aged, plump and not as happy as I would like to be, so Im now a bitter lemon ! x

Lemons, you are quite a lyrical poster — your post above reads like poetry. The spirit of it gave me a mental glimpse of my prime years long gone. Thank heavens for your dreams and fragrant memories! About the bionic fingers, they moved faster and more accurately when my mind was more nimble. I do strive to make the words count for understanding, but when re-read, I often am tempted to “DELETE” my posts. Just about all the things I write, I have lived and/or dug out from 20 years of searching for answers. Good luck to everyone seeking answers and better health!
AF

[lemons]

A friend, don’t you dare delete anything !!! Everything you write makes sense and you emulate kindness. Im not sure I spelt emulate correctly and wish this forum had spell checker !!!!

[ellie6]

Thanks for the replies :). I did just learn that rooibos is a legume…I have been following the Paleo diet for some time now with amazing success. Little to no pain most days. Legumes are not allowed. I guess that could be it.

[Valsmum]

I have not had the tea so I cannot comment on the tea. However, I noticed I react to honey. Did you add honey to your tea? Did you eat anything else with your tea? I react terribly to grains and dairy.
Did you exercise or move a lot that day? I have flared from too much activity.

Hope you figure it out,
take care

PS did you try a new med?

[ellie6]

No, I didn’t add anything to the tea. I didn’t eat anything that morning as I was too busy. No new activities or exercise. Strange… 🙄

[lynnie_sydney]

However, I noticed I react to honey.

Valsmum – that may be because it is high in salicylates – see attached for some info (you can’t test for salicylates – just has to be withdrawal and challenge). Note: It is the salicylates in many anti-inflammatory meds (inc aspirin) which are the problem and can cause major gut issues.

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[richie]

Hi I usually find a negative or two or side effects for most everything BUT I was unable to find any negative about this Roolbus tea —
Richie

[Author]

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