Six cups of Rooibos tea per day keep heart disease at bay

Women in Alexandra are among their national counterparts who are now also being affected by cardiovascular diseases at the rate of about 110 in the country per day.

Women have now been advised to constantly drink Rooibos, six per day if they would like to keep heart disease at bay. Heart disease can no longer now be considered a ‘men’s disease’ as current rates suggest that more women are dying of heart disease than men and that they’re unlikely to survive their first attack.

Dr Suzette Fourie, a prominent SA cardiologist, offers a plausible explanation. “The problem could be twofold. Either doctors are misdiagnosing women or women are misinterpreting heart attack signs.

“A heart attack often presents itself differently in women. Typical symptoms such as tightness, discomfort or chest pain may not be present, instead there could be a wide range of sensations, which could include an uneasy feeling in the chest, abdominal pain or discomfort in the arms, back, neck or jaw, a fluttering heartbeat, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, cold sweats or even swollen feet,” she said.

Fourie said as these symptoms could be related to any number of illnesses, women tend to dismiss the fact that they may be sick and often delay going to the hospital, which increases their risk of dying as a result of a heart attack.

She said heart disease in men was more often due to blockages in their coronary arteries – known as coronary artery disease (CAD), while women more frequently develop heart disease within the smaller arteries that branch out from the coronary arteries, which is referred to as microvascular disease (MVD).

With September being National Heart Awareness Month, Fourie said it was an appropriate time for everyone to work towards improving women’s awareness of heart diseases, which in so many cases is preventable.

In addition to regular exercise and healthy eating, Fourie said more and more research seems to indicate that drinking plenty of Rooibos tea could significantly reduce a woman’s risk of contracting heart disease.

Prof Jeanine Marnewick, who is well-known for her research into Rooibos’ health properties, some years ago discovered the positive effect that Rooibos has on adults (both men and women) at risk of heart disease.

She concluded that drinking six cups of Rooibos a day, over a six-week period, significantly reduced the blood cholesterol levels in those that participated in her study.

Her findings, along with numerous other local and international studies done on the heart-health benefits of Rooibos, prove that this natural South African wonder packs a protective punch against the deadly disease.

Rooibos tea has also been approved by the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA as a heart-healthy beverage.

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