The Director of CPUT’s Oxidative Stress Research Centre, is leading a new trial which will investigate how green and traditional Rooibos herbal tea may modulate risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and support heart health.
The 12-week human dietary intervention trial, under the leadership of Prof Jeanine Marnewick, will start in August.
The Research Centre is situated within the Institute of Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology (IBMB)
The trial will be key to understanding how Rooibos can change the outcome of specifically cardiovascular disease risk factors.
“Rooibos will be put through its paces as we investigate its impact on various risk factors associated with the development of heart disease, including cholesterol profile, oxidative damage to lipids, redox status, inflammatory responses, metabolic disease, elevated blood pressure, and genetic variability in 300 adults. It’s a first-of-its-kind intervention study involving the use of both green as well as traditional Rooibos, a uniquely South African product,” said Marnewick, who also serves as Research Chair of the IBMB.
The findings are expected to be made public by the end of 2022.
The trial forms part of a recently announced R4.5 million investment into rooibos research.
The investment is in line with one of the main strategic objectives of the SA Rooibos Council, which is to ramp up research efforts to better understand exactly how our indigenous Rooibos tea could help tackle some of the most prevalent diseases of our time.
Marnewick also made the headlines in 2011 when her intervention trial revealed that drinking six cups of Rooibos per day holds definite health benefits and specifically helps to reduce oxidative stress in the body and improves the cholesterol profile – all aspects that modulate the development of heart disease.
