I have fulfilled a life-long dream of mine. I climbed Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s the highest walkable point on Earth. And, it’s only two degrees from the equator. So it’s about as close as you can get to the sun.
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On the summit at almost 20,000 feet, I looked east and west. I felt like I could see all the way around the world. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.
The trek took us from intense tropical heat up into Arctic cold. And once you’re above the tree line, there’s no break from the relentless weather. At those altitudes, the bitter wind and intense sun can take an awful toll on your skin.
I was prepared for the drying wind and intense sun. But back at base camp, some other climbers who knew I was a doctor came to me for help with their dry, burned, and peeling faces.
I gave them the same thing I used, a natural plant that soothes and promotes healthier skin. And, like Mount Kilimanjaro, it’s uniquely African.
So, why didn’t I just use a sunscreen? Let me explain why I won’t use most of today’s skincare products.
A trip to the skincare counter today is more like a trip to a chemical plant. Most of the products you’ll find there contain all sorts of toxic chemicals and useless cover-ups.
In fact, almost 90% of all cosmetic ingredients have never been properly tested for safety. And you’ll find one or more of these chemicals in 99% of the cosmetics products on shelves today.1 That would be bad enough, but even some of the ingredients that have been tested can damage your skin.
Take sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), for instance. It’s a detergent used in thousands of shampoos, body washes, and even toothpastes. But lab tests show SLS may make your skin peel and get dehydrated.2,3 In fact, many labs keep SLS on hand specifically to cause skin irritation.
Even worse, some of these chemicals do more than just damage your skin. Parabens are a good example. You’ll find them in more than 19,000 cosmetics products, so you’d think they should be safe. But, among other things, parabens can disrupt hormone functions, interfere with male fertility, and some researchers believe it may be linked to some types of cancer.4,5
In other words, the cosmetics counter is a dangerous place to look for skincare products.
So when I first heard of a safe African herb that could do wonders for your skin, I started digging.
And what I found was a healthful “tea” that’s been brewed for hundreds of years. But it’s been largely overlooked by the West until very recently.
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For centuries, locals have brewed “red tea” from a unique plant that grows only around South Africa’s Cederberg Mountains. They use it for digestive complaints, seasonal allergies, nervousness, and poor sleep. They also apply the plant topically to soothe and moisturize their skin.
Outsiders didn’t “discover” red tea – or rooibos (ROY-boss) – until the 20th century. Even then, no one really studied its healthful properties. So this herb sat on the back burner for many years.
But recently, scientists have been taking a closer look at red tea. And they’ve uncovered some impressive properties.
Red tea is rich in the rare antioxidant aspalathin. Animal studies show it promotes a healthy immune system and supports production of SOD – one of your body’s most powerful antioxidants.6 It also promotes DNA health.7
There haven’t been many studies on red tea and your skin. But the few I’ve found all support the traditional use of red tea to promote healthier skin.
For example, Japanese scientists applied it to people’s itchy skin and found that it helped soothe and moisturize.8
Compared to most cosmetic products, red tea would be a winner just by being good for your skin. But red tea offers you a bonus.
In a Thai study released last spring, a red tea formula reduced the appearance of wrinkles. In fact, the formula with red tea was more than twice as effective as the other herbal formulas the researchers tested.9
So red tea not only promotes healthy skin, it promotes smoother, younger-looking skin, too.
That’s pretty much what I told the climbers at the Kilimanjaro base camp. And thinking back on those sore, red faces, I’ll bet they ask me to bring enough red tea along for everyone on our next climb.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, M.D.
1 See ewg.org/node/8703.
2 Herlofson, B.B., Barkvoll, P., “Oral mucosal desquamation caused by two toothpaste detergents in an experimental model,” Eur. J. Oral Sci. Feb. 1996;104(1):21-6
3 Atrux-Tallau, N., et al, “Effects of glycerol on human skin damaged by acute sodium lauryl sulphate treatment,” Arch. Dermatol. Res. Dec. 31, 2009
4 Wozniak, M., Murias, M., “Xenoestrogens: endocrine disrupting compounds,” Ginekol. Pol. Nov. 2008;79(11):785-90
5 Darbre, P.D., Harvey, P.W., “Paraben esters: review of recent studies of endocrine toxicity, absorption, esterase and human exposure, and discussion of potential human health risks,” J. Appl. Toxicol. July 2008;28(5):561-78
6 McKay, D.L., Blumberg, J.B., “A review of the bioactivity of South African herbal teas: rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia),” Phytother. Res. Jan. 2007;21(1):1-16
7 Baba, H., et al, “Studies of … effects of Rooibos tea in rats,” Pediatr. Int. Oct. 2009;51(5):700-4
8 Shindo, Y., Kato, K. “Effect of rooibos tea…” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Tea Science, The Organizing Committee of ISTS, Shizuoka, Japan 1991;385-389
9 Chuarienthong, P., et al, “Clinical efficacy comparison of anti-wrinkle cosmetics containing herbal flavonoids,” Int. J. Cosmet. Sci. Apr. 2010;32(2):99-106