TeaChat

I've been drinking a lot of Rooibos and haven't had any headaches from it.

Well this thread is a bit old, but if the OP was adding artificial sweetener, aspartame is known to cause headaches. If that's not the cause finding an organic rooibos vendor would be the next step, just to make sure it is the rooibos itself that was affecting him.

I have found that a certain brand of rooibos gives me nasty nasty headaches - but organic one does not, and I like to drink it very strong, double bag per cup.
Rooibos also helps me to nap! which I just love as Ive had sleeping issues for a long time.
for me it is a wonderful natural relaxant, Ive brewed a big pot, watched a dvd, passed out mid way, woken up, and passed out again...very good! especially as I am busy with kids and rarely have that kind of time - very good way to use it.
Rooibos doesnt make me 'tired' though, or have any other side effects.
just soothing and calming.
I have totally rid myself of caffiene finally after 15 or so years...now I just drink rooibos and other herbal blends, I am currently working on my own rooibos chai recipe!
wonderful!

I don't get "headaches" but I've been noticing some pains in my head. Does that sound crazy? I drink 2 or 3 cups during work, and sometimes I feel little pains, no continuous aches though. But I LOVE the taste of rooibos blends and I'm not eager to give them up!

I used to get frequent migraines and have found that most often, it was a smell that triggered my migraine. I wonder if using a flavored rooibus might help? The orange is my personal favorite.

JM wrote:I get headaches if I allow the bag to steep for a long time so I just wanted to bump up this thread to see if anything new about Rooibos causing headaches has come up.

I just tried rooibos for the first time the other night. I steeped it as stated @180F for 7 minutes. It was pretty strong. The next day I had a pretty terrible headache for most of the day. I tried some again the next night but didn't steep for as long. A much better balanced flavor and it didn't give me a headache the next day. Maybe it is indeed related to length of time you steep.

Some of the properties of rooibos may not suit you and so you are getting headaches. Just avoid it for the time being and use different flavors that you like. I use brands like Adagio and Talbotttea and they work for me. No such problems yet.

Interesting topic. I haven't tried any rooibos yet but the last few nights when I've had chamomile I had gotten a headache. I don't want to place any blame on the chamomile as I am sure uncertain but I do think it could possibly have to do with the supposed help-to-get-sleep feature of chamomile which could be the culprit when I refuse to comply or it could just simply be the hot beverage itself coupled with a less than desirable room temperature of the house.

Also, what I'm thinking could be at fault as since I started drinking tea I sometimes wake up in the morning with a headache and a feeling of dehydration is that I'm drinking less bottled water as I substitute my usual intake of water with tea instead and remember reading an article not to long ago about how tea doesn't really serve any purpose of hydration, but then again neither is soda, or so claimed, but when I drink nothing but soda in a day I have no such ill effect.

Either way, no biggie for me, I'll find the cause and resolve as it's nothing major.

/agree on the aspartame comment... It's not only known to cause headaches but it's cancerous as well. I'm growing more and more concerned as this chemical keeps popping up in everything. I had to put back a box of oatmeal at Wal-Mart yesterday cause it had aspartame in it. It seems to be becoming an epidemic like corn syrup in everything instead of good ol' sugar.

I no longer get headaches after drinking it, I'm thinking it was something else causing the headaches, I drink rooibos everyday now.

I have to say, I just drank rooibos and I feel just plain awful. I have a splitting headache and feel nauseous. Im upset I wasted my money. Another person on Amazon was giving a review for rooibos espresso and mentioned he got an awful headache as well. SO I put two and two together. I hate feeling sick. No more experimenting with this sort of junk again. Not that it was my idea.

Tea and coffee can cause dehydration because caffeine is a diuretic, not because of the tea itself. Decaf would not produce that result, but of course the taste is quite different.

Similarly sugar draws the water out of your cells, so sugared soda really doesn't quench your thirst. Combine that with caffeine, as in Coke, and you have a diuretic. Diet soda without caffeine would not be a diuretic. The other thing that sugar does is give you a temporary "sugar high," then it drops your blood sugar down to the basement. Some people get headaches from too much suga for that reason..

Aspartame is NOT cancerous, and I suggest you read some research before making such statements.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/ ... ekey=82425

Cancer was related many years ago to saccharine, the ingredient in Sweet n Low. But they had to feed the test animals incredible amounts to produce that result, the equivalent of a human ingesting pounds of the stuff per day. That's why it's still on the market.

Jennytea--
As far as getting headaches from certain teas, it might be an allergy to a particular ingredient. Rooibos is made from several ingredients, and the combo also varies with vendors. I don't care for the taste, but it's not poisonous to the general population. If you can narrow down the ingredient, you want to avoid it in other herbal teas.

I was just searching online (google) regarding Roibos and headaches and found this page. I love the Roibos tea and I have been drinking it at night, and it is giving me headaches. I'm really curious why this is. I've tried the green variety tonight, and it also caused headache.

The fact that this topic continues, and the subject has been discussed in other topics has me more than a bit curious.

Perhaps a Rooibus specific topic with a poll is in order.

At first I wasn't sure about the rooibos. I could see how the first taste of it could be unpleasant and, despite the tea properties itself, could trigger some kind of headache based on some kind of initial association with the taste/smell. I actually love rooibos now. I drink it a lot. I used to drink caramel rooibos. But now I add chammomile and elderberries to plain red rooibos and I really enjoy it even more.

I'm surprised that there are even this many people reporting a headache from drinking rooibos. I've never gotten a headache after drinking rooibos and everyone I've ever made a cup for has never complained of one, either.

The only questions I can ask:

1) When you drink rooibos, is it usually in the place of another beverage? Would you have otherwise drank coffee or another tea? I ask because rooibos is caffeine free and one of the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal is a headache.

2) Does rooibos replace drinking water? Or do you usually end up drinking some water afterward? Headaches can be a sign of dehydration. However, this one is less likely, especially if you regularly drink coffee or other teas.