Drinking Rooibos Tea for Skin Issues

I've tried an infinite number of treatments for acne, from oral to topical, prescription and over-the-counter. Less is more, and the best solution is probably to leave my skin alone, but I'm always tempted by the promises that a new cream makes, such a sucker for good marketing. Lately though, I've been intrigued and researched into a more holistic approach to attacking some of my skin issues, and discovered a few things along the way.

Physical symptoms reflect unhealthiness of the body, whether it be be coughing from a cold, or in my case, breakouts from some sort of stress/junk food eating/hormonal imbalance. I do think that when a person doesn't eat correctly, doesn't exercise regularly (totally guilty), and is continuously under stress, the body buckles under the external forces and acts out. So the solution is to be good to yourself, starting with diet and the food that we intake.

Recently, I stumbled upon a thread that hailed rooibos tea (from South Africa, also called "redbush tea") as an effective liquid with lots of cleansing antioxidants to move toxins out of the body. More importantly, all ingredients are natural and rooibos is caffeine-free! A company called Republic of Tea produces a series of Be Well teas, with all sorts of tea mixes for different health issues. The one I was interested in was Get Gorgeous, but they also have Get Smart, Get Lost (for weight loss), Get Passionate (to increase the libido!), Get Focused, etc. You get the idea. After I read several pages of reviews with multiple people claiming benefits from drinking this tea, I ran across the street to GNC and picked up a can, which has 36 individual teabag.

The instructions are to drink 3-4 teabags a day, and this is easier than it sounds. I drop two teabags into my thermos as my morning beverage in lieu of coffee (caffeine aggravates acne, so do dairy products!) and refill twice throughout the day, and have another mug-full at night before bed. Since it's caffeine free, I don't worry about insomnia! The taste is fine, I like tea so it tastes regular to me, but sometimes I add a little honey to sweeten.It could be the tea, or it could be the huge amounts of water I'm ingesting daily now relative to before, but I have found that the tea works to calm my skin down. I'm also starting a new (simple!) skin regimen so that's in the mix also, but I'm not stopping this tea anytime soon! Hoping that a greener diet and drinking this tea and more water in general can encourage clearer skin! I ordered 3 more cans from GNC when they had a sale last week, but these are also available directly from Republic of Tea in bulk. Also, I'm sure any rooibos tea would work and have the same cleansing qualities, but I like this one since it also has chamomile, orange peel, and burdock root.

Just checked GNC and they're having a 1-day sale today, 25% off plus free shipping!!!! *Checks out with three more cans*

Another easy cleansing tip to detox - drink water with lemon! Lemon has amazing antiseptic qualities that filter out toxins in your system and balances out acidity with its alkalizing ability. I squeeze half a fresh lemon's worth of juice into a glass of hot water in the morning, and also ask for lemons at restaurants to drink with a meal. When mixed with hot water, lemon is said to calm upset stomachs and aid digestion, along with other detoxifying benefits. Drink up!