Maternal Exposure to Red Rooibos Does Not Alter Bone Development in Male or Female Sprague-Dawley Rat Offspring.

Maternal diet during pregnancy and/or throughout lactation provides a potential opportunity for nutritional programming of offspring bone development. Objectives of this study were to determine whether maternal consumption of red rooibos (RR) throughout pregnancy and lactation improved bone mineral density (BMD), bone structure, and bone strength in offspring and to determine potential sex-specific responses. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to control water or RR in water (2600 mg/kg body weight/d) from prepregnancy through to the end of lactation.

Pregnancy and Lactation in Sprague-Dawley Rats Result in Permanent Reductions of Tibia Trabecular Bone Mineral Density and Structure but Consumption of Red Rooibos Herbal Tea Supports the Partial Recovery.

During pregnancy and lactation, maternal bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced as calcium is mobilized to support offspring bone development. In humans, BMD returns to pre-pregnancy levels shortly after delivery, shifting from a high rate of bone resorption during pregnancy and lactation, into a rapid phase of bone formation post-lactation. This rapid change in bone turnover may provide an opportunity to stimulate a greater gain in BMD and stronger trabecular and cortical structure than present pre-pregnancy.

Black and Green Tea as Well as Specialty Teas Increase Osteoblast Mineralization with Varying Effectiveness.

Many human studies suggest a benefit of tea consumption on bone health. The study objective was to compare the ability of different tea types to promote mineralization. Saos-2 cells underwent mineralization (5 days) in the presence of tea (white: WT, green: GT, black: BT, green rooibos: GR, or red rooibos: RR; 1 μg/mL of polyphenols) or control.

Black Tea Exhibits a Dose-Dependent Response in Saos-2 Cell Mineralization.

Higher bone mineral density (BMD) is often associated with greater consumption of black tea (BT). However, the dose-response of BT on mineralization in an osteoblast cell model has not yet been studied. The study objective was to determine the dose-dependent response of BT in Saos-2 cells and investigate changes to several proteins involved in the mineralization process.