Is Hibiscus Tea better than Green Tea?

The international team of researchers also compared hundreds of different beverages. They tested everything from Red Bull to crowberry liqueur. I could never imagine any beverage more antioxidant-packed than matcha, which is a drink made out of powdered green tea leaves (so you’re actually eating green tea). But Matcha may have met its match. Hibiscus tea, made from the dried petals of hibiscus flowers, topped the rankings. It’s known as flor de Jamaica in Mexico, sorrel in the Caribbean, and roselle in many parts of the world. It’s what gives the “zing” to red zinger tea.

The health benefits of Hibiscus tea have been known worldwide since Ancient Egypt. An old Arabic medical treatise describes it as a cure-all and it was called, among other names, the “royal drink” and “drink of the Pharaohs.”

Hibiscus flowers contain linoleic acid which blocks the formation of cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels and metabolizes body fat, and they are a powerhouse of Vitamin C. This essential vitamin protects the body from stress and fatigue, strengthens the immune system, and improves kidney and liver function. Consider its anti-inflammatory benefits as well. Wow, Hibiscus tea does seem to be cure-all!

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Studies have shown that drinking as little as 2 to 3 cups of hibiscus tea from the Hibiscus sabdariffa flower each day can lower your BP levels, working as effectively as some anti-hypertensive prescription medications (without the potential side effects). Please read about studies done on Hibiscus and Blood Pressure at the end of this post.

When preparing Hibiscus tea avoid using metal utensils, which affect the color and taste of the beverage.

Try brewing Hibiscus Tea with cinnamon, cloves,

ginger, and mint. 

A pure delight!

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In the late 1990s, Iranian researchers clinically demonstrated the effectiveness of this treatment. They assigned 54 adults with high blood pressure to drink 10 ounces of either or hibiscus tea or black tea once a day for 12 days. They found that while blood pressure decreased in both groups, it decreased significantly more in the hibiscus group (a total of 10 percent).

This was followed by a pair of studies that compared with hibiscus tea directly to pharmaceutical blood pressure drugs. In 2004, Mexican researchers assigned 75 adults with high blood pressure to take either 25 mg of the drug captopril twice per day, or to drink tea made from 10 g (about 5 teaspoons) of crushed dried hibiscus once per day. After four weeks, blood pressure had dropped by 11 percent in both groups.

In 2007, the researchers conducted a follow-up study, this time using the blood pressure drug lisinopril as a comparison. Once again, hibiscus performed comparably to the drug, reducing blood pressure in hypertension patients in average of 12 percent, compared with 15 percent for lisinopril.

In a randomized, double-blind study published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2010, McKay and colleagues assigned 65 adults between the ages of 30 and 70, all of them suffering from either pre-hypertension or mild hypertension, to drink 240 mL of either hibiscus tea or a placebo three times per day. None of the participants were taking any blood pressure drugs.

After six weeks, systolic blood pressure dropped seven points in the hibiscus group, compared with only one point in the placebo group. Once again, the improvement seen was comparable to that provided by pharmaceutical drugs.

"These results suggest daily consumption of hibiscus tea, in an amount readily incorporated into the diet, lowers blood pressure in pre- and mildly hypertensive adults and may prove an effective component of the dietary changes recommended for people with these conditions," the researchers wrote.

"Even small changes in blood pressure ... when maintained over time ... will reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack," McKay noted.