This is an article my dad found on WebMD. Now, I’m not a doctor, but I would rather drink hibiscus tea to lower my blood pressure than take some prescription drug that may or may not have the same effect. If you are looking for some hibiscus herbal blend I would suggest giving our Jamaica Red Bush a try. It also has rooibos which is said to be very high in anti-oxidants and anti-aging properties. I really like to see articles like these because it gives people a chance to try something that is much more natural to fix a current health issue. There are a lot of natural remedies available, we just need to keep our eyes and minds open to them.
Hibiscus Tea May Cut Blood Pressure
Nov. 10, 2008 (New Orleans) — If you’re worried about your blood pressure, you may want to follow the British custom of regularly “sipping a cuppa” — tea, that is.
In a new study, drinking three cups of herbal tea containing hibiscus each day lowered blood pressure.
“Most of the commercial herbal tea blends in the United States contain hibiscus,” says Diane L. McKay, PhD, of Tufts University in Boston. She tells WebMD that people with the highest blood pressure at the start of the six-week study benefited the most.
McKay presented the study of 65 healthy men and women with modestly elevated blood pressure at the American Heart Association (AHA) meeting here.
Overall, drinking hibiscus tea blends lowered systolic blood pressure — the top number in the blood pressure reading — by an average of 7 points. That was significantly more than the 1-point drop observed in people who were given a placebo in the form of hibiscus-flavored water, McKay says.
While a 7-point drop in blood pressure might not seem like much, she says studies have shown that “even small changes in blood pressure … when maintained over time … will reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack.”
Past AHA president Robert H. Eckel, MD, says that more study is needed to determine whether herbal tea’s blood-pressure-lowering effect can actually be sustained over the long haul.
The degree of blood pressure lowering associated with tea drinking in the study was as much as would be expected with standard blood pressure drugs, he says.
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