Hibiscus Tea: A Powerful Heart-Healthy, Antioxidant-Rich, Anti-Inflammatory Drink

Hibiscus tea is one of the most powerful heart-healthy, antioxidant-rich, anti-inflammatory, fat-reducing drinks you can add to your daily routine. Here’s why I love it — and how I make it. See www.nutritionfacts.org for science backing hibiscus tea as a superfood! Benefits:
1. Very high antioxidant power
• In one beverage comparison of ~280 drinks, hibiscus tea ranked #1 for antioxidant content — even ahead of green tea. In humans: drinking a cup led to a measurable spike in antioxidant levels in the bloodstream within an hour.
2. Blood pressure-lowering effect (hypertension support)
• Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) show that consumption of hibiscus tea lowers systolic blood pressure by ~5–7 mmHg or more in prehypertensive/hypertensive adults.
• One study: one cup with each meal lowered SBP from ~129 to ~122.
• In another head-to-head test, two cups of strong hibiscus tea every morning were as effective as a starting dose of the blood-pressure drug Captopril (25 mg twice/day) in that trial.
3. Potential support in weight/fat accumulation and fatty liver
• One RCT: a hibiscus extract (capsule) over 12 weeks showed greater reduction in waist circumference and percentage body fat vs placebo.
4. Anti-inflammatory/metabolic promising signals. Some studies show hibiscus may help lower uric acid in gout sufferers, improve cholesterol/triglyceride levels in pre-diabetics/diabetics.

Hibiscus tea recipe:
-3 T dried hibiscus flowers
-Fill tea bag
-Fill a 68-ounce pitcher with cold water

Steep in fridge for about an hour.
I sometimes wash and reuse tea bags or add more water to the pitcher as I drink the tea.
The one bag could get a second pitcher of water. Add-ins:
Sweetener, lemon, lime, basil, mashed berries.