# Hibiscus Tea and BP Control



## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

First off all, credit to @RedStar to putting me onto this.

*The Issue:*
For those who struggle with BP on cycle (particularly orals) I am one of you. I have been consuming celery, beetroot and CoQ10 daily to combat this side effect with some success.
BP pre supplementation was around 145/88- 150/90, once I had added in the above I was able to bring my BP down to a consistent 135/82 - 138/85.

*The Research:*
Whilst in a different thread relating to BP recently Redstar had mentioned that Hibiscus is a natural ACE inhibitor and significantly lowered his blood pressure - I was curious so decided to research and came across the following:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23333908

Bold claims to be made that hibiscus in a dose dependant manner can lower BP, and generally Lower LDL-C and total cholesterol whilst Raising HDL-C levels.

*The Test:*
So I purchased these leaves from amazon for a mere £3.50 for a 25 day supply.
The tea I have been making is 20g leaves in a 1l shaker bottle with boiling water and some sugar free blackcurrent juice for taste - drinking 250ml at a time mixed with 250ml cold water to dilute.

For the purpose of this test I had discontinued the CoQ10 and Celery/Beetroot combo 2 days prior to beginning.
I have been consuming the drink about 1hr post oral AAs consumption (as my BP spikes for around 4 hours post) for the past 5 days.

*The Result:*
I attended the GP surgery this morning around an hour after dosing oral AAS (unrelated) and had my BP tested, and was shocked to see the result of 120/66. 
I then went home and used my home test to get a result of 122/66.
Id like to note that this is lower than my off cycle BP which sits around 125/70.

*Conclusion:*
Although my evidence is anecdotal, I believe that for the miniscule price that you pay for it; It would be crazy not to try this yourself if you struggle with BP as I do.
Ill be using this from now on whenever on cycle and you probably should too .

*TL;DR:*
Off cycle BP : 125/70
On Cycle BP: 150/90
On w/ Celery/Beetroot/CoQ10: 135/82
On w/ hibiscus tea only (20g ED): 120/66


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## RedStar (Aug 8, 2014)

Lifesizepenguin said:


> First off all, credit to @RedStar to putting me onto this.
> 
> *The Issue:*
> For those who struggle with BP on cycle (particularly orals) I am one of you. I have been consuming celery, beetroot and CoQ10 daily to combat this side effect with some success.
> ...


 That's pretty much my BP reading exactly. Credit goes to Con who told me of it when coaching/doing my diet for me.

I drink a litre of the stuff a day, I actually am trying it with blended celery, lemon and bit of honey as the "water base" added to the hibiscus leaves. I get a kg of leaves/flowers for like 10 quid or so on amazon.

Also worth drinking hawthorn berry tea. Tastes nice and has massive benefits for the heart as we all know from it being included in nearly every cycle support out there.


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

RedStar said:


> Also worth drinking hawthorn berry tea. Tastes nice and has massive benefits for the heart as we all know from it being included in nearly every cycle support out there.


 Im grabbing some supportMAX come payday, based on a post about it from @swole troll recently. It contains hawthorn berry within it along with a bunch of other good stuff so hopefully ill be well regulated by then 

Celery certainly does the job, but nothing like hibiscus has for me.


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## RedStar (Aug 8, 2014)

Lifesizepenguin said:


> Im grabbing some supportMAX come payday, based on a post about it from @swole troll recently. It contains hawthorn berry within it along with a bunch of other good stuff so hopefully ill be well regulated by then
> 
> Celery certainly does the job, but nothing like hibiscus has for me.


 I use the supportmax stuff, but it isn't strong enough to manage BP without hibiscus for me.

It contains two things I like massively tho, TUDCA and CoQ10. Both are fairly pricey in themselves.


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## Wheyman (Sep 6, 2011)

You will find Hibiscus tea is a god send, plus once you get used to the acidic taste its pretty nice tea. I have a tea straw to drink it: look up Mate tea straw and you wont rot your teeth (its quite acidic so over time sipping it is a no no) I get mine from ebay or the the local market who sells wierd herbs and spices.

Its hasd a long history of BP lowering so all good in my book.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Like @Wheyman said, the one downside of hibiscus tea which is that it's pretty acidic and so for people consuming a lot of it there is a concern about it eroding teeth. Using a straw helps, as would chewing gum after drinking it, or simply drinking some water afterwards and swirling it around your mouth a bit.


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## Will2309 (Jan 15, 2012)

I to can vouch for hibiscus tea.

My bp off cycle it in the pre hypertension catorgory, normally between 135/140 and 88/95. My Dr has tried me on 2 different types of bp meds. I didn't get on with either of then so I stopped and decided to more cardio and cleaned up my diet. This worked a little bit but not loads.

When I was on a cycle obviously it was a lot higher and I tried howthorn, celery and beetroot nothing worked so after reading on here about hibiscus I thought I would try it.

I have 200ml twice a day and after 5 days I tested my bp. It was the lowest it's been since I started testing it at 128/72.

So yeah big thanks to @Lifesizepenguin and @RedStar for bring to my attention.


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

Wheyman said:


> You will find Hibiscus tea is a god send, plus once you get used to the acidic taste its pretty nice tea. I have a tea straw to drink it: look up Mate tea straw and you wont rot your teeth (its quite acidic so over time sipping it is a no no) I get mine from ebay or the the local market who sells wierd herbs and spices.
> 
> Its hasd a long history of BP lowering so all good in my book.





Ultrasonic said:


> Like @Wheyman said, the one downside of hibiscus tea which is that it's pretty acidic and so for people consuming a lot of it there is a concern about it eroding teeth. Using a straw helps, as would chewing gum after drinking it, or simply drinking some water afterwards and swirling it around your mouth a bit.


 Thanks for the additional input guys; i didnt realise it had this effect. Luckily i do actually tend to drink water immediately afterwards as i like to "neutralise" my pallette. I will adopt the gum afterwards as well as im a bit of a chewy fiend as it is (when cutting at least).

I would drink from a straw but it enfuriates me as its so slow. Im a bit of a chugger, so to speak :lol:


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## StretchyBell (Nov 25, 2017)

Oi fam, also look up T2 they got a few shops across the UK.

Make sure you drinking day good lapsang shusong tea. Looseleaf.


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## PSevens2017 (Apr 2, 2017)

RedStar said:


> That's pretty much my BP reading exactly. Credit goes to Con who told me of it when coaching/doing my diet for me.
> 
> I drink a litre of the stuff a day, I actually am trying it with blended celery, lemon and bit of honey as the "water base" added to the hibiscus leaves. I get a kg of leaves/flowers for like 10 quid or so on amazon.
> 
> *Also worth drinking hawthorn berry tea. *Tastes nice and has massive benefits for the heart as we all know from it being included in nearly every cycle support out there.


 Do you buy this loose or as tea bags


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## Jonk891 (Dec 17, 2016)

Recently bought some dried leaves of ebay and was not to sure on dosing so I weighed out 20g and left it in a tea pot for 10mins to brew. I found it way to over powering even with sweetner. I find 2.5g to taste better but ain't sure whether it would be enough to be efffective


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## PSevens2017 (Apr 2, 2017)

@Lifesizepenguin @RedStar

Thank you both for this info. Just ordered the same hibiscus as @Lifesizepenguin Tried my Mum with beetroot juice, last year, for her HBP but it was short lived. See if I can get her to try hibiscus tea. Bought 30 hawthorn tea bags as well. See how that goes.


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## RedStar (Aug 8, 2014)

Hibiscus works I'd be surprised if it didn't benefit.

I've started sipping it through a straw now. Tastes great.


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## Jonk891 (Dec 17, 2016)

RedStar said:


> Hibiscus works I'd be surprised if it didn't benefit.
> 
> I've started sipping it through a straw now. Tastes great.


 What dosage are you using per day for how long


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

Jonk891 said:


> What dosage are you using per day for how long


 20g a day works well.

and forever :lol:


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## Jonk891 (Dec 17, 2016)

Lifesizepenguin said:


> 20g a day works well.
> 
> and forever :lol:


 I read a study that it can cause heart disease so was kinda thinking of just running on cycle. 20g seems a lot


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

Jonk891 said:


> I read a study that it can cause heart disease so was kinda thinking of just running on cycle. 20g seems a lot


 20g of hibiscus leaves, not extract. A single 500g bag lasts about a month.

can you link this study please?

The study linked in my original post actually shows that it is heart friendly, cholesterol positive so im interested to see the contradiction.


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## Jonk891 (Dec 17, 2016)

Lifesizepenguin said:


> 20g of hibiscus leaves, not extract. A single 500g bag lasts about a month.
> 
> can you link this study please?
> 
> The study linked in my original post actually shows that it is heart friendly, cholesterol positive so im interested to see the contradiction.


 That's what I bought a 500g bag of leaves and put the leaves in a tea pot leave it for 5-10 mins then strain it out. 500g would last 25days at 20g a day

Ill have to dig it out but most of what I've seen its been beneficial besides the one that I read


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## Jonk891 (Dec 17, 2016)

Lifesizepenguin said:


> 20g of hibiscus leaves, not extract. A single 500g bag lasts about a month.
> 
> can you link this study please?
> 
> The study linked in my original post actually shows that it is heart friendly, cholesterol positive so im interested to see the contradiction.


 http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/risks-drinking-hibiscus-tea-9953.html

Just a article but Bastyr Center for Natural Health brings up that it can put you at risk of heart disease but I can't find the study that they done


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## Lifesizepenguin (Jul 25, 2016)

Jonk891 said:


> http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/risks-drinking-hibiscus-tea-9953.html
> 
> Just a article but Bastyr Center for Natural Health brings up that it can put you at risk of heart disease but I can't find the study that they done


 This article is stating that its putting you at risk for heart disease by opening blood vessels and lowering systolic BP.

Only if your BP is low already this would be an issue i believe, If i have High sys BP (like on cycle) this shouldn't be an issue.

Why don't they link their own studies lol.


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## Jonk891 (Dec 17, 2016)

Lifesizepenguin said:


> This article is stating that its putting you at risk for heart disease by opening blood vessels and lowering systolic BP.
> 
> Only if your BP is low already this would be an issue i believe, If i have High sys BP (like on cycle) this shouldn't be an issue.
> 
> Why don't they link their own studies lol.


 That's what I looked for but they haven't I've even tried to look at their site but no study so their statement is useless without it. My bp off cycle has always been on the high end of average so ill benefit from the hibiscus


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