Plant based diet for hypertension

Recently, researchers from Taiwan pitted the herbal tea hibiscus against obesity. They gave
hibiscus to overweight individuals and reported that subjects showing reduced body weight.
However, after 12 weeks on hibiscus subjects only lost about three pounds, only one and a half
pounds over placebo. Hibiscus is clearly no magic fix for obesity.
Recent, cercetatorii din Taiwan, au adus in discutie ceaiul de Hibiscus efficient impotriva
obezitatii. Ei au administrat hibiscus pacientilor supraponderali si au raportat o scadere in
greutate a acestora.
The purported cholesterol-lowering property of hibiscus tea looked a bit more promising. Some
older studies suggested as much as an 8% reduction from drinking two cups a day for a month.
When all the studies are put together, though, the results are pretty much a wash. This may be
because only about 50% of people respond at all to drinking the equivalent of between two to
five cups a day, though those that do may get a respectable 12% drop. Thats nothing like the
30% one can get within weeks of eating a healthy, plant-based diet, though.
Hibiscus may really shine in treating high blood pressure, a disease affecting a billion people and
killing millions. Up until 2010, there wasnt sufficient high quality research to support the use of
hibiscus tea to treat hypertension, but there are now randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled
studies where hibiscus tea is compared to artificially colored and flavored water that looks and
tastes like hibiscus tea, and the tea lowers blood pressure significantly better.
Were still not sure how it works, but hibiscus appears to boost nitric oxide production, which
could help our arteries relax and dilate better. Regardless, an updated review acknowledged that
the daily consumption of hibiscus tea may indeed significantly lower blood pressures in people
with hypertension.
How does hibiscus compare to other blood pressure interventions? The premier clinical trial
when it comes to comprehensive lifestyle modification for blood pressure control is the
PREMIER Clinical Trial. Realizing that nine out of ten Americans are going to develop
hypertension, researchers from John Hopkins randomized 800 men and women with high blood
pressure into one of three groups. One was the control group, the so-called advice only group,
where patients were just told to lose weight, cut down on salt, increase exercise and eat healthier.
In the two behavioral intervention groups the researchers got serious. Eighteen face-to-face
sessions, groups meetings, food diaries, physical activity records, and calorie and sodium intake
monitoring. One intervention group just concentrated on exercise; the other included exercise
and diet. Researchers pushed the DASH diet, which is high in fruits and vegetables and low in
full-fat dairy products and meat. In six months subjects achieved a 4.3 point drop in systolic
blood pressure, compared to the control, slightly better than the lifestyle intervention without the
diet.
A few points might not sound like a lotthats like someone going from a blood pressure of 150
over 90 to a blood pressure of 146 over 90but on a population scale a five point drop in the

total number could result in 14% fewer stroke deaths, 9% fewer fatal heart attacks, and 7% fewer
deaths every year overall.
A cup of hibiscus tea with each meal didnt just lower blood pressure by three, four, or five
points, but by seven points, from an average of 129 down to 122. In fact, tested head-to-head
against a leading blood-pressure drug, Captopril, two cups of strong hibiscus tea every morning
(five tea bags for the two cups) was as effective in lowering blood pressure as a starting dose of
25mg of captopril taken twice a day.
So hibiscus tea is as good as drugs, without side-effects, and better than diet and exercise? Well,
the lifestyle interventions in the PREMIER study were pretty wimpy. As public health experts
noted, the PREMIER study was only asking for 30 minutes of exercise a day, whereas the World
Health Organization recommends a minimum of an hour a day.
Diet-wise, the lower the animal fat intake, and the more plant sources of protein the PREMIER
participants were eating, the better the diet appeared to work. This may explain why vegetarian
diets appear to work even better, and the more plant-based, the lower the prevalence of
hypertension.
On the DASH diet, subjects cut down on meat, but were still eating it every day, so would
qualify as nonvegetarians in the Adventist 2 study (highlighted in my video Hibiscus Tea vs.
Plant-Based Diets for Hypertension) which looked at 89,000 Californians. It found that those
who only ate meat on a weekly basis had 23% lower rates of high blood pressure. Those who cut
out all meat except fish had 38% lower rates. Those eating no meat at all, vegetarians, have less
than half the rate. The veganscutting out all animal protein and fatappeared to have thrown
three quarters of their risk for this major killer out the window.
One sees the same kind of step-wise drop in diabetes rates as ones diet gets more and more
plant-based, and a drop in excess body weight, such that only those eating completely plantbased diets in the Adventist 2 study fell into the ideal weight category. Could that be why those
eating plant-based have such great blood pressure? Maybe its just because theyre so skinny.
Ive previously shown how those eating plant-based just have a fraction of the diabetes risk even
at the same weight. but what about hypertension?
The average American has whats called prehypertension, which means the top number of our
blood pressure is between 120 and 139. We dont have hypertension yet, which starts at 140, but
we may be well on our way. Compare that to the blood pressure of those eating whole food
plant-based diets. In one study, those eating plant-based didnt have blood pressures three points
lower, four points lower, or even seen points lower, but 28 points lower. However, the group
eating the standard American diet was, on average, overweight with a BMI over 26, still better
than most Americans, while the vegans were a trim 21thats 36 pounds lighter.
Maybe the only reason those eating meat, eggs, dairy, and processed junk had such higher blood
pressure was because they were overweight. Maybe the diet per se had nothing to do with it?

To solve that riddle we would have to find a group still eating the standard American diet, but as
slim as vegans. To find a group that trim, researchers had to use long-distance endurance
athletes, who ate the same crappy American diet, but ran an average of 48 miles per week for 21
years. Anyone who runs almost two marathons a week for 20 years can be as slim as a vegan
no matter what they eat!
How did the endurance runners compare to the couch potato vegans? It appears that if we run an
average of about a thousand miles every year our blood pressures can rival some couch potato
vegans. That doesnt mean we cant do both, but it may be easier to just eat plants.

Those whove been following my work for years have seen how my videos have evolved. In the
past, the hibiscus results may have been the whole article or video. But thanks to everyones
support, Ive been able to delegate the logistics to staff and concentrate more on the content
creation. This allows me to do deeper dives into the literature to put new findings into better
context. The posts are a bit longer, but hopefully theyre more usefullet me know what you
think!
For such a leading killer, hypertension has not gotten the coverage it deserves on
NutritionFacts.org. Heres a few videos, with more to come:

Whole Grains May Work As Well As Drugs

Longer Life Within Walking Distance

Hearts Shouldnt Skip a Beet

The Evidence That Salt Raises Blood Pressure

So should we all be drinking hibiscus tea every day? This is the first of a four part series on the
latest on hibiscus. Stay tuned for the next three:

Protecting Teeth From Hibiscus Tea

Is There Too Much Aluminum in Tea?

How Much Hibiscus Tea is Too Much?