TEA MAY HELP BLOOD PRESSURE HEALTH IN TYPE 2 DIABETICS
By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, January 24, 2013, abstracted from “The effects of sour tea (Hibiscus sabdariffa) onhypertension in patients with type II diabetes” in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension
High blood pressure affects an estimated 50 million Americans and 1 billion worldwide (1) and is especially harmful to women as those with high blood pressure have a 400% increased risk of heart disease compared to women with normal blood pressure (2). Blood pressure costs our healthcare system an estimated $24 billion each year (3). High blood pressure occurs twice as much in those with diabetes as those without diabetes and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in diabetics by 75% (4).
While popular alternative approaches to maintaining a healthy blood pressure include vitamin D (5), fish oil (6), fiber (7), and vitamin C (8), an overlooked option is Hibiscus tea. In a 2009 study (9), 60 type 2 diabetic patients with mild hypertension (defined as having a blood pressure less than 160/100 mmHg (10)) and not taking any blood pressure medications steeped a 2-gram tea packet of Hibiscus tea or a 2-gram packet of black tea in a teapot and drank the contents each day for 1 month. Their blood pressure was measured before the study and at days 15 and 30 ofthe study.
By the end of 1 month, those in the Hibiscus tea group saw a 16.1% decrease in their systolic blood pressure (the top number - 134.4 to 112.7 mmHg, p < 0.001) whereas the black tea group actually had a 7.3% increase in blood pressure over the month (118.6 to 127.3 mmHg (p = 0.002)). Unfortunately, the researchers did not offer any suggestions as to why black tea increased systolic blood pressure.
While no significant differences were seen in the diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number, p = 0.5), the difference between the systolic and diastolic blood pressures (called pulse pressure) decreased in the Hibiscus tea group by 34% (52.2 to 34.5 mmHg, p < 0.001) compared to a 12.8% increase in the black tea group (41.9 to 47.3 mmHg, p < 0.01).
Citing studies from 1999 (11), 2004 (12) and 2007 (13) showing Hibiscus tea to have positive effects on blood pressure, the researchers concluded that “consuming [Hibiscus tea] had positive effects on blood pressure in type 2 diabetic patients with mild hypertension” and that “this study supports the results of similar studies in which [blood pressure-lowering effects] have been shown for [Hibiscus tea].”
