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Tea Health Benefits

Top 5 Health Benefits of Hibiscus Tea 

November 4, 2022

Hibiscus tea has gotten a lot of attention over the past few years, and with good reason – this delicious tropical tea has amazing health benefits and a unique, fruit-like flavor that can blend with nearly any of your favorite tea types. It’s been most famously used in Starbucks’ passion tea blend or Panera’s Plum Ginger Hibiscus Tea. It’s also widely available at your local grocery store in standalone form or in a variety of fruit and floral-based flavors. 

Below, we’re exploring the health benefits you can enjoy from hibiscus tea and offering a deeper look inside this tropical tea’s flavor profile. 

Health benefits of hibiscus tea: Is hibiscus tea healthy? 

Hibiscus tea is incredibly healthy, especially in its most basic and unsweetened form. We’ve included the main health benefits of hibiscus tea below: 

1. Lower blood pressure 

According to the CDC, nearly 1 in 2 American adults struggle with hypertension – a condition defined by chronic high blood pressure and spikes. This can be fatal and can lead to lifelong complications such as heart failure, stroke, and other cardiac issues. Lowering blood pressure naturally is key to preemptively managing your risk for hypertension or directly addressing the symptoms of the disease. Hibiscus tea can be especially helpful as it promotes your body’s natural ability to regulate blood pressure and stress-induced vascular strain. 

2. Support liver health 

The liver is a vital organ in your body’s health and wellness process, responsible for metabolism, detoxing, and vitamin and mineral storage. The liver can struggle and be less efficient with high-sugar diets or overuse of alcohol, which are both common occurrences in the daily American diet. Hibiscus tea can naturally address liver strain and fatty build-up and support your liver’s overall function for a higher level of health. 

3. Support health and wellness 

With flu and illness becoming more common, finding sources of natural antioxidants is important to support your overall health and wellness. Many people are looking for a more preventative approach and are choosing to turn to natural sources like tea to support their immune systems.

 Hibiscus tea is a natural source of antioxidants that fight against free radical damage in the body. Antioxidants also stimulate and build your immune system and mitigate the risks you may have for fatal diseases and conditions: such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune conditions. 

4. Weight loss support 

If you’re looking for help managing your weight loss, hibiscus tea can be a healthier alternative to crash diets and juice cleanses. The anthocyanins and phenolic compounds in the tea’s petals and leaves are key to stimulating your metabolism and regulating your body’s natural weight management processes. It also actively works to reduce fat absorption, offering you the potential for lasting results without any radical dietary changes. 

If you do choose to use hibiscus tea for weight loss support, we recommend doing so under the supervision of a trusted medical professional. They’ll be able to evaluate your specific case and physical needs and help you to determine if hibiscus tea is the right choice for your weight management journey. 

5. Lower cholesterol 

There are two types of cholesterol in the body. Ideally, you’ll want higher HDL (high-density lipoprotein) over LDL – or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. LDL has been known as the “bad” cholesterol, as it can lead to arterial blockages, heart disease, and stroke. If you struggle with high cholesterol, you may need medical intervention from your family physician. They’ll be able to prescribe you medication that can help. 

In addition to medication, addressing cholesterol through diet is a useful secondary supportive measure to take, making your medication experience more effective. Hibiscus tea is known to support lower LDL levels in the body due to its naturally occurring bioactive compounds. Regular drinkers saw improvement in just one month, in one of the most recent approved studies. 

What does hibiscus tea taste like? 

Hibiscus tea tastes naturally sweet, light, and floral, giving way to more rich and tart undertones. Many compare the mouthfeel and deeper flavor notes to cranberries, crabapple, or darker tropical fruits, finishing with a clean and refreshing taste that you’ll love. The taste of hibiscus tea may vary depending on how you choose to enjoy your tea. Generally, the lighter notes may come out more with cold brew methods. The tangy-sweet and bold flavors show up more with hotter blends. 

Hibiscus tea is a fantastic herbal tea to blend with, working well with a variety of fruity and floral inclusions. If you like to drink it plain and are looking for ways to spice it up, consider adding in lemons, lemonade, brown sugar, or mint. 

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Tea Health Benefits

Heal Your Skin With Tea

June 8, 2017

Skin problems aren’t just physical. They’re highly emotional. There’s nothing like a big zit or patch of eczema to steal your confidence right when you have a big speech to give or a date to impress. A trip to the dermatologist can be expensive, and perusing the skin care aisle at your local pharmacy can feel overwhelming. But what if the answer to your skinpocalypse was in your teabag? Lucky for us, what’s inside tea—notably, antioxidants—gives your favorite drink a ton of dermatological benefits. Same goes for tea-infused topicals like facemasks and pastes. The skincare boost you’ve been looking for may already be in your cabinet!

Here’s why, briefly:

Tea contains antioxidants. That’s one of those words everybody uses, but what does it really mean? Your body contains something called “free radicals.” These are toxic atoms or molecules that damage cells by oxidizing them, which impedes their ability to function properly and ultimately causes annoying problems like acne and other fun skin problems. But antioxidants work against free radicals by making them to non-toxic. Basically, they cancel out the bad stuff free radicals do, getting rid of your zits and reducing your risk for skin cancer along the way.

Since tea contains antioxidants, it’s an ideal beverage to boost your skin’s health and appearance. Here’s how a few of our favorite teas can improve your skin:

1) Green Tea

Green tea decreases age-related skin inflammation and protects against sunburns. Plus, it reduces dark under-eye patches. When used as a topical in mask form, green tea exfoliates skin and reduces excess oil. Buh-bye shine, hello beautiful, radiant skin. For another trick, try splashing cold green tea directly on your face and watching your large pores shrink right before your eyes. Green tea’s also known to fight acne. Look for products containing at least 1% ECGG (an antioxidant in green tea) and your zits won’t know what hit ‘em. And did we mention consuming green tea fights cancer? What a showoff.

2) Chamomile

People have been using chamomile tea to treat skin problems since the days of the ancient Egyptian and Roman empires. Chamomile tea’s great for fighting dry, patchy skin and inflammatory conditions like rashes and acne. It can also be used to diminish the appearance of pesky acne scars. You can even use a cold chamomile tea bag as a compress to soothe and minimize bug bites. Who knew?

3) Oolong Tea

Feeling younger than you look? An oolong-infused paste can reduce wrinkles, dark spots, and age spots.

4) Kombucha

As we age, our skin naturally gets less elastic. But kombucha improves your skin’s elasticity, giving you a more youthful appearance by reducing lines and wrinkles.

5) Ginger Tea

Patchy, uneven skin got you down? Try drinking ginger tea, known to reduce uneven skin tone. And you thought you needed makeup for that!

7) Oregon Grape Tea

Your gut and your skin are pretty well connected. Oftentimes, a problem in your intestines shows up on your face. Oregon Grape tea contains herbs that detoxify the liver and kidneys, helping clear up the root causes of problems like eczema, acne, psoriasis, and other inflammatory issues.

8) Burdock Root Tea

Burdock removes waste from cells inside the liver, kidney, gall bladder, and lymph system, eradicating the toxins that would otherwise build up and cause perspiration, which in turn causes a bevy of skin problems like acne and eczema. Burdock tea starts acts at the cellular level and works from the inside out to keep your body from becoming overridden with bad stuff that eventually shows itself as a rash, pimple, boil, or carbuncle.

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Tea Health Benefits

Drink These Teas to Be Happy in 2017

December 29, 2016

Do you want 2017 to be your best year yet? Are you ready to start feeling great and getting what you want? Turns out, certain smells can make you happy, so we’re here with the right-smelling teas to make the good times roll all year long. The key to wellness in 2017 could be right under your nose.

1) For Less Stress: PINE NEEDLE TEA

Ever notice how at peace you feel when walking through a forest? You’re not the only one: researchers at Kyoto University conducted a study to measure the health effects of walking through pine forests, colloquioly referred to as “forest bathing” in Japan. They concluded that “forest environments are advantageous with respect to acute emotions, especially among those experiencing chronic stress.” If you can’t teleport to a pine-filled forest when you’re feeling stressed this year, trying drinking pine needle tea. Smelling pine in your cup may be enough to transport you away from your stress into a more relaxed state.

2) For More Rest: LAVENDER TEA

If your New Year’s resolution is to stop watching Netflix until 2 am and get some decent shut eye, try drinking lavender tea before bed this year. According to WebMd, inhaling lavender is used to treat insomnia, pain, and even dementia-related agitation. This calming scent is just what the doctor ordered, so stock up on lavender tea this year: Teavana has a citrus lavender sage herbal tea and a Lavender Dreams White Tea for your sipping pleasure, while Yogi Tea serves up Honey Lavender Stress Relief Tea and Celestial Seasonings whips up its own Organic Herbal Chamomile and Lavender Tea. Lucky for you, the advantageous properties of lavender have been talked up for a long time, so finding lavender tea is relatively easy.

3) For a Better Memory: ROSEMARY TEA

Smelling rosemary may help you remember important things this year. A study conducted by psychologists at Northumbria University in Newcastle found that people who smelled rosemary could perform memory tasks much better than those who did not. If you’ve got a lot on your plate this year, try sipping rosemary tea and see if it becomes easier to remember all the things on your list.  From remembering your four kids’ different pick-up schedules to remembering to take your medicine at the right time, rosemary tea may be the key to keeping it all straight. For your consideration: Tea Forte’s Organic Tangerine Rosemary White Tea and Buddha Teas’ Organic Rosemary Tea.

4) For Athletic Performance: PEPPERMINT TEA

One of the most common goals for the New Year is getting in shape. Whether you’re working toward your first half marathon or a new weightlifting goal, adding peppermint tea to your regimen may help you get there. A study from the University of Mohaghegh’s Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences concluded that athletes who drank water infused with peppermint oil enjoyed better athletic performance and respiratory function. Smelling peppermint and drinking mint tea may keep you from getting out of breath on the treadmill or in the pool, so invest in some peppermint tea for you or the athlete in your life this year. Try Bigelow’s Mint Medley Herbal Tea or Twinings’ Pure Peppermint Tea and then hit the ground running.

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