Drink hibiscus tea, always and in every season, this is the message of recent scientific research. In fact, scholars have shown that hibiscus flowers, used for the preparation of the infusion, counteract inflammation and fatty liver, as we will see in more detail below (Prasomthong et al, Sci Rep, 2022).
Hibiscus, liver and cholesterol, the study
The study is small and has currently only been performed on animals, but in any case it is very useful as it allows us to understand how healthy hibiscus can be. The mice in the experiment were fed a high-fat diet for 8 weeks. This type of diet leads, just like in humans, to an increase in blood sugar and circulating fats. Part of the mice were given a drink prepared with hibiscus flower powder, another part was given a statin and yet another part was kept as a control. Well, the hibiscus drink was found to be useful and effective, more than other treatments, in counteracting hepatic steatosis induced by an unbalanced diet. Not only that, hibiscus reduced liver inflammation, insulin resistance, which is the precursor to diabetes, but also total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as increasing good HDL cholesterol.
Conclusions
Hibiscus taken as a drink has been shown to reduce inflammation and protect the liver, counteract hepatic steatosis, high cholesterol and insulin resistance. Overall, not bad at all! Of course, the study is small and refers to results obtained on animals, so further work will have to be carried out to evaluate the effects on humans too, but we can well hypothesize that the same applies to people too. In addition, other previous works have demonstrated the healthy properties of hibiscus tea on humans, such as antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-hypertensive, kidney-protective and anti-anemic properties. So, we really have so many great reasons to drink hibiscus tea, always!
Hibiscus tea, preparation
As regards the preparation of hibiscus tea, this is really simple. Bring a liter of water to the boil. Remove from heat and add two tablespoons of dried hibiscus flowers, let sit for about 6-8 minutes. Filter and drink hot or cold. And to give it even more flavor and health properties, you can also add star anise, a couple of cloves, a cinnamon stick, ginger and orange peel to the infusion.