A new study that was presented at the annual conference of the American Heart Association states that hibiscus tea significantly lowers blood pressure.

Researchers studies 65 people with high blood pressure and found that those drinking hibiscus tea had an average of 7.2 percent drop in their blood pressure.  This information can be found at Natural News.

Hibiscus has long been used for medical and health purposes.  It strengthens the immune system as well as helps reduce cholesterol.  It cna be used as a relaxant and is a great diuretic.

Hibiscus actually adds a sweet flavor to herbal teas and has long been used by companies like Celestial Seasonings.  In fact, here is a partial list of the Celestial Seasonings teas that contain Hibiscus:

• Red Zinger
• Wild Berry Zinger
• Lemon Zinger
• In fact all of the “Zinger” teas
• Saphara Blackcurrant Hibiscus

There are a number of other brands that carry hibiscus or you can make it youself using the recipe found at Food Network. Hibiscus gives a wonderful, refreshing flavor to teas that makes it perfect for almost anyone.  Teas with hibiscus in them make excellent, natural alternatives to Kool Aid. Between the great flavor and the health benefits Hibiscus tea is a no brainer.

Image:Wikipedia, photographer Aravindan Shanmugasundaram

I really, really liked this tea. It was fruity, with almost a winey flavor. It is more accurately a tisane rather than a tea because it has no tea in it. It is prevalently black currant and blackberry, with the tang of ginseng, sweetened with a little vanilla. Read more

Jennifer and Peggy at Treehugging Family are focusing on Earth Day at b5 all month.

Some of the big environmental issues facing consumers today is greenhouse gas, carbon footprints the size of the Jolly Green Giant, and socio-ethical issues concerning working conditions and Fair Trade for farmers and workers. It can be overwhelming to try to juggle everyone’s needs when you just want a cup of something hot and relaxing!

So, did you ever think about growing your own herbal tea blends? Herbs grow prolifically almost anywhere, do well on windowsills, and in containers, and are easy to transform from fragrant green leaves and colored flowers to a steaming cup of yum. Read more

Mmm. Teavana Raspberry Sangria.  It just sounds good, doesn’t it?  Do you know that I fed the used tea, after I had made my drink, to the chickens and they loved it ?  Why wouldn’t they?   Have you looked at all the dried  fruit in this stuff!

I really, really liked this tea.  It was tangy and fruity with a lot of raspberry flavor.   The aroma drew in every one of the kids in this entire house, no small feat- that, so my recommendation is not to brew it when you want some quiet time. Read more