Hibiscus tea, also known as Roselle or Jamaica, is enjoyed around the world hot or cold

for its bright red color and tart cranberry-like flavor.

It's the Zing in Red Zinger tea.

Now, talk about its benefits in the chapter on high blood pressure and how not to die,

working as well as some leading anti-hypertensive medications in head-to-head tests,

or even beating the drugs out.

Within three hours of drinking hibiscus tea changes in

hundreds of metabolites can be detected in the human bloodstream with creative names like

hibiscus acid or hibiskin or hibisitrin. Alterations in human gene expression

of the three-hour mark after drinking it suggests a down-regulation

of cholesterol synthesis and an improvement in metabolism, but randomized control trials failed

to consistently find cholesterol-lowering benefits.

An interesting side effect popped up, though.

Weight loss.

In Mexico, hibiscus tea has been traditionally used as a treatment for obesity, sparking lots of research interest.

Computer modeling studies have suggested that certain hibiscus compounds might bind to the fat-digesting enzyme lipase like a lock-in key.

Test tube studies screening a variety of medicinal plants did indeed find hibiscus inhibited light paste more than most

of the others, and hibiscus has been found to reduce body fat in hamsters, mice, and rats,

increasing fecal fat excretion, but it wasn't tested in people until this study published

in 2014.

The title gives the findings away.

Spoiler alert,

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