What’s red, beautiful to the eye, slightly tart, makes for a refreshing beverage warm or cold, and can benefit our heart and blood vessels when consumed regularly?

According to a 2013 research article, this medicinal plant has shown blood pressure-lowering and total cholesterol-reducing effects while being very low on the toxicity spectrum. A 2007 study also found it to exert a beneficial influence on blood pressure

Matter of fact, if you’ve ever enjoyed agua de jamaica while dining at your favorite Mexican restaurant you already know about it!

Summer, in the doctrine of the Five Phases (a system of correspondences in the natural world that’s deeply influenced the theories of Traditional Oriental Medicine), is associated with the color red, the Organ Systems of Heart and Small Intestine, and the tissue category of the Vessels. The subject of today’s post is thus a fitting one in the context of our present position in the annual cycle.

Dried hibiscus flowers (Hibiscus sabdariffa) are commonly available in bagged form at supermarkets. If you’re not already familiar with this red gem, open up your world and do your heart/vessels a favor by investing in a box next time you’re at the grocery store. Enjoy a cup or two daily with a little sweetener to balance out the tartness.

Consider it one beneficial system input. Of course, you know that this is not going to cancel out the effects of detrimental habits like chronic anger/fear, unskillful dietary habits, and poor sleep through which we insidiously burden our systems and make the heart and other organs sick–no, thankfully you’re not that naive. For those serious about the preventive wellness lifestyle, there’s work to do on multiple fronts.

And if you are currently on drug regimens for lowering blood pressure &/or cholesterol, by no means is this a recommendation to stop that regimen. Do the right thing and discuss any plans with your attending provider!

I myself have just recently been put on to the health benefits of this flower. One morning, I had boiled water for my post-morning-coffee tulsi infusion only to find out that our stash was empty. Not wanting to waste the precious effort I had invested (so complicated, I know), I decided to grab a bag of wifey’s hibiscus blend that had been sitting neglected on the shelf for a few months and see what that was about. A frosty, crimson-hued beverage resulted by steeping the bag per box directions, adding a small portion of sugar to the hot liquid, then topping off with ice cubes til the desired taste and chilliness was obtained.

While at work enjoying the company of my new plant friend, the herbalist in me decided to get nerdy and do some research on its health benefits. Oh–it’s red, and it benefits the heart and vessels!? Wait, and it’s summer too?! Whuut–I like it! Hope you find it a beneficial addition to your own health regimen as well.

PS: Acupuncture can also be a beneficial system input, helping to alleviate anxiety, reduce the stress response in the nervous-endocrine-immune complex, and improving sleep quality. Justin Jaucian, L.Ac is currently accepting new patients in Hillsborough, NJ! Learn more about Justin and the positive experiences of real-life patients.

If you have true faith in God, then you cannot harm nature. This is because true faith shows us that Nature is Divine and not separate from our own Self.

—Ammachi, in 108 Quotes on Faith, #100

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