Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Four weeks of daily supplementation with either 10 mg of Hibiscus –derived anthocyanins or 10 mg of Lisinopril demonstrated that hibiscus is as significantly effective in improving blood pressure values and increasing urine volume and creatine clearance as Lisinopril.

hibiscusHibiscus sabdariffa is a popular herb used for medicinal purposes throughout the world. In Nigeria, it is used to make a popular beverage called ‘Zobo’ 1 that is consumed to help treat health conditions such as high blood pressure, anemia, cancer 2,3 and kidney stones 4. While the blood pressure-lowering effects of hibiscus have been demonstrated in humans in 2004 5, 2010 6, and 2015 7 studies, a 2017 study 8 has shown that hibiscus not only helps maintain a healthier blood pressure, but it does not harm kidney function. Kidney function can be harmed by high blood pressure 9, so it’s important that treatments for high blood pressure do not cause further harm to kidney function.

The 2017 study involved 78 subjects (45 men, 33 women) aged 43 to 53 who were recently diagnosed with mild hypertension (as defined as by the World Health Organization 10) but had not yet started any medical treatment. They were divided into three groups for 4 weeks:

  • Hibiscus (26 subjects): 150 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight of hibiscus in a drink as prepared in previous studies 5. This provided about 10 milligrams of anthoycyanins per day.
  • Medical treatment (26 subjects): 10 milligrams lisinopril per day
  • Placebo (control group = 26 subjects)

Before and after the study, diastolic and systolic blood pressure was measured and urine samples were taken to measure kidney function.

After 4 weeks, researchers noted the following changes in blood pressure, with Hibiscus not only reaching statistical significance versus placebo (p < 0.001) but also the same statistical significance versus Lisinopril (p < 0.001):

HibiscusLisinoprilPlacebop-value
Urine volume
(mL)
64% increase
(1250 to 2050)
37% increase
(1240 to 1700)
1.8% increase
(1375 to 1400)
< 0.001
Creatinine clearance
(mL / min)
7.9% increase
(101 to 109)
5% increase
(100 to 105)
1% decrease
(102 to 101)
< 0.001

Regarding kidney function, researchers assessed two overall measures of kidney function, creatinine clearance and urine volume over a 24-hour period 11. Hibiscus again reached statistical significance versus both placebo (p < 0.001) and Lisinopril (p < 0.001):

HibiscusLisinoprilPlacebop-value
Diastolic blood pressure
(mmHg)
12.2% decrease
(99 to 87)
9% decrease
(100 to 91)
1.1% decrease
(99 to 98)
< 0.01
Systolic blood pressure
(mmHg)
11.1% decrease
(154 to 137)
8% decrease
(151 to 139)
0.7% decrease
(153 to 152)
< 0.01

When suggesting mechanisms for how hibiscus produces these benefits to blood pressure, the researchers cited research showing that hibiscus increases the ability of blood vessels to relax (called “vasodilation”) 12 and also affects a frequent target of blood pressure medications, an enzyme in the kidney called angiotensin-converting enzyme 5,13.

Although a weakness in this study was the homogenous population studied, the researchers concluded that “Consumption of hibiscus with a standardized amount of 10.04 mg anthocyanins improved renal function in patients with mild to moderate hypertension, with better effects than lisinopril”. They added that “Further research is required to explore the possibility of utilizing our important finding and integrating it into our National Health Care Program since hibiscus is easily available and affordable in Nigeria.”

Source: Nwachukwu et al 2017. Does consumption of an aqueous extract of Hibscus sabdariffa affect renal function in subjects with mild to moderate hypertension?J Physiol Sci (2017) 67:227–234; DOI 10.1007/s12576-016-0458-z

© The Physiological Society of Japan and Springer Japan 2016

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted March 10, 2017.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

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