Try the power of flowers for diet and weight loss! Cruciferous plants + Hibiscus tea, boost vitality

If you want to lose weight, you can also try the power of flowers, especially Hibiscus tea. Hibiscus tea, also known as roselle or Jamaica tea, is world-famous for its bright red color and sour cranberry-like flavor. It can be drunk hot or cold. Roselle is the source of the "zing" in Red Zinger tea. I talked about the various benefits of Roselle in the chapter on high blood pressure in the Dietary Bible. In one-on-one comparison tests, roselle performed as well as or better than some antihypertensive drugs.

Within 3 hours of drinking Hibiscus tea, 100 different metabolites were detected in the bloodstream. When we observed the changes in gene expression 3 hours later, we found that metabolism was indeed improved and cholesterol synthesis decreased. However, randomized controlled trials have been unable to reach a consensus on whether Roselle helps lower cholesterol, but an interesting side effect has emerged: weight loss.

In Mexico, the use of Hibiscus sabdariffa tea to treat obesity is a local tradition and has piqued the interest of researchers. Computer modeling studies have shown that certain Hibiscus compounds may bind to the fat-digesting enzyme lipase, like a key in a lock. Test-tube studies screening a wide range of medicinal plants found that Roselle was indeed more potent than other plants in inhibiting lipase. Roselle was also found to reduce body fat and increase fecal fat excretion in hamsters, mice, and rats. It's just that no one has conducted human trials on this until recently.

When designing the randomized, double-blind trial, the researchers did not try to mix their own placebo tea with artificial colors and flavors. Instead, they dried the Hibiscus tea into a powder and put it into the capsules. After 12 weeks, those who took Hibiscus tea capsules had a greater reduction in waist circumference and body fat percentage compared to those who took placebo capsules. The dose of Hibiscus capsules these people took was equivalent to drinking 9 cups of Hibiscus tea per day. I recommend that you limit your intake to a quart or less per day, as Hibiscus tea is high in manganese. (Manganese is an essential trace mineral for the human body. Although it is a good thing, drinking 9 cups a day is too much).

Finally, a study was published in 2018 that used a reasonable dose—about one 12-ounce cup of tea per day. There was another complication with the study: the researchers added lemon verbena (another well-known herbal tea) to the tea. Lemon verbena can help people recover after high-intensity strength training, but some test-tube research data showed that lemon verbena would affect fat cells in a petri dish, so the researchers tried mixing them, about 1.5 cups of roselle tea and 1/4 cup of lemon verbena tea, drinking it once a day for two months.

Both the tea and placebo groups were prescribed an equal calorie diet, but the group randomly assigned to drink tea lost more weight—8 pounds, while the placebo group only lost 5 pounds. In fact, you only lose 1 pound more per month, but you can lose 1 pound more per month under the condition of the same calorie intake, which is the benefit of fat blocking intervention - allowing you to actually lose more calories: not only does it reduce hunger, but it can also prolong the feeling of fullness, hoping to motivate you to continue to reduce calorie intake.

Why not just use the tablets instead of brewing a tea? There are a variety of herbal extract supplements on the market, but the question is, do we have enough knowledge to extract the right active ingredients? For example, the fat-blocking effect does not appear to come from the red anthocyanins in Roselle, as white Roselle appears to have a similar effect.

When we extracted various compounds in Hibiscus tea and tested them by mixing them in different ways, we found an additive effect, meaning that the overall effect of the mixture may be greater than the sum of the effects of the individual ingredients.

Aside from being careful about manganese, the only remaining downside to hibiscus tea is that it may erode enamel. No matter what acidic food you eat (such as citrus fruits), you must rinse your mouth with water after eating to remove the natural acid on the surface of the teeth and protect your teeth. However, you should wait at least 1 hour after a meal before brushing your teeth to avoid damaging the softened enamel.

A thought-provoking lesson on weight loss

The best sources of fat blockers (thylakoids and calcium) are low-oxalate, dark green leafy vegetables, basically all green vegetables except spinach, beets, and chard. First of all, I encourage you to eat plenty of dark green vegetables every day because they are some of the healthiest foods on the planet. Green vegetables are the answer to the question, “What if the lowest-calorie food in the world also happened to have the highest nutritional value?” If you agree with this advice (and you should!), then eat any of these wonderful green vegetables!

If you only eat an average serving of green vegetables (say, 1 serving per day), then it doesn't matter which dark green leafy vegetable you choose. I've always loved spinach, beets, and chard, but it's possible to eat too much of them. While I would love to strive for a pound of leafy greens per day, to ensure I don’t eat more than 1 or 2 servings of high-oxalate foods a day, I mostly choose kale, collard greens, and arugula, all of which happen to have the added bonus of being cruciferous. And while you are enjoying the vegetables, you can also pair them with a cup of Hibiscus tea to boost your energy.

This article is from the book "The Diet Bible for Weight Loss: Ultimate Weight Loss" by Sancai Culture, author: Dr. Mike Greger