Flower power wilts LDL

Better Nutrition, Dec, 2004

Hibiscus flower extract may help cut cholesterol and heart disease--thereby joining the ranks of heart-disease-fighting red wine and tea--according to a new Taiwanese study.

The new research concludes that components of hibiscus extract can modify LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, rendering it less able to invade blood vessel walls where it contributes to atherosclerosis. These animal studies showed that the extract reduces cholesterol in animals, and it "may be useful in the prevention, or even treatment, of a number of cardiovascular diseases in which atherosclerosis plays a major role," write the researchers in the September 2004 issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

The type of hibiscus flower used in this experiment was Hibiscus sadariffa L, which is grown in China, Taiwan and India, and is used in Taiwanese soft drinks and herbal medicines.