Many people would love to find a simple, natural approach to getting their blood pressure under control. There is an appeal to avoiding medications with multiple side effects. While you may have to work trying out various foods, diets and exercises that can help to find the ones that work best for you, you’ll probably want to avoid an option that can make you cough, even if it lowers your blood pressure fairly well.
Does Hibiscus Tea Make You Cough?
Q. I started drinking hibiscus tea and shortly developed the same irritating cough as when I was taking lisinopril. When I stopped drinking the tea, the cough was gone.
How Does Hibiscus Tea Work?
A. Hibiscus tea blocks the same enzyme (angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE) as blood pressure pills like lisinopril (Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Sept-Oct, 2015). Some people are very sensitive to this enzyme and they develop uncontrollable coughing while taking such a drug. If you are among them, drinking the tea a few times a day might also make you cough.
For others, however, drinking hibiscus tea is a natural way to help lower blood pressure. We heard from this reader:
“I found hibiscus tea with wild raspberry at the supermarket. This makes a refreshing afternoon pick-me-up without caffeine or sugar.
“Drinking a cup in the morning and another in the afternoon made an immediate difference in my blood pressure. In fact, the one day I didn’t drink the tea, my blood pressure measurement went back up.”
A randomized controlled trial in 65 adults with mild hypertension found that drinking three cups of hibiscus tea daily for six weeks lowered blood pressure more than drinking a red placebo beverage (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Feb., 2010). A review of research has also shown that Hibiscus sabdariffa, the lovely red flower from which hibiscus tea is made, helps to lower blood fats as well as blood pressure in both humans and animals (Fitoterapia, March, 2013).
Hibiscus tea is available online or in most supermarkets. One of the most readily available brands is Celestial Seasonings Zinger line (Red Zinger, Raspberry Zinger, Lemon Zinger, etc.)
What Can You Do About Your Blood Pressure If Hibiscus Tea Makes You Cough?
Luckily, hibiscus tea is not the only option for natural blood pressure control. Drinking beet juice every day has also been shown to reduce moderately elevated blood pressure (Current Cardiology Reports, Dec., 2016). Consuming cocoa flavanols can also benefit blood pressure (Annals of Medicine, 2015). And the research is irrefutable on the blood-pressure-lowering power of the DASH diet (Advances in Nutrition, Jan. 15, 2016). The diet lowers the risk of stroke (Stroke, April, 2016). Unfortunately, however, many people find it challenging to follow a DASH diet, even when the doctor tells them they have hypertension (Preventive Medicine Reports, Sep. 28, 2016).
We discuss details on the DASH diet and many other nondrug approaches to hypertension in our book, Quick & Handy Home Remedies. You can also find information on medications as well as natural treatments for hypertension in our Guide to Blood Pressure Treatment.
