Title of Project: Using Lemongrass tea to lower High blood pressure
Name: Jon Javi Moreno
Email: jonjavim@gmail.com
Address: #36 Caracol Street, Orange Walk Town, Belize C.A
Phone No. of School:
Name of teacher:
Carlo Benavidez
Email: carlobenavidez@gmail.com
Address of teacher: 54 Liberty Avenue, Orange Walk Town, Belize.
Signature of teacher:
Date:
Category A
Abstract:
Aren’t you tired of having to miss work and having your doctor on speed dial? High Blood
Pressure is not something that anyone wants, it’s one of the most common conditions that exists
in the community. High blood pressure is when the force of the blood against your artery walls is
high. High blood pressure eventually causes many health problems such as heart disease. Having
high blood pressure demands that you be on medication every single day. Have you ever thought
of a new and innovative way to lower your blood pressure without taking those provoking pills?
Well, there is. In this experiment I propose to use lemongrass tea, Cymbopogon citratus, as an
alternative treatment for hypertension. Using lemongrass tea is both a healthy and a moneysaving alternative remedy to combat this deadly disease. The tea provides excellent blood
pressure-lowering, hypotensive, factors. The high potassium content promotes diuresis thereby
helping to lower and regulate blood pressure. Also, citral is another main factor found in lemon
grass that aids in lowering blood pressure. Limited studies have also shown lemon grass to have
potential anticarcinogenic and hypoglycemic activity in the body. Regularly drinking lemongrass
tea is encouraged. High blood pressure can cause extensive damage to the body and may result in
artery damage, an aneurysm and as well heart failure. This proposed remedy can be very useful
to many adults suffering from hypertension because it is very fast-acting and isn’t a hazard to the
body. Lemongrass tea provides alleviation in just minutes of taking it and allows an individual
to work and continue with their daily lifestyle without having to worry.
Problem Statement
In Belize, cooking foods with processed oils and relying on fast-food has led to a host of
nutritional disorders. The main problem that many of my fellow Belizeans face is high blood
pressure. Belizean food contains a lot of salt and fat which contributes to high blood pressure and
sickens the person. On the other hand, many Belizeans that have busy work schedules rely on
buying food from street vendors, Chinese restaurants, and good old canned foods that often
contain high amounts of fat and salt. Alcohol also is another variable that weighs in when it
comes to high blood pressure. Small to moderate amounts of alcohol may actually lower your
blood pressure, but drinking too much alcohol can increase your blood pressure. Repeated
drinking can lead to long-term blood pressure problems and alcoholism is definitely on the rise
in Belize. Many working adults suffer from High Blood Pressure which deprives them from
doing the stuff they want and also distracts them from working properly. Working adults spend
more time worrying about their health than doing their job, and this causes tension in the
workplace. High blood pressure just doesn’t affect the person suffering from it, but also affects
everybody. The family is affected because much of their funds needs to be spent on costly
medication. A sick population is not efficient, so many hours of work will be lost due to
absences related to this illness. This problem affects us all, and it needs to be solved in order for
the health and efficiency of this country to improve.
Objectives:
The purpose of this experiment is to propose an alternative, natural, and economic
treatment for high blood pressure. Solving high blood pressure will in turn solve many problems
at home and at the work place which are directly a result of this deadly disease. A home
remedy is a treatment to cure a disease or ailment that employs certain spices, vegetables, or
other common items. Natural home remedies are far cheaper to produce, and may have lasting
effects on the body. Since more and more people are living in urban areas, medicinal plants,
fruits, vegetables, and spices can easily be acquired in local supermarkets and in backyards.
More effective, natural home remedies can treat a wide range of minor illnesses. Over the
counter medicines contain several ingredients that attack the intended ailments however, it does
not stop there. Many of the medications have a list of side effects that are prone to make the
individual feel even sicker. Homemade remedies rarely have any side-effects and do more good
than bad. Therefore, I propose to use Lemongrass tea as a homemade remedy to lower high
blood pressure.
Approach:
This section presents my plan for obtaining the objectives discussed in the previous
section. There have been many cases of working adults that suffer from high blood pressure.
According to many articles and interviews from doctors, the numbers will continue to rise
because of the hassle in their lives. My research has made me fully aware of the problem and has
given me a way to solve it.
My first goal is to explain why adults should not take high blood pressure lightly. High
blood pressure causes many interruptions of a person’s daily lives. It is through this that the use
of a homemade remedy would be the perfect solution to lower high blood pressure instead of
buying medication. A homemade remedy is an excellent solution because it is cost efficient, easy
to find, has fewer side effects and it seems to help more than normal medication. The question
that is causing inference is: Will a homemade remedy work? To achieve this I will depend on the
research I find.
The next step of my plan is to find if lemongrass would help in lowering high blood
pressure. This will be done by the person suffering from high blood pressure to take the tea daily
and notice if his blood pressure remains the same or decreases.
Firstly, in the first month of the experiment the lemongrass plant would be obtained from
a local citizen and planted in the School of Muffles College. The reason to ask a citizen for a
piece of the plant is to save money and as well the plant is easily grown and does not take much
time to grow. The lemongrass would be left alone for one month in order to allow it to grow and
in result it will have a good amount of leaves. At least ten volunteers will be needed for this
experiment so ten individual plants will be planted for each one.
When getting the ten volunteers many factors are to be taken in consideration. First, the
sex of the volunteer should be taken because the normal pressure for a woman differs from a
man. Secondly, another factor would be the age of the person and as well the weight should be
taken. Inquiries of their life style should be made such as: Do u exercise daily? What is your
usual menu for food? Is there any medical history pertaining to High blood pressure? This would
be done in month two of the plan.
As well in month two, readings of the volunteer’s blood pressure should be taken before
the experiment starts. This will help to determine the changes of blood pressure along the course
of the experiment. This reading is to be taken from a medical expert in the area so as to minimize
errors in the readings. The medical expert should have taken into consideration all the inquiries
made such as the ones stated in the previous paragraph.
Continuing in month two of the experiment the leaves of the plant would be cut. The
plant was left untouched for a whole month in order for it to grow. This is done because it is time
to move on to the fourth step of the project, making the tea. When cutting the leaves they must
cut the longer leaves and cut the ends. When cutting leaves from the plant it is better to cut from
the center first then to the sides so as to proportionate the plant. The cutting of the leaves should
be done by the students in since the plants are planted to the school and then distributed to the 10
participants.
When making the tea accurate measurement should be taken. The materials needed
would me a measuring cup, a gallon of water, lemongrass leaves, sugar, a pot, a stove and a
spoon. Making a pot of the tea will be money efficient because gas will not need to be wasted
every day just to make a little amount of tea. When a whole pot is done the remainder can me
stored in the refrigerator and can be reheated. One cup and a half of leaves first should be folded
and then tied in a knot and placed into one gallon of water. Then the pot should be placed on the
stove and left to be boiled for a time of seven minutes. After it has been boiled the juice from the
lemongrass should be dissolved into the water. That pot should be able to give for a week. Every
day the volunteer drinks the tea, three teaspoons of sugar may be added to give more taste to the
tea.
For two months the participant will drink the tea daily, at the end of every week the blood
pressure of the participant will be taken to see the progress of the experiment. Day by day the
progress will be noted and the inference should be plausible in which that the lemongrass tea
does lower the blood pressure.
Lemongrass tea was found out to be an alternative instead of taking medication because it
of its entailments and the ability to lower blood pressure. The tea is something that is delicious
and many people would be able to drink. Drinking lemon grass tea does not only aid in lowering
high blood pressure but also gives aid with other problems.
After the tea has been drank daily for two months a final blood pressure reading would be
taken and it will be compared from the initial blood pressure to the final reading. This would
show the results if the lemongrass tea truly does aid in the lowering of blood pressure.
When the final results are obtained a final inference can be made of what exactly the
lemongrass has that it has the capability to lower blood pressure. When this is done everybody in
the community would be alerted of the new and innovative on how you can handle high blood
pressure.
The Competition:
Using lemongrass provides a better solution to lowering hypertension (high blood
pressure). Why you may ask? Well, many pharmaceutical companies have developed a wide
range of different drugs to aid in the lowering of high blood pressure but none come cheap. In
this experiment using lemongrass it provides relief to the community because the plant is most
common in Belize. My community uses the plant to aid in helping fever but many do not know
the full advantages of lemon grass. According to research ‘Zestrial’ is one of the most popular
drugs to lower hypertension one tablet contains 20 mg and the dosage is one pill every day the
prices ranges from six dollars to fifteen US. This experiment has a high advantage because the
lemongrass does not need to be bought but just is necessary to plant it in their yard. My
community would love the idea of drinking lemongrass tea because it is cheap and very easy to
find and delicious to drink.
Resources Needed:
Item
Lemongrass
Water
Sugar *optional
Amount
2 cups
1 gallon of water
3 teaspoons
Price
Can be planted
Price of 5 gallon: $1.25 US
Price of 1 lb. sugar: $0.25 US
Table above shows the making of a pot of lemongrass tea to give for a whole week.
*Lemon grass can be planted very easily and grows as fast as normal grass, it can be provided
from a local citizen.
People to help contribute their assistance:
-Students & Teachers
-School
-Citizens of Orange Walk
- Gardener
Project Timetable:
1. Plant lemon
grass plant
Performed
by
Students
2. Take initial
Consultant
pressure of
person
suffering from
high blood
pressure and
ask inquiries
3. Cut leaves of Students
plant
4. Make and
Give tea to
citizens
suffering from
high blood
pressure
5. Allow person
to drink tea
and record
pressure by
the end of
every week
for 2 months
Citizens(
people who
suffer high
blood
pressure)
Month
1
Month 2
Month 3
Use of Stem:
The idea of using a homemade remedy incorporates science because it looks at
mechanisms in the body which regulate high blood pressure. High blood pressure is when the
force of the blood against your artery walls is high. It may be question on why lemongrass tea
helps lower high blood pressure. The reason is simple: Being a detoxifier, lemongrass contains
citral that removes excess cholesterol, uric acid, toxins and fats from the body. This stimulates
blood circulation throughout the body. If you drinking a glass of lemongrass herbal tea everyday
it will help reduce blood pressure. It is the citral in the lemongrass that aids the lowering of high
blood pressure. Citral has a molecular formula of C10H16O.
Community Involvement and Community Impact
The project would first be brought up to the principal of my high school then it will be
made aware to the board of governors on the idea. If they do approve, the project should be
informed to the parents and from there it will be informed to the community. The community
would be provided with thorough facts and the way the project would be done. Once it is proven
that the lemongrass tea is an alternative to the medication to lower high blood pressure it should
have a positive impact on the community. If the project is successful many individuals from the
community would take up this experiment because they would not want to suffer from any
illness and as well would not want to pay money for medication and consultation. They would be
relieved since the lemongrass is something easy to plant and is able to grow in this weather. The
tea would also serve as an alternative to drinking coffee in the morning and as well it would be
delicious on a hot day when prepared like iced-tea. This project would certainly get a good
impact on my community because they now know how to lower high blood pressure.
References:
1. http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-make-lemongrass-tea#b
2. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-bloodpressure/art-20045868
3. http://juicing-for-health.com/basic-nutrition/healing-vegetables/health-benefits-oflemongrass.html
4. http://www.healthline.com/health/high-blood-pressure-hypertension/foods-toavoid#Overview1