Garlic controls high blood pressure
Aged garlic extract helps lower blood pressure in patients with treated but uncontrolled high blood pressure.
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Aged garlic extract helps lower blood pressure in patients with treated but uncontrolled high blood pressure.
Garlic is thought to have a blood pressure lowering effect because it stimulates production of certain chemicals like nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which helps relax blood vessels. To assess the efficacy of garlic in lowering blood pressure of hypersensitive patients, researchers studied 50 patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure. The active treatment group received four capsules of aged garlic extract (960 mg containing 2.4 mg S-allylcysteine) daily for 12 weeks, and the control group received matching placebos. The researchers measured the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the participants at baseline, 4, 8 and 12 weeks, and its change over time.
It was found that those with systolic blood pressure above 140 mmHg who took aged garlic extract capsules experienced an average systolic blood pressure 10.2 mmHg lower than the control group, who took a placebo. This lowering of blood pressure is clinically significant, as a drop in systolic blood pressure by 5 mmHg reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by 8 to 20 per cent.
The findings show that garlic extract could be used as an effective supplement for management of uncontrolled high blood pressure.
Garlic is thought to have a blood pressure lowering effect because it stimulates production of certain chemicals like nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which helps relax blood vessels. To assess the efficacy of garlic in lowering blood pressure of hypersensitive patients, researchers studied 50 patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure. The active treatment group received four capsules of aged garlic extract (960 mg containing 2.4 mg S-allylcysteine) daily for 12 weeks, and the control group received matching placebos. The researchers measured the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the participants at baseline, 4, 8 and 12 weeks, and its change over time.
It was found that those with systolic blood pressure above 140 mmHg who took aged garlic extract capsules experienced an average systolic blood pressure 10.2 mmHg lower than the control group, who took a placebo. This lowering of blood pressure is clinically significant, as a drop in systolic blood pressure by 5 mmHg reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by 8 to 20 per cent.
The findings show that garlic extract could be used as an effective supplement for management of uncontrolled high blood pressure.
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