Garlic And Blood Pressure – Examining The Link

When it comes to the many health benefits of this wonderful herb, what is the connection between garlic and blood pressure?

Garlic, that magical member of the onion family, has been part of human consumption for over 7,000 years. The health benefits of garlic have been discussed throughout time and the effects of garlic have been widely studied.

One of the benefits of garlic has been its clear property of lowering high blood pressure. High blood pressure is also known as hypertension and it’s rather common today especially among the older population. Blood pressure can be related to other conditions and if untreated can affect health in general. The most common symptoms to look out for are dizziness and headaches.

A systematic study review in 2007 by Doctor Karin Ried and her colleagues from the University of Adelaide found out that garlic powder reduced blood pressure more then inactive placebo pills. The study was published in the scientific journal Maturitas. Over 70% of the participants were reported to have positive results to their blood pressure levels after taking just two garlic tablets a day.

The garlic in this study was aged garlic and Doctor Ried believes it to be more beneficial to blood pressure than fresh garlic. This is suggested to be because older garlic stimulates the production of chemicals called nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) more efficiently. These two chemicals are vital in helping blood vessels to relax.

Aged garlic extract has been also found very beneficial in studies conducted at the Brown University School of Medicine. In their studies, men with high levels of cholesterol and blood pressure were provided with aged garlic extract and measured after monthly intervals. The study concluded that as well as lowering cholesterol, the levels of systolic blood pressure also decreased by 5.5%. Smaller decreases were also evident in diastolic pressure.

Doctor Alan Tsai from Michigan School of Health has also noted that populations that have high consumption of garlic have lower incidence of cardiovascular and other related diseases, though he doesn’t want to attribute it solely to garlic consumption. Yet it is still beneficial to include garlic in your regular diet.

In what other ways are garlic and blood pressure linked?

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