Garlic – Can it help High Blood Pressure?
I was interested in an article by Victoria Fletcher in the Daily Express on Friday 1st August. She writes about new research at the Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics at Sheffield University in the UK which has discovered that taking garlic every day can be just as effective as drugs for lowering blood pressure.
Blood pressure reduction
In the research at Sheffield University those patients who took a garlic supplement every day for up to five months experienced a significant drop in their blood pressure. In some patients this reduction in blood pressure was the same as that experienced by patients who take drugs such as ACE inhibitors and beta blockers.
Dr Tim Chico, a cardiologist from the research team at Sheffield said: “The reduction in blood pressure is not trivial, it is the same as gained from taking pills.”
However, he admitted that they did not know if garlic works as effectively as pills in the long term or if it would reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. He said “I was surprised at the extent of blood pressure reduction seen with garlic.”
According to the Daily Express article over 16 million Britons have been diagnosed as suffering from high blood pressure which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. This is a serious health problem and we should all try and avoid it if possible.
The importance of a healthy lifestyle
Of course the most effective way of reducing high blood pressure is to have a healthy lifestyle: to exercise, lose weight, cut our stress levels and reduce our alcohol, red meat and salt intake. Garlic should be used in addition to these, not instead of them.
The health advantages of garlic are well-known: it is believed to lower cholesterol and has antibacterial and antiviral properties, a natural antibiotic and good for detox (It’s not just for keeping vampires at bay! – Beeble)
Garlic and Cancer
There is also evidence to suggest that raw or cooked garlic (not supplements in this case) can help protect against stomach and bowel cancers.
Sources and further reading:
Daily Express:
Garlic and cancer:
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/954275.stm
- http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Prevention/garlic-and-cancer-prevention
