Aged Garlic Extract Lowers Blood Pressure

* By Liza Kappelle

* From: AAP

* August 16, 2010 1:25PM

The humble garlic bulb has a big reputation in herbal lore for
curing almost everything from the common cold to the plague.

Now it is lowering blood pressure.

A new study shows aged extract of garlic might be able to help
lower blood pressure in the 3.7 million Australians who suffer
from hypertension.

Karin Ried from University of Adelaide’s Discipline of General
Practice has conducted a 12-week trial with 50 people that shows
garlic could be used as an adjunct to conventional drugs for
hypertension

“There is a large proportion of people out there who are on
medication and some people are on four different types but they
still have high blood pressure, it is uncontrolled,” Dr Ried said.

“When we gave them this garlic supplement we were able on
average to reduce their blood pressure under the hypertension
threshold – so garlic might be a good complementary treatment
option to control hypertension.”

Raw, cooked and garlic powder aren’t as effective as carefully aged
garlic extract.

“You know what is in there and it is stable for a long period of
time.

“Garlic powder is not as stable and you don’t know the dose you

are taking, and garlic oil doesn’t contain the active substance. Aged
garlic is prepared in a special process but you can buy it in the
shops here.”

Her team found that those with systolic blood pressure above
140 who took the four aged garlic extract capsules each day
experienced an average systolic blood pressure 10.2mmHg lower
than the control group, who took a placebo.

Garlic is thought to have an antihypertensive effect because it
stimulates production of certain chemical substances called nitric
oxide and hydrogen sulphide, which helps relax blood vessels.

The team also recently found that dark chocolate was also effective
in reducing high blood pressure.

“It doesn’t work as well as garlic but it is more loved, and the
drawback is it is not really practical for long term use.”

About 30 per cent of Australian adults are hypertensive, yet only
half are on blood pressure medication and 60 per cent of those are
inadequately controlled.

“If garlic gave an answer that would help quite a lot of people,” she
said.

Garlic has a history of being used as a cure-all and a protection
herb. It gained fame during the years of the Black Death after four
thieves apparently fended off the plague by using antiseptic garlic
vinegar.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/
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