Never mind the effect on your breath, dietary supplements with garlic (Allium sativum) show it helps reduce hypertension (blood pressure) according to a meta-analysis of seven randomised controlled trials.
Garlic has long been considered extremely healthy but a recent study in the journal Phytomedicine corroborates many other studies that this pungent vegetable is extremely good at reducing both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by on average 6.71 mmHg and 4.79 mmHg, respectively.
To quote from the study (Xiong et al., 2015);
“The present meta-analysis suggests that garlic is an effective and safe approach fro the management of hypertension, which may be an alternative therapy in patients with a history of AEs related to antihypertensive drugs.”
The study was conducted by the China Academy of Chinese medical Sciences looking at articles identified by PubMed, the Cochrane Library and EMBASE . From this search, seven randomised placebo-controlled trials compared garlic with a placebo in hypertensives. Assessing and pooling data, then statistically analysing it showed the significant reduction in measures of blood pressure. Importantly, no serious adverse events were identified either.
The main beneficial compound is allicin which is formed when bulbs are crushed to release diallyl sulphide.
Supplements for garlic have the benefit that they do not have the strong pungent odours that can come when it is consumed fresh, but still offer the cardiovascular health benefits and improve the immune system.
Xiong, X. J., Wang, P. Q., Li, S. J., Li, X. K., Zhang, Y. Q., & Wang, J. (2015). Garlic for hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Phytomedicine, 22(3), pp. 352-361.
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