Garlic (
Allium sativum) has been used as a spice, food, and medicine for over 5,000 years, and is one of the earliest documented herbs utilized for the maintenance of health and treatment of disease. Garlic has blood pressure-lowering properties and the mechanism of action is biologically plausible.
Hypertension affects about 30% of adults worldwide. It is dangerous because it makes the heart work too hard and contributes to atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries), besides increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
In one study, garlic supplements have shown promise in the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension, lowering blood pressure (BP) by about 10 mmHg systolic and 8 mmHg diastolic, similar to standard BP medication (
Integr Blood Press Control. 2014; 7: 71–82. Published online 2014 Dec 9. doi: 10.2147/IBPC.S51434).
A total of 79 general practice patients with uncontrolled systolic hypertension participated in a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled dose–response trial of 12 weeks. The trial suggests aged garlic extract (better than garlic power, garlic oil and raw or cooked garlic) to be an effective and tolerable treatment in uncontrolled hypertension, and may be considered as a safe adjunct treatment to conventional antihypertensive therapy (
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jan; 67(1): 64–70. Published online 2012 Nov 21. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2012.178).
Blood pressure lowering effects of garlic
