Garlic is an herb that belongs to the onion family and has been used as a spice in cooking and as medicine all over the world for thousands of years. The major compound found in garlic is allicin which has antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anti oxidant properties. There are various benefits of using garlic which includes treatment of cough, inhibiting cancer, combats allergies and improves heart amongst others.
However the focus of this write up is on the effect of garlic on blood pressure. Various studies have shown that the use of garlic can help reduce blood pressure, particularly the systolic blood pressure. One of such studies is one carried out by researchers at the department of pharmacology, college of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
The study evaluated the effect of garlic on blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension. 210 patients with stage 1 essential hypertension were divided into 7 groups named as A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Each group comprised of 30 patients. Each patient in group A, B, C, D and E has received garlic tablets at the dose of 300/mg. 600/mg, 900/mg, 1200/mg and 1500/mg in divided doses per day respectively for 24 weeks while Group F & group G were given tablet atenolol and placebo respectively. Blood pressure readings were recorded at weeks 0, 12 and 24. Present study showed significant decrease in both Systolic and Diastolic blood pressure in both dose and duration dependent manner. In each garlic treated group, significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were observed when compared with atenolol and placebo. (Pak J Pharm Sci. 2013 Sep;26(5):859-63.
Despite the various benefits of Garlic, a lot of people find it unpalatable for consumption because of its odor. Allicin which is the active ingredient in garlic is however responsible for this odor. Many processed garlic is being produced in order to reduce the smell and make garlic easy to consume. Some of this processed garlic is made odorless by aging the garlic but this process makes the garlic less effective.
The most effective way of getting the benefits of garlic as tab is to preserve the allicin content by coating it. An example of a coated garlic tab with high allicin content in Nigeria is WASSEN GARLIC.
The WASSEN GARLIC is coated, this preserve the allicin content of the garlic and allows the garlic dissolve in the intestine and not in the stomach so the odor cannot be perceived. One tablet of WASSEN GARLIC provides 1600mcg of allicin (the dose at which there is significant health benefit).
References.
Garlic Beats Best Selling Blood Pressure Drug in New Study; www.healthimpactnews.com.
Rizwan Ashraf, Rafeeq Alam Khan, Imran Ashraf, Abser A. Qureshi. Effects of Allium Sativum (Garlic) on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2013 Sep;26(5); 859-63. PMD:24035939.
Top 10 Health Benefits of Garlic; www.top10homeremedies.com.