After being diagnosed with high blood pressure your physician may recommend making healthy lifestyle choices. Quitting smoking, getting regular aerobic type exercise, limiting salt, fat and cholesterol intake and managing stress may all be part of the plan. If your blood pressure is dangerously high you may also need to take medication. In addition, including garlic in your daily diet may also help.
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure or hypertension is more common with age and occurs when plaque builds up along arterial walls, restricting the amount of space the blood has to travel through, or from fluid retention that increases the volume of fluid traveling through the blood vessels. Once blood pressure rises above 120/80 mm Hg, you are at a higher risk for heart disease and/or kidney failure, says the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. High blood pressure exists without symptoms so it is important to have it checked regularly. If your pressure is high, adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors and/or take medication to prevent complications.
Garlic and Blood Pressure
While much more research is needed to understand how garlic reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, eating garlic raw, cooking it and adding it to foods or taking garlic supplements may be beneficial for those with hypertension or who are at risk of getting it. Garlic helps to lower cholesterol levels which is important, because high levels of cholesterol contribute to plaque buildup along the blood vessel walls and this makes the arteries hard and narrow. Too much buildup leads to a condition called atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease that raises blood pressure. Garlic's cholesterol-lowering action, may help slow the progression of atherosclerosis and slightly lower blood pressure, reports the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Dosage
Garlic also contains antioxidants that may destroy free radicals that contribute to many conditions including heart disease. Garlic also appears to inhibit the blood from clotting; allowing your blood to flow more easily through the blood vessels. Garlic is considered an alternative remedy so it is not fully regulated when it comes to its medicinal use. This means that the amount and quality of garlic in products vary greatly and since the effects of garlic are not fully understood, there is no known specific dose that lowers blood pressure in all patients. If you decide to try garlic the University of Maryland Medical Center, recommends daily 2 to 4 g of fresh, minced garlic clove; 600 to 1,200 mg daily if using aged garlic extract; two 200 mg tablets three times a day if using freeze-dried garlic; 4 mL daily of fluid garlic extract; 20 mL daily of garlic tincture or 0.03 to 0.12 mL three times daily if using garlic oil.
Safety
Garlic is considered generally safe when taken by mouth, but can cause side effects such as bad breath, a burning sensation in the mouth or stomach, heartburn, gas, nausea, vomiting, body odor and diarrhea. Since garlic inhibits blood clotting it should not be used by people with bleeding disorders or those taking blood-thinning medications. Do not take garlic if your are scheduled for surgery, notes MedlinePlus. It might irritate the stomach and may not be appropriate for those with digestive or gastrointestinal diseases. Garlic supplements interact negatively with other medications so it should only be used under medical supervision.
