There has been a lot of talk over the years about whether there is a link between garlic and blood pressure, and whether you can actually use garlic to lower blood pressure as effectively as expensive prescription drugs. Most studies done to determine whether this is true have actually found that raw garlic does indeed help lower blood pressure, and actually contains many of the same compounds used in prescription drugs.
How Does Garlic Lower Blood Pressure?
The process by which garlic lowers blood pressure is actually a combination of several different factors, all of which build up to a more powerful effect. The different mechanisms of action that help garlic lower blood pressure are:
- Blood Thinner - The first mechanism of action by which garlic can help to lower blood pressure is that it acts as a blood thinner, similar to aspirin or prescription blood thinners. To summarize what exactly happens, garlic interferes with the blood platelets’ ability to bind together and clot, thus thinning the blood and making it flow more easily.
- Arterial Dilation - There are a number of different compounds in garlic that contribute to what is known as arterial dilation, or the relaxing and widening of the blood vessels. As your blood vessels relax and widen, the same amount of blood is able to flow through them without putting as much pressure on the walls of the blood vessels. Garlic contains phosphorus, adenosine, allicin, magnesium, sulfurous compounds, and natural ACE inhibitors. Many of these are actually used in prescription blood pressure medications.
- Hardening of the Arteries - As cholesterol builds up on the artery walls, it narrows the blood vessels and causes the artery walls to harden. Each of these on its own can raise blood pressure, but the effect is stronger when they occur together. Studies have found that regular garlic consumption slows this process as much as 8%.
What makes garlic really interesting when it comes to high blood pressure is that many of the compounds that make garlic effective at lowering blood pressure are very similar to those that go into prescription hypertension medications. Calcium channel blockers (magnesium, etc.), ACE inhibitors, and blood thinners are the most common prescriptions given for hypertension, and garlic has them all bundled up in a tasty little clove with endless culinary possibilities. The downside is that, being a natural product and not a manufactured one, garlic does not have as rapid or dramatic an effect as you would get from a prescription.
Supplements vs. Raw Garlic and Blood Pressure: Which Is Best?
Raw Garlic Contains More Allicin / Photo Credit: Flickr - Robert Benner
There are two different ways that you can take garlic when using it in a medicinal capacity. First, you can simply eat more garlic each day. Most of the clinical studies we discussed used the equivalent of five to ten cloves of fresh garlic per day. If you’re like me and you love garlic, this may not be a problem, but if you don’t like the idea of eating that much garlic blood pressure supplements containing it may be another option.
Garlic high blood pressure supplements are available in a huge variety of dosages from a huge variety of manufacturers. Most of these supplements are that “odorless” variety, in which the garlic is pulverized and mixed in with various fillers in order to dilute the odor and flavor of the garlic, which some people find objectionable.
Some manufacturers opt to age the garlic before processing it in order to achieve the same goal. Allicin, which we discussed before, is the compound responsible for most of garlic’s odor and bite, but it breaks down quickly. Aging the garlic takes advantage of this in order to reduce the odor, but it also effectively reduces the amount of allicin in the supplement, frequently to the point where there is so little that it might as well be a placebo.
This is the danger that you get whenever you take any nutritional supplement based on food – that the natural ingredients that provide the benefit break down or simply are not there. While taking a garlic pill every day is certainly a convenient option, I believe that if you want to get the maximum amount of benefit from a food product, you should simply eat the natural food. Garlic is cheap, tasty, and can easily be worked into just about any dish you can think of. If, however, you choose to go the supplement route, research your supplement and make sure that lab tests confirm that it contains at least 10,000 mcg of allicin in order to receive the most benefit.
Potential Complications of Garlic Supplements
Chopping Garlic Releases More Allicin / Photo Credit: Flickr - James Bowe
The first thing that you need to make sure of is that you do not consume large quantities of garlic alongside other blood pressure medication, particularly blood thinners. The anti-clotting properties of garlic, when combined with the effect of the other drugs, can increase the risk of not only bleeding, but excessive bleeding. If you are preparing for surgery or childbirth, it is vital that you follow your doctor’s instructions in order to prevent potential complications.
There are a few, less severe potential side effects of garlic that you should be aware of, including heartburn, headache, garlic aroma on the skin and breath, upset stomach, and allergic reactions.
I can’t stress strongly enough that if you are already taking any sort of prescription, especially existing blood pressure meds, have a chronic medical condition, or are pregnant, that you consult with your doctor before adding garlic to your regime.
Can garlic lower blood pressure? Scientific studies and anecdotal evidence do seem to bear out the link between garlic and blood pressure reduction. Just be sure that if you choose to take garlic for blood pressure that you either consume the whole food or choose a high-quality supplement in order to ensure that you get enough of the stinky-but-beneficial allicin and that you work with your doctor, especially if you have existing medical problems, in order to maximize the benefit and ensure that your health is protected.
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