Did you know that garlic naturally lowers blood pressure and LDL cholesterol?
This was just one of the interesting pieces of information that I happened to come accross whilst researching in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing how garlic relaxes blood vessel tension by a whopping 72%.1
But, most doctors rely almost entirely on drugs to lower blood pressure. It is just amazing to find out how many people out there are on beta blockers, for instance. These very commonly used drugs have the worst side effects like apathy, constant fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, depression, and impotence.
Some of garlic's other health benefits are also well documented. Yet these findings have been largely ignored. It's been over a decade since studies proved that garlic significantly lowers serum cholesterol and triglycerides while raising HDL (good) cholesterol.2 Even the conservative American Heart Association has concluded that garlic stops artery clogging and lowers blood pressure.3
Garlic's health benefits go even farther than just heart health--another recent study found that garlic can kill off certain kinds of malignant cancer cells.4 With findings like these, you'd think mainstream medicine would recommend garlic. But, drug companies can't profit from garlic, so they push prescription drugs.
Did you know;
In ancient times, Greek and Roman soldiers ate garlic before going off to war, to enhance their strength and endurance.
Inhibits cholesterol accumulation
Garlic reduces the risk for heart attack and stroke
Garlic may be effective against drug-resistant bacteria
This spice may have protective effects against cancer
Garlic is an Infection Fighting, Heart Protective Powerhouse
Researchers have revealed that as allicin digests in your body it produces sulfenic acid, a compound that reacts faster with dangerous free radicals than any other known compound. This is one of the reasons why garlic is considered to be one of the top seven anti-aging foods you can consume.
Garlic is also a triple threat against infections, offering antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. Not only is it effective at killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including MRSA, but it also fights yeast infections, viruses and parasites.
Garlic also helps relax and enlarge the blood vessels in your body, improving blood flow, especially to your heart. This can help prevent conditions like high blood pressure and life-threatening events such as a heart attack or stroke. Garlic also inhibits the formation of plaques in your arteries, and prevents cholesterol from becoming oxidized, a condition that may contribute to heart disease. This powerhouse food is also known to help increase your protection against at least five forms of cancer: breast, colon, ovarian, prostate and esophageal. In one study, the more often participants ate vegetables from the allium family, particularly garlic and onions, the lower their risk of certain cancers became. Part of this effect may be due to garlic's ability to increase tissue activities of phase II detoxification enzymes, which are necessary to help your body excrete chemicals and other toxins.
Interestingly, the allicin in garlic is so powerful it has even been found to help weight loss in rats fed a fructose-rich diet -- which is virtually guaranteed to make most people gain weight. Animals being fed only the fructose-rich diet gained weight, but those whose diets were supplemented with allicin did not, and some even lost weight.
So how much garlic do you need to get all the benefits?
You should eat one to two cloves of garlic per day. When preparing garlic in a meal, crush it and let it sit for at least fifteen minutes. This activates enzymes in the garlic that produce the powerful heart benefits.
You can take garlic as a supplement if you prefer not to eat it. Make sure it's one that has at least 3,600 micrograms of allicin (garlic's active ingredient) per dose.
Aside from garlic, I would also suggest using CoQ10 to lower one's blood pressure naturally and to assist getting off beta blockers. To get the heart health benefits of CoQ10, you should take at least 100 milligrams per day. For some people, higher doses may be necesary after checking their CoQ10 level in their blood.
Here are a few more tips you can use to naturally lower your blood-pressure:
If you smoke, do everything you can to quit. Smoking constricts the arteries, in effect raising your blood-pressure.
Limit coffee to just one or two cups in the morning. Excess caffeine can also raise blood-pressure.
If you're overweight, lose the excess pounds with proper nutrition and exercise.
Relax...too much stress elevates cortisol (the stress hormone) and in turn, your blood-pressure
To Your Good Health...
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1 Benavides G, et al. "From the Cover: Hydrogen sulfide mediates the vasoactivity of garlic", PNAS 2007 104: 17977-17982.
2 Bordia A,"Effect of garlic on blood lipids in patients with coronary heart disease", Am J Clin Nutr. 1981 Oct;34(10):2100-3.
3 Howard B, Kritchevsky D, "Phytochemicals and Cardiovascular Disease: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association", Circulation. 1997 Jun 3;95(11):2591-3.
4 Das A, er al. "Garlic compounds generate reactive oxygen species leading to activation of stress kinases and cysteine proteases for apoptosis in human glioblastoma T98G and U87MG cells" Cancer.Volume 110, Issue 5, Date: 1 September 2007, Pages: 1083-1095
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