The Truth About Garlic and Heart Health

When we first started researching natural health, one of the first recommendations for cholesterol problems was garlic. Then the research pendulum swung, suggesting that garlic didn’t help cholesterol problems at all. Recently, though, the pendulum has corrected itself, and research, and meta-analysis of the research, that looked only at people who actually had problems with their cholesterol and blood pressure has shown, once again, that garlic is a valuable herb for people with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. . . .

The first vindication of garlic came when researchers did a meta-analysis of controlled studies that gave garlic to people who actually had high blood pressure. They found that garlic does reduce blood pressure and does it significantly more effectively than a placebo does. The authors said that the effects of garlic were comparable to the effects of blood pressure medications (BMC Cardiovasc Disord;doi:10.1186/1471-2261-8-13).

Then a meta-analysis of twenty-six placebo-controlled cholesterol studies that looked at people who actually had high levels of fat in their blood concluded that garlic does lower total cholesterol and triglycerides (J Sci Food Agric 2012;92:1892-902).

And what if you are already on medication for high blood pressure? A double-blind study looked at people who were taking blood pressure medication. The researchers added either aged garlic extract or a placebo to their meds. In those whose blood pressure remained high despite being on medication, the garlic significantly reduced the pressure (Maturitas 2010;67:144-50).

These recent studies show that if your suffer from high cholesterol or from high blood pressure, garlic may be a valuable addition to your treatment.