According to research data, eating garlic helps to reduce the level of “bad” cholesterol in the blood, as well as lower high blood pressure, which acts as a prevention of heart disease.
The benefits of garlic are given a lot of attention by physicians. Nowadays, its positive effects are well known to scientists. One study by researchers at the National Institute of Integrative Medicine in Melbourne found that garlic supplements could lower blood pressure in people with hypertension and lower cholesterol levels.
Hypertension is the main cause of diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels. High blood cholesterol is also called by doctors among the key factors in cardiovascular pathologies. When too much cholesterol builds up, plaque builds up on the walls of the arteries, which can impede blood flow until it stops. If the plaques break away from the blood walls, enter the bloodstream and enter the vessels, they can cause blood clots that cause heart attacks or strokes.
To understand how garlic can be beneficial for people with hypertension, researchers looked at the results of 20 trial involving 970 people who were given either a placebo or garlic supplements. The dose of garlic the participants received ranged from 12.3 milligrams to 30–50 milligrams.
Scientists have recorded the beneficial effect of garlic. Its use contributed to a decrease in systolic blood pressure (by an average of 5.1 mm Hg) and a decrease in diastolic pressure (by an average of 2.5 mm Hg). The experts recalled that healthy blood pressure consists of a systolic pressure of about 120 mmHg. and diastolic pressure of 80 and a little less mm Hg. Researchers have found that garlic can reduce total and “bad” LDL cholesterol by about 10 percent.
Another review published in the Journal of Nutrition reported similar results. Its authors (employees of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and the University of California at Los Angeles) came to the conclusion that the use of garlic reduced markers of atherosclerosis: specifically, the vegetable counteracts the formation of plaques in the coronary arteries. Scientists believe that garlic has the potential to protect the cardiovascular system, eating it reduces the risk of high cholesterol and hypertension.
Earlier, MedikForum.ru wrote that potassium-rich fruits help protect joint health and prevent arthritis from worsening .