Garlic is an herb sometimes used to protect against high blood pressure.
Proponents suggest that consuming garlic as a food or taking garlic extract in dietary supplement form can help treat high blood pressure or stop high blood pressure from setting in.
Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure affects about one in three adults in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Garlic is one of the herbs most commonly used to fight high blood pressure
Garlic seems to be able to modestly reduce blood pressure, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The available research on garlic and blood pressure includes a report published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders in 2008. For the report, scientists analyzed 11 previously published clinical trials and found that garlic was superior to placebo in reducing blood pressure among people with hypertension.
In another report published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy the same year, researchers reviewed 10 clinical trials evaluating garlic’s effects on blood pressure.
Results revealed that use of garlic was associated with a decrease in blood pressure among patients with elevated systolic blood pressure. However, use of garlic was not associated with decreased blood pressure in study participants without elevated systolic blood pressure.
The top number on a blood pressure reading, systolic blood pressure is a measure of the pressure while your heart is beating.
Diastolic blood pressure, on the other hand, is the lower number on a blood pressure reading and a measure of the pressure when your heart relaxes between beats.