Combining garlic with medication

The study, published in Maturitas, included 50 people with high blood pressure who were already being treated with medications such as diuretics, ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers. Despite using their prescribed medications, many of the people in the study (40%) continued to have blood pressure readings higher than the target 140/90.

The participants were divided into two groups: one group received 960 mg of aged garlic extract per day for 12 weeks while the other group received a placebo. The substance believed to be responsible for aged garlic’s benefits (S-allyl cysteine) is formed after garlic is crushed and allowed to age, and this standardized product contains provided 2.4 mg of this compound per day.

Medication under-responders respond to garlic

Blood pressure was reduced in people who took the extract and whose blood pressure remained high while on medications. Additionally:

• Among those not responding fully to medications, systolic blood pressure (the first number of a conventional blood pressure reading) fell approximately 10 mm Hg more in garlic users than in the placebo group.
• In people whose medications controlled their systolic blood pressure, keeping it under 140 mm Hg, garlic had no effect.
• Most of the people in the garlic group had no negative effects from it, but two people (8%) had gastrointestinal upset from the supplement and had to stop taking it.

“Our trial suggests that aged garlic extract is superior to placebo in lowering systolic blood pressure in patients with treated, but uncontrolled, hypertension,” the study’s authors said. They further noted the safety and low rate of negative side effects from the garlic extract combined with blood pressure lowering medications.

Lower your blood pressure

Based on these results, if your high blood pressure medication isn’t working as well as hoped, you might benefit from adding aged garlic extract. Here are some other things that researchers have found to help lower blood pressure:

• Follow the DASH program. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension is a set of dietary guidelines that have been shown to lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease. It emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and lentils, and fish, while limiting meat, sweets, and saturated fats. DASH is most effective when it is combined with a low-sodium diet.
• Exercise. Regular exercise is one of the surest ways to prevent and treat high blood pressure. Just 30 minutes of moderately vigorous physical activity five times per week can bring your systolic blood pressure down by an average of 4 to 9 mm Hg.
• Relax. Learning and practicing stress management techniques is an effective way to lower blood pressure. Using breathing and mindfulness meditation for 20 minutes per day has even been found to help some people discontinue their blood pressure medications.

(Maturitas 2010;67:144–50)