How garlic affects the heart, blood vessels and pressure: features, recommendations and reviews

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

While some doubt the benefits of garlic, others eat a couple of cloves before dinner, and you know, they really rarely get sick. The beneficial properties of vegetable segments, feathers and arrows are a scientifically proven fact, confirmed by numerous studies.

Then why are many people interested in how garlic affects the heart? Did the famous vegetable bring someone to a heart attack, or vice versa, helped alleviate the condition of cardiovascular diseases? Let's look into this important issue for many.

Garlic + heart=vitality

You don't need to have a medical education to understand: the he alth and general well-being of a person primarily depends on the state of the cardiovascular system. “The engine is junk” and problems with pressure, breathing, hematopoiesis begin, and this is just the beginning of the list of pathologies that heart failure leads to.

Many people know that, for example, residents of the Caucasus are very respectfulgarlic and at the same time are distinguished by enviable he alth and longevity. And around 1600 BC. e. the Egyptian workers who built the pyramids rebelled only because they were no longer given this vegetable. It is unlikely that they knew if garlic affects the heart, but they clearly understood that they could not survive without it.

The ancient Indians were the first to discover the healing properties of garlic. Because of the pungent smell, they simply didn’t eat it and didn’t add it to food, but used it for medicinal purposes.

First, man discovered the healing power of a fragrant vegetable against infections and parasites. And to understand whether there is harm and benefit of garlic for the heart, modern research on the composition of vegetable crops helped.

Vitamins and minerals for the heart

As part of therapy, vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) must be prescribed to heart patients. 100 g of garlic contains 0.6 mg of this vitamin. However, most of all it contains vitamin C (about 33 mg). And the lack of ascorbic acid, as you know, leads to the fragility of blood vessels.

Also, among the vitamins and minerals in garlic, which have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system, it is worth noting:

• Pyridoxine (vitamin B6). Necessary for people suffering from coronary atherosclerosis.
• Nicotinic acid (vitamin PP). Useful for ischemic disorders of cerebral circulation.
• Potassium. Ensures the normal functioning of the heart muscles.
• Magnesium. Has a vasodilating effect, supports the work of the myocardium.
• Selenium. One ofuseful components that make up myocardial proteins.

What other important substances found in garlic contribute to the he alth of the heart and blood vessels?

Flavonoids, amino acids and a unique component - allicin

Studying the properties of this onion plant, one involuntarily imbued with respect for people who have experienced for themselves whether garlic affects the heart and pressure. After all, its composition is a storehouse of substances indispensable for the cardiovascular system. Befitting in it:

• saponins with a pronounced anti-sclerotic effect;
• chlorogenic acid, which reduces the level of bad cholesterol in the blood;
• ferulic acid has cardioprotective effects;
• rutin (vitamin P glycoside) improves vascular permeability, lowers blood pressure.

All these components also have a beneficial effect on other vital processes in the body. But there is an essential oil in the vegetable, which, when the integrity of the clove is violated, releases a unique substance - allicin, which gives it a burning taste and aroma. An example of the action of this component explains how garlic affects blood pressure and the heart.

What is allicin?

A whole clove of garlic contains alliin sulfoxide, located in the cytoplasm, and the enzyme allicinase, which is part of the vacuoles of plant cells. When garlic cloves are cut or crushed, the molecules of these substances break down and interact to form allicin. Atheating destroys this compound, so the heart benefits of boiled, fried or pickled garlic will no longer be.

And if you eat a raw clove, the active ingredients of allicin immediately bind to red blood cells. No matter how strange it may sound, but as a result of a biochemical reaction, hydrogen sulfide is formed.

By the way, myocardial infarctions are always accompanied by a deficiency of endogenous hydrogen sulfide. An acute shortage of this substance is also noted in people suffering from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

And now the most important thing: how does garlic affect the heart, blood vessels and blood pressure if, as a result, a substance is released from it, which in the usual sense is associated with the smell of rotten eggs?

Mechanism of action of hydrogen sulfide

Penetrating into the walls of blood vessels, hydrogen sulfide reduces their tension and improves blood flow. As a result, blood pressure decreases, oxygen supply increases and, as a result, the workload on the heart is significantly reduced.

In addition, hydrogen sulfide lowers total blood cholesterol levels and increases the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which have pronounced anti-atherogenic properties.

Therefore, the regular use of garlic as a prevention of atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension is a scientifically substantiated and proven fact.

In simple terms, how garlic affects the heart and blood vessels:

• expands the lumen of blood vessels;
• purifies and thins the blood;
• removes bad cholesterol;
• normalizes blood pressure;
• prevents circulatory disorders of the myocardium (ischemic heart disease), the development of thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes.

As a preventive measure, a vegetable can and should be used from a young age. And for many, "garlic therapy" will help in the complex fight against existing pathological conditions.

Who needs to start eating garlic

It was not for nothing that in the old days they said: "Garlic and onions - from seven ailments." Our ancestors probably understood how garlic affects the heart, they grew it in whole fields, ate it constantly and lived to a ripe old age.

Today, when the quality of water and food leaves much to be desired, eating a vegetable will greatly help people who are at risk for diseases of the cardiovascular system. It is worth starting to eat garlic if there are the following pathologies:

• frequent headaches;
• overweight;
• diabetes mellitus;
• arterial hypertension;
• diagnosed atherosclerosis;
• varicose disease.

Many people like the taste of fragrant slices, so you can eat 2 cloves for lunch with benefit and pleasure. However, for true gourmets and those who do not like to breathe garlic, there are alternative options.

Recipes with garlic for the improvement of the cardiovascular system

There are many options for preparing garlic tinctures, nutritional mixtures and drinks to cleanse the vessels. We will focus on those that, according to people's reviews, turned out to be the mostefficient:

1. A large head of garlic (about 12 cloves) is crushed and added to 0.7 liters of good red wine. Insist in a dark place for 2 weeks, shake at least 2 times a day. Strained wine is taken in 1 tsp. 3 times a day for 30 days.
2. Peel 1 head of garlic, remove the stones from 1 large lemon, add 100 g of honey and mix in a blender. 7 days kept in a glass jar at room temperature, filter through a fine sieve. Take 1 tsp. 2 times a day for at least a month. The mixture is stored in the refrigerator.
3. Take 500 g of cranberries, 100 g of garlic cloves, 250 g of honey, mix in a blender. After 12 hours, a tasty and he althy mixture can be taken in 1 tsp. 2 times a day. The course of admission is at least one and a half months.

Recipes with honey are also suitable for people with high blood sugar. For type 2 diabetes, up to 2 tablespoons of the sweet ingredient per day is allowed. However, before starting therapy, it is better to consult with the attending endocrinologist.

Despite how garlic affects the heart, and how useful it is for blood vessels, some people, unfortunately, should not eat this vegetable.

Who Garlic Can Harm

Many people know that they should not eat spicy, including garlic, because of the danger of irritation of the mucous membranes. It is necessary to completely abandon the vegetable crop or eat it with caution under the following conditions:

• kidney disease;
• pathology of the gastrointestinal tract;
• anemia;
• gallstone disease;
• low blood pressure.

Pregnant women should give up garlic in the 3rd trimester. Everyone who has no contraindications can safely start the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, but one unresolved question remains to be clarified.

Why does garlic hurt my heart?

Vasodilation, blood flow to the heart can really cause retrosternal pain and rhythm disturbances, tachycardia and even a heart attack. Therefore, in people with any diagnosed heart disease, for example, cardiosclerosis, arrhythmia, coronary artery disease, endocarditis, the use of garlic should be agreed with a cardiologist.

If a he althy person who has eaten a salad with a vegetable becomes nauseous and presses in the chest, he should definitely go to the doctor. This is how garlic affects the heart: it can tell you that something is not right with the “motor”. Timely detection of diseases will help to avoid the unpleasant consequences of chronic pathologies.