Blood pressure is a key health issue for many everyday Australians. The good news is, your risk of developing this worrisome condition can be managed by checking your diet and living an increasingly healthy lifestyle.

The problem of busy lives...

Unfortunately though, the average Australian has a busy life, more stress, less time, and an alarming hunger for processed and convenience foods, meaning a balanced and healthy diet has fallen out of reach for many.

Are fruits and vegetables missing in action?

Often it is nutrient rich fruits and vegetables that fall to the wayside when you eat frozen and pre-packed foods for convenience sake. In order to replace the nutrients lost through poor fruit and vegetable intake, many people rely on vitamin and mineral supplements to fill those nutritional gaps. But what is often forgotten is that the benefits of fresh herbs and spices for health can be equally missing from convenience diets. Amongst these, garlic is one of the herbs often missed.

Garlic – antioxidant and potent heart restorer

Garlic is a nutritional plant that can be used to flavour food as well as a herbal medicine. Interestingly, it is amongst one of the most researched plants, with its use across herbal medicine traditions dating back thousands of years. Discussed in the famous Egyptian medical text the Ebers papyrus, the use of Garlic as medicine can, in fact be traced back beyond its 1550BC heritage, to at least 3400BC. Modern applications of garlic as medicine have moved beyond the boundaries of fresh garlic being used in a tea or tincture, into the realms of extracts made by ageing garlic. Clinical trials investigating the benefits of aged garlic for conditions such as high blood pressure and immune health are extensive (over 700 studies in total) and have added to the ancient and modern body of knowledge already surrounding this marvellous plant.

Clinical trial for blood pressure

The most recent of these studies involved measuring the response medicated hypertensives have to aged garlic extract (medicated hypertensives are, by definition, people who are on medications for their high blood pressure but their blood pressure remains high). Conducted in Adelaide, South Australia, this study showed that 12 weeks of dosing with aged garlic extract (the formulation used during the trial was Kyolic Aged Garlic extract High Potency formula) at a dose of 2 or more capsules, showed an average reduction in blood pressure of around 11 points on both the top and bottom measurement *. Another interesting finding of this study was that each of the participants continued to take their medications during the 12 weeks without any adverse effects.

Mr Vitamins recommends

Nutralife Kyolic Aged Garlic

Taken daily, Kyolic Aged Garlic extract helps to strengthen immunity and improve the health of the heart and circulatory system. Formulated to contain no harsh odour, Aged Garlic extract is safe for use in those people unable to consume raw or cooked garlic due to indigestion or anti-social garlic breath. Find out more about Nutralife Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract and shop on-line here References *Ried K, F. O. (2012). Aged garlic extract reduces blood pressure in hypertensives: a dose-response trial. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64-70.