Vitamin C and Garlic for High Blood Pressure

[Guest guest]

Second Opinion Health Alert

********************************************************

June 6, 2007

******************************************************

 

This two-supplement combination

lowers blood pressure better than drugs

 

Blood pressure pharmaceuticals are among the most widely prescribed pills in

the country. They make billions in profits for their makers. It's an

incredible racket. They don't cure. They aren't designed to cure. They just

suppress. You have to take them for the rest of your life. But you don't have

to.

There are better alternatives.

 

A small study of just six people showed that vitamin C and garlic lowered

hypertension better than either one alone. All six participants started with a

blood pressure of 140/90. The researchers gave each of them four 10-day

treatments. The first treatment was a placebo. Next came vitamin C at a dose of

2,000 mg per day. Then they gave them three garlic tablets daily (650 mg

daily of bulb powder). And, finally, they gave them both vitamin C and garlic.

 

Their findings are impressive, but not for vitamin C alone. It had no

discernable effect. Garlic alone, on the other hand, reduced systolic (the

higher

number), but not diastolic (the lower number) blood pressure. The real results

came with the vitamin C and garlic combination. It reduced systolic and

diastolic blood pressure to a healthy range (110-120 over 75-80).

 

But that's not all they found. Garlic supplementation alone induced a

twofold increase in endothelial cell (the cells that line your blood vessels)

nitric oxide production. Compared to a placebo, garlic plus vitamin C induced a

stunning threefold increase! The authors concluded that the increase in nitric

oxide (NO) might explain the improvement in blood pressure.

 

You've heard a lot about NO lately. It's a very short-lived beneficial free

radical. Yes, a beneficial free radical. It dilates your blood vessels. You

know about Viagra. It increases the life span of NO by inhibiting the enzyme

that destroys it. The excess NO helps dilate vessels and reverse erectile

dysfunction - at least temporarily.

 

But now it seems that you don't need Viagra to increase your nitric oxide. A

naturally occurring food - along with a little help from vitamin C - does

it for you. Furthermore, garlic increases NO production in your endothelial

cells. That means that it's improving endothelial cell function and

performance. Endothelial dysfunction is where atherosclerosis and hypertension

begin.

When endothelial cells are breached, oxidized fats, toxins, and inflammatory

cells move in, creating and promoting plaque.

 

Garlic is also known to have significant antioxidant effects. It naturally

thins your blood with no risk of bleeding (like coumadin does), improves lipid

function and metabolism, and reduces your risk of arterial plaque formation.

All of these effects could help reduce your blood pressure and improve

endothelial function.

 

If you have hypertension, consider the above amounts of garlic and vitamin C

as supplements. Even better, I suggest you eat one to two cloves of raw

garlic per day. Raw garlic will have all the components of garlic that might

otherwise be lost in the processing of a supplement. I get mine in my daily

homemade salad dressing, which I'll tell you about in a future issue of Second

Opinion.

 

Please pass this information on to any friends or family who might have high

blood pressure. And encourage them to sign up for these Second Opinion

alerts at _www.secondopinionnewsletter.com_

(http://link.ixs1.net/s/lt?id=r195308 & si=w123078550 & pc=i2002 & ei=j127305) . I'll

continue to bring you natural

alternatives to prescription drugs.

 

Yours for better health and medical freedom,

Robert Jay Rowen, MD

 

Ref: Nutr Res, 2007; 27(2): 119-123

 

*********************************************************

Second Opinion Health Alerts are a complimentary

e-mail service from the Second Opinion health

newsletter written by Robert J. Rowen, MD.

 

2007 Soundview Communications, Inc.

 

We have a strict anti-spam policy! We know how

important your privacy is to you. That's why we

do not share email addresses with anyone.

 

To contact us:

Second Opinion

P.O. Box 467939

Atlanta, GA 31146

800-791-3213

770-399-5617

_feedback_

(feedback)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.