Know the Benefits of Garlic in Overcoming Hypertension

Garlic is one of the natural ingredients that is often used in medicine, including to reduce high blood pressure or hypertension. However, is it true that garlic can overcome hypertension?

is one of the many diseases experienced by the population of Indonesia. Based on data from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia in 2018, there was an increase in the number of hypertensive patients compared to the previous 5 years.

A person is said to have hypertension if his blood pressure has reached 140/90 mmHg or more. Hypertension can cause dangerous complications in various organs, such as kidney failure, heart attack, or stroke, if left untreated.

Garlic Can Reduce Cholesterol
Garlic can help lower cholesterol, which is one of the factors causing increased blood pressure. In this case, garlic works by inhibiting the absorption of cholesterol from food in the digestive tract.

Garlic is also able to inhibit the work of the enzyme HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A) reductase and hepatic cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase which plays a major role in forming cholesterol. Thus, cholesterol production will decrease.

Overcoming Hypertension with Garlic
In addition to lowering cholesterol, which can indirectly reduce blood pressure, garlic also contains substances that help maintain blood pressure to stay normal. According to research, natural substances in garlic that can lower blood pressure include:

• Allicin (allyl 2-propenethiosulfinate or diallyl thiosulfinate)
• Allyl methyl thiosulfonate
• 1-propenyl allyl thiosulfonate
• Y-L-glutamyl-S-alkyl-L-cysteine

The substances contained in garlic work by stimulating the body to produce nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) substances. Both of these substances will reduce tension in the blood vessels that make blood pressure increase. The dilation of blood vessels will be followed by a drop in blood pressure.

In addition, garlic also works by inhibiting the work of endothelin 1 and angiotensin II substances, which in turn also relax blood vessels.

But unfortunately, the active ingredient in one clove of garlic with each other is not necessarily the same, so the therapeutic effects obtained will also be different.

Therefore, before using garlic as an alternative therapy to treat hypertension, you should first consult an internal medicine doctor or nutrition doctor.