Fresh Garlic Gets Blood Flowing Better
July 29, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
If you want to get the maximum heart benefits from garlic, have it fresh. Dried garlic and even fresh, yet cooked garlic both lose some of their ability to restore good blood flow.
Researchers believe the new study to be published in the Aug. 12 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is the first scientific evidence that freshly crushed garlic has more heart-healthy benefits than dried or processed garlic.
Scientists say that processed and cooked garlic loses its ability to generate hydrogen sulfide, believed to be responsible for relaxing blood vessels.
In the study, researchers tested the effects of both processed and freshly crushed garlic on lab rats who had simulated heart attacks. While both fresh and processed garlic helped reduce damage from lack of oxygen, the fresh garlic group had a “significantly greater effect on restoring good blood flow in the aorta and increased pressure in the left ventricle of the heart,” researcher Dipak K. Das said.
The garlic heart benefits study is currently available online at ACS Publications.
(Image via Wikimedia Commons)
