I like food that has been seasoned with garlic. Garlic adds a dimension to food that no other spice can add. Maybe I am so fond of garlic because my grandmother used a lot of garlic in the meals she made for me when I was a child. She raised garlic along a “fence row,” and she always had plenty of fresh garlic on hand. Garlic could be harvested and stored without the need for refrigeration or any other processing.
Today, science has finally caught up with my grandmother (who lived to be over 100). They have found that garlic actually lowers blood pressure and that those who eat garlic on a regular basis generally have lower blood pressure readings. Of course, science can explain why this is true.
It seems that garlic produces hydrogen sulfide as it is digested. The hydrogen sulfide is produced when garlic interacts with red blood cells, and the hydrogen sulfide causes the arteries to relax.
In a study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, rats were fed the equivalent of two cloves of garlic, and that produced a 72% relaxation of their arteries. Relaxation of blood vessels is the first step to lowering blood pressure.
David Kraus, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the study’s lead author, said, “When these garlic compounds are metabolized to H2S [hydrogen sulfide] in the vascular system, the H2S targets membrane channels and causes smooth muscle cells to relax. So a garlic-rich diet has many good effects, and H2S may be the common mediator.”
Now, my grandmother didn’t know WHY garlic lowered blood pressure, but she did know that it did, and that it tasted good, too. I’m glad that science is finally catching up!
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