The everyday ingredient that could help lower your blood pressure

Looking after your heart is essential to staying healthy, and eating a balanced diet can play a major role in overall wellbeing.

More than 14 million adults in the UK have high blood pressure, which can put you at increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, puts extra strain on your blood vessels, heart and other organs, including your brain, kidneys and eyes.

Diet can be a risk factor in developing high blood pressure, particularly if you eat a lot of salty and fatty foods or drink a lot of caffeine and alcohol.

However, ensuring you eat a nutritious diet with a variety of vegetables, fruits and lean proteins could help restore balance – and research suggests that adding one everyday ingredient in particular may be beneficial in lowering blood pressure.

The goodness of garlic

Garlic is a common ingredient in a huge number of recipes and for good reason – it adds lots of flavour and has the ability to make almost anything taste delicious. It is also cheap and easily available in any supermarket.

However, this bulbous plant that is widely considered both a vegetable and a spice in cooking, is also high in nutrients.

Rich in vitamins and minerals

Part of the allium family, which also includes onion, shallot, leek, and chives, garlic is rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6, and manganese, all of which are essential to promote normal bodily function and good health.

Contains antioxidants

Garlic also contains antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists also say garlic has ‘impressive’ levels of bioactive compounds, including organic sulfides, saponins, phenolic compounds, and polysaccharides.

These compounds offer different potential health benefits – for example, phenolic compounds can act as powerful antioxidants that protect against cellular damage, inflammation, and chronic diseases.

However, it’s the active sulfur compounds in garlic that are especially handy for helping to lower blood pressure, according to researchers from Australia.

How could garlic help lower blood pressure?

Blood pressure refers to the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as it’s pumped through them by your heart.

Your arteries are usually flexible, which helps regulate blood pressure. However, high blood pressure can put extra force on the artery walls and may damage them over time, leading to narrowed arteries, stiffness, and reduced elasticity.

All these factors contribute to a restricted blood flow, which can result in serious problems such as heart disease.

But the active sulfur compounds in garlic have been found to aid in ‘reducing arterial stiffness’, according to a 2019 study, therefore helping to lower blood pressure.

While the exact mechanism of how sulfur compounds help reduce stiffness in the arteries is not yet known, scientists have suggested that compounds like hydrogen sulfide, found in garlic, and sulforaphane, found in cruciferous vegetables, can help improve endothelial function and help maintain healthy vascular tone.

Endothelial function refers to the role of the endothelium, a layer of specialised cells lining the interior of blood vessels.

Should I eat more garlic?

Eating garlic as part of a healthy and balanced diet is a good choice, but it should not be solely relied on to help improve blood pressure.

The British Heart Foundation says that cooking with garlic can add plenty of flavour to your meals without adding salt.

However, it warns that it is “important to think about your diet as a whole, rather than one ingredient” and not to “rely on garlic alone to lower your risk”.

Other ways to reduce high blood pressure include:

• Losing weight if you are overweight, as there is a strong link between high blood pressure and having excess weight.

• Exercising more and managing your stress levels.

• In terms of diet, people with high blood pressure should also reduce their salt intake, as the sodium in salt contributes to high blood pressure.

• Cutting down on caffeine and alcohol can also help reduce the risk of hypertension.

What other foods could help lower blood pressure?

Beetroot

Beetroot is a rich source of dietary nitrate, which is a compound that is also found naturally in green leafy vegetables. The body uses nitrates to produce nitric oxide through a chain reaction.

Nitric oxide plays an important role in regulating blood pressure, blood flow and muscle contraction. Research has suggested that – while it won’t be a magic fix and maintaining a healthy lifestyle overall is key – drinking a cup of beetroot juice each day could improve high blood pressure.

Wholegrains

According to the Heart Research Institute, eating wholegrains like wholegrain pasta or bread, quinoa, oats, barley, rye, and millet can help lower the risk of high blood pressure.

A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that eating three portions of wholegrain foods can ‘significantly decrease [systolic blood pressure] and [pulse pressure] in middle-aged, healthy, overweight men and women’.

Lean protein

Lean protein – like chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and beans – are hearty and filling without being as calorific as fattier sources, says the British Heart Foundation. Red meat and processed meat are considered less healthy and higher in fat in comparison.

This is particularly helpful for people looking to manage their weight and, in turn, lower their blood pressure.

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