While some doubt the benefits of garlic, others eat a couple of cloves before dinner, and you know, they really rarely get sick. Useful properties of slices, feathers and arrows of a vegetable is a scientifically proven fact, confirmed by numerous studies.
Then why are many interested in how garlic affects the heart? Is the famous vegetable brought someone to a heart attack or vice versa, helped alleviate the condition with cardiovascular disease? Let's look at this important issue for many.
Garlic + heart = vitality
You do not need to have a medical education to understand: a person’s health and general well-being primarily depends on the state of the cardiovascular system. “The engine rumbles” and problems with pressure, breathing, hematopoiesis begin, and this is only the beginning of the list of pathologies that heart failure leads to.
Many people know that, for example, the inhabitants of the Caucasus greatly respect garlic and at the same time they are distinguished by their enviable health and longevity. And about 1600 BC. e. the Egyptian workers who built the pyramids rebelled only because they were no longer given this vegetable. It is unlikely that they knew whether garlic affects the heart, but they clearly understood that they could not survive without it.
The first to discover the healing properties of garlic were the ancient Indians. Because of the pungent smell, they just did not eat it and did not add it to food, but used it for medicinal purposes.
First, a person discovered the healing power of a fragrant vegetable against infections and parasites. And to understand whether there is harm and benefit of garlic to the heart, modern studies of the composition of vegetable crops have helped.
Vitamins and Minerals for the Heart
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) must be prescribed to the cores as part of the therapy. 100 g of garlic contains 0.6 mg of this vitamin. However, most of it is vitamin C (about 33 mg). A lack of ascorbic acid, as you know, leads to fragility of blood vessels.
Also among the vitamins and minerals in the composition of garlic, which have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system, it is worth noting:
- Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6). It is necessary for people suffering from coronary atherosclerosis.
- Nicotinic acid (vitamin PP). Useful for ischemic cerebrovascular accident.
- Potassium. It ensures the normal functioning of the heart muscles.
- Magnesium. It has a vasodilating effect, supports the work of the myocardium.
- Selenium. One of the useful components that make up myocardial proteins.
What other important substances found in garlic provide healthy heart and blood vessels?
Flavonoids, amino acids and a unique component - allicin
Studying the properties of this onion plant, one involuntarily imbues with respect for people who have experienced for themselves whether garlic affects the heart and pressure. After all, its composition is a storehouse of substances indispensable for the cardiovascular system. It befits:
- saponins with a pronounced anti-sclerotic effect;
- chlorogenic acid, which reduces the level of bad cholesterol in the blood;
- ferulic acid has a cardioprotective effect;
- rutin (a glycoside of the vitamin P group) improves vascular permeability, lowers blood pressure.
All these components also have beneficial effects on other vital processes in the body. But there is an essential oil in the vegetable, which, in violation of the integrity of the clove, releases a unique substance - allicin, which gives it a burning taste and aroma. The action of this component illustrates how garlic affects pressure and heart.
What is allicin?
A whole clove of garlic contains alliin sulfoxide, which is located in the cytoplasm, and the allicinase enzyme, which is part of the vacuoles of plant cells. When garlic cloves are cut or crushed, the molecules of these substances break down and, when interacting, form allicin. When heated, this compound breaks down, so the heart will no longer benefit from boiled, roasted or pickled garlic.
And if you eat a raw clove, the active substances of allicin immediately bind to red blood cells. No matter how strange it may sound, but as a result of a biochemical reaction, hydrogen sulfide is formed.
By the way, myocardial infarction is always accompanied by a deficiency of endogenous hydrogen sulfide. An acute shortage of this substance is also noted in people with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
And now the most important thing: how does garlic affect the heart, blood vessels and pressure if a substance is released from it, which in the usual sense is associated with the smell of rotten eggs?
The mechanism of action of hydrogen sulfide
Penetrating into the walls of blood vessels, hydrogen sulfide reduces their tension and improves blood flow. As a result, blood pressure decreases, oxygen flow increases and, as a result, the load on the heart is significantly reduced.
In addition, hydrogen sulfide reduces the total level of blood cholesterol and increases the concentration of high density lipoproteins (HDL), which have pronounced anti-atherogenic properties.
Therefore, the regular use of garlic as a prophylaxis of atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension is a scientifically substantiated and proven fact.
In simple terms, how garlic affects the heart and blood vessels:
- expands the lumen of blood vessels;
- cleanses and thins the blood;
- removes bad cholesterol;
- normalizes blood pressure;
- prevents disturbance of the blood supply to the myocardium (coronary heart disease), the development of thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes.
For preventive purposes, a vegetable can and should be used from a young age. And many “garlic therapy” will help in the integrated fight against existing pathological conditions.
Who needs to start eating garlic
No wonder in the old days they said: "Garlic and onions - from seven ailments." Our ancestors probably understood how garlic affects the heart, grew it in whole fields, ate constantly and lived until old age.
Today, when the quality of water and food leaves much to be desired, the use of a vegetable will greatly help people at risk for diseases of the cardiovascular system. It is worth starting to eat garlic if there are the following pathologies:
- frequent headaches;
- overweight;
- diabetes;
- arterial hypertension;
- diagnosed atherosclerosis;
- varicose veins.
Many people like the taste of fragrant slices, so you can eat 2 cloves for lunch with benefit and pleasure. However, for true gourmets and those who do not like to breathe garlic, there are alternative options.
Garlic recipes for a healthy cardiovascular system
There are many options for preparing garlic tinctures, nutritious mixtures and drinks for cleansing blood vessels. We will dwell on those that, according to people's reviews, turned out to be the most effective:
- A large head of garlic (about 12 teeth) is ground and added to 0.7 l of good red wine. Insist in a dark place for 2 weeks, shake at least 2 times a day. Strained wine take 1 tsp. 3 times a day for 30 days.
- Peel 1 head of garlic, remove seeds from 1 large lemon, add 100 g of honey and mix in a blender. 7 days are kept in a glass jar at room t, filtered through a fine sieve. Take 1 tsp. 2 times a day for at least a month. The mixture is stored in the refrigerator.
- Take 500 g of cranberries, 100 g of garlic cloves, 250 g of honey, mix in a blender. After 12 hours, a tasty and healthy mixture can begin to take 1 tsp. 2 times a day. The course of admission is not less than one and a half months.
Recipes with honey are also suitable for people with high blood sugar. For type 2 diabetes, it is allowed to consume up to 2 tablespoons of the sweet ingredient per day. However, before starting therapy, it is better to consult with the attending endocrinologist.
Despite the effect of garlic on the heart, and how useful it is for blood vessels, some people, unfortunately, should not eat this vegetable crop.
Who can be harmed by garlic?
Many people know that they should not eat spicy garlic, including, because of the danger of irritation of the mucous membranes. It is necessary to completely abandon the vegetable crop or eat it with caution in the following conditions:
- kidney disease
- gastrointestinal tract pathology;
- anemia;
- cholelithiasis;
- low pressure.
Pregnant women should give up garlic in the 3rd trimester. Everyone who has no contraindications can safely begin the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, however, one unresolved issue remains to be clarified.
Why does garlic hurt my heart?
Vasodilation, blood flow to the heart can really cause chest pains and interruptions in the rhythm, tachycardia and even a heart attack. Therefore, in people with any diagnosed heart disease, for example, cardiosclerosis, arrhythmia, coronary heart disease, endocarditis, the use of garlic should be agreed with a cardiologist.
If a healthy person who has eaten a salad with a vegetable becomes sick and presses in his chest, he definitely needs to see a doctor. Here's how garlic affects the heart: it can tell you that things aren’t all right with the “motor”. Timely detection of diseases will help to avoid the unpleasant consequences of chronic pathologies.