Garlic May Lower Blood Pressure

Unless you're Edward Cullen, grab the garlic. In addition to warding off evil spirits and cold germs, garlic can also be used to ward off high blood pressure, a recent study has shown.

Doctors studied 50 patients who were already on blood pressure drugs, giving half placebos and the other half four garlic supplement capsules a day for 12 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the participants taking the garlic pills had lower blood pressure than the participants who didn't take them, according to the researchers from the University of Adelaide.

"Our trial is the first to assess the effect, tolerability and acceptability of aged garlic extract as an additional treatment to existing antihypertensive medication with treated, but uncontrolled, hypertension," researcher Karl Ried told the BBC.

Garlic is a known heart health booster and lowers untreated high blood pressure, but this is the first time that the medical profession has encouraged taking garlic with a medicine. Still, the study required that participants eat a large amount of garlic, and there are other ways to lower blood pressure, like avoiding salt and losing weight through diet and exercise.

That said, garlic supplements can thin one's blood, limiting its clotting abilities and negatively interacting with some medications, so each individual should be sure to check with his doctor before going on a garlic-laden diet.

For more information on the study and other healthy eating news, visit AOL Health.