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Recommendations Summary

HTN: Garlic 2008

Click here to see the explanation of recommendation ratings (Strong, Fair, Weak, Consensus, Insufficient Evidence) and labels (Imperative or Conditional). To see more detail on the evidence from which the following recommendations were drawn, use the hyperlinks in the Supporting Evidence Section below.


  • Recommendation(s)

    Garlic

    Consumption of garlic may or may not be beneficial for the reduction of blood pressure, since the current evidence is inconclusive regarding its effect on blood pressure.

    Rating: Weak
    Imperative

    • Risks/Harms of Implementing This Recommendation

      None.

    • Conditions of Application

      No conditions specified.

    • Potential Costs Associated with Application

      None.

    • Recommendation Narrative

      • Two randomized controlled trials on healthy subjects report no significant differences in total blood pressure between groups consuming dried garlic powder (~3 cloves per day) for 12 weeks or garlic oil (12.3mg per day) for 16 weeks (Zhang et al, 2001; Turner et al, 2004).

      • Two non-randomized clinical trials with both hypertensive and normotensive subjects consuming either garlic pearls (250mg per day) for eight weeks or garlic extract (~10g garlic per day) report significant declines in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures in subjects with hypertension, but not in normotensive controls (Dhawan et al, 2004; Durak et al, 2004).

      • One cross-sectional study reports that lower systolic blood pressures were associated with increased garlic consumption (Qidwai et al, 2000).

    • Recommendation Strength Rationale

      • Conclusion Statement is Grade III

    • Minority Opinions

      Consensus reached.