Reverse Heart Disease in 24 days (22)

It is the 22nd day of increasing heart health - time to banish the vampires (I mean heart disease, sorry that is the Twilight blog!) with ... garlic. Quite a few people (and quite a few vampires apparently) cannot stand garlic due to its smell. Neither seemingly can heart disease. The heart and circulatory system protective effects of garlic are likely due to the production of the gas hydrogen sulphide (H2S) by red blood cells in the circulation that is released from polysulphides obtained from garlic when eaten. H2S aids blood vessel dilation and thus reduces blood pressure, increases oxygenation and nutrient delivery (garlic itself is a fantastic source of Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, manganese, sulphur and selenium) to cells, tissues and organs, promoting recovery.

Apparently unprocessed, natural garlic achieves the best results in this regard. Research seems to reveal that if you just chop or crush garlic and leave it for a period before using it in food preperation the alliinase enzymes in the garlic are enabled to function better for your heart and circulatory health. One clove (or about 300mg thrice daily) also decreases heart attack risk through three mechanisms - a)it reduces red cell clumping, which in turn could cause blood vessel blockage and thus heart attacks, b) it decreases blood vessel damage and c) it prevents cholesterol from depositing on the arterial vessel wall, discouraging narrowing and possible blockage. Garlic also appears to moderately decrease triglyceride and total cholesterol levels in the blood stream by between 5 -15 per cent.

Also interestingly, other research apparently shows that eating garlic may help regulate fat cells in the body as well as help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation - an important factor in chronic heart disease. The sulphur compound 1,2-DT (1,2-vinyldithiin) found in garlic looks to be the active agent in these processes. So grab some garlic, add it on a regular basis to your daily food to keep heart disease (as well as some people and vampires) at bay..


To your abundant excellent health,


Dr Ike
Holistic Health Mentor and Functional Health Expert


Sources:


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