Garlic Reverses Heart Disease: UCLA Study

Aged garlic extract can stop heart disease from progressing and, in some cases, even reverse artery plaque accumulation, according to new research.

The studies were conducted at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and led by cardiologist Matthew Budoff, M.D.

He took CAT scans of 72 heart patients who had blockages of at least one of major cardiac artery. He asked half of the study subjects to take two pills of Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract each day, one in the morning and another in the evening. The other participants took placebo pills.

After a year, he repeated the CAT scans and discovered that the subjects who took the garlic experienced regression of arterial plaque. The plaque build-up in patients who took the placebo got worse.

“Our study demonstrated the benefit of this supplement on both plaque changes over time and preventing new plaque formation,” Dr. Budoff told Newsmax Health.

“We have completed four randomized studies to date, and all have led us to concur that aged garlic extract is both beneficial for slowing atherosclerosis and reversing the early stages of heart disease.”

Aged garlic extract supplements are widely available in drugstores, health food stores, and online. It is odourless and does not cause bad breath like raw garlic.

“Few therapies have even been able to slow or stop hardening of the arteries, so I consider aged garlic extract to be an elite class of treatment to potentially reverse the process of heart disease.”

The mechanism behind the supplement’s effectiveness is unclear, but Dr. Budoff notes that it reduces blood levels of homocysteine, a marker for heart disease. He recommends taking 1,200 mgs a day, split into morning and evening doses.

For people taking statins, his studies show that taking aged garlic extract enhances the protective effect.

“It’s a perfectly natural supplement with wonderful science behind it,” the cardiologist says. “I’d recommend eating garlic daily, but it’s hard to regulate the amount of nutrients in natural garlic. That’s why we used extract in our studies.”