Mission Viejo, CA—Matthew Jay Budoff, M.D., FACC, FAHA, Professor of Medicine at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and the endowed chair of preventive cardiology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, is shining a light on the healing powers of garlic, which he says can help strengthen the heart, yet few doctors know to recommend it.

A press release fromWakunaga of Americaexplains that garlic has been the subject of 4,525 study abstracts that can be found in the National Library of Medicine, and has been shown to successfully treat more than 150 chronic diseases and effectively protect against bacteria, viruses, infections and heart disease. Dr. Budoff’s studies on the healing benefits of garlic have usedKyolic Aged Garlic Extractfrom Wakunaga.

“Garlic has been used for centuries to treat ailments like heart disease, asthma, respiratory disorders and digestive problems,” said Budoff. “The research we are doing in modern times show that using Aged Garlic Extract is even more powerful and can not only assist the immune system, but also dramatically improve heart health; reverse early heart disease; and prevent strokes and heart attacks.”

Aged Garlic Extract may not replicate the effects of cholesterol or blood pressure lowering drugs, Dr. Budoff notes in the release, but it has been shown to reduce cholesterol by 10% and reduce blood pressure by three to eight points. And in a clinical study led by Dr. Budoff, Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract slowed total arterial plaque by 80%, reduced soft plaque and demonstrated regression for low-attenuation plaque, which is the most vulnerable component of atherosclerosis. According to the release, this study showed for the first time that a dietary supplement could control and even reverse heart disease.
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Eating garlic can provide a similar result, the release explains, but Dr. Budoff uses garlic supplements in his heart health studies because the supplements provide a consistent dose. Wakunaga notes that the Aged Garlic Extract used in its Kyolic supplements is sourced from certified organic farms in California’s Central Valley, grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. After being harvested, cleaned, and sliced the garlic is placed in specialized stainless steel containers to age without heat for up to 20 months--a proprietary process that Wakunaga says increases the garlic’s antioxidant potential and converts harsh and unstable organosulfur compounds into the odorless, non-irritating and bioavailable compounds, which are responsible for numerous health benefits.