There is no question that many Manitobans love to cook with garlic, but there are some over how effective it is at lowering blood pressure.
"The jury is out still, to a certain extent, when it comes to the effects of garlic on blood pressure," said Dr. Peter Jones.
Jones is the principal investigator in a new study taking place at the University of Manitoba’s Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals.
He and his team are looking into the age old question and hoping to get a more definitive answer.
Jones said there are studies indicating that garlic works to lower hypertension, but other studies have failed to confirm the findings.
In his garlic study, participants will randomly take two rounds of pills. One is a placebo and the other contains aged garlic extract.
"The benefit of having each individual as his or her own control is that everything else is maintained in terms of physiology within that individual," Jones said.
Participants will also wear an ambulatory blood pressure cuff during the day that takes readings every few minutes and saves the results on a chip.
Jones says this piece of technology will allow for more accurate data sharing and eliminate the need for participants to go into a clinic for testing.
He says many people have a reaction in clinical settings commonly known as ‘the white coat effect.’
“Your blood pressure spikes,” he said. “So it's an inaccurate reading."
At farmers’ market downtown on Thursday, Coralee Penner has come to search specifically for fresh, Manitoba grown garlic.
“What do you not like about garlic? Garlic is just fantastic, you can put it in everything," Penner said before picking out a few bulbs.
Penner said it would not surprise her if this study finds that garlic does help with blood pressure.
She said she remembers her parents taking garlic supplements when she was young.
"Garlic has been used for so, so long in so many things. So it wouldn't surprise me if it had health benefits," she said.
Fellow shopper Barbara Imlach hopes the study shows garlic does lower blood pressure.
She said she and many of her family members have high blood pressure. They also cook with garlic regularly.
"That would be wonderful because we would be getting the benefit without even knowing it."
The study is looking for a total of 40 participants.
It’s open to non-smoking men and women aged 40-70 years old who have elevated blood pressure but are not currently taking any blood pressure lowering medication.
