Cardamom is a commonly used spice, especially in Middle Eastern and Indian cooking. It is used in chai tea, curries, rice dishes and herbal teas. However, it may also be beneficial to your health. One of the possible benefits of cardamom is lowering your blood pressure, although the research into this area is still preliminary.High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when your heart has to work harder to pump the blood through your body. If your blood pressure is 140/90 or higher, you have high blood pressure. Hypertension can lead to other serious health conditions if it isn't treated, including heart disease, stroke, heart attack and kidney failure.
Cardamom and Blood Pressure
Consuming 1.5 g of cardamom two times per day for 12 weeks lowered the blood pressure of people with stage one hypertension who participated in a study published in the "Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics" in December 2009. Although this study was small, using only 20 people, and was not placebo-controlled, it shows that cardamom may be beneficial for people with high blood pressure. Further double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are needed to confirm this effect.
Possible Mechanism
Cardamom appears to behave in the body in a similar way to a type of blood pressure medication called calcium channel blockers, according to another study published in the "Journal of Ethnopharmacology" in February 2008, which used animals to try to determine the mechanism through which cardamom lowers blood pressure.
Considerations
Speak with your doctor before consuming large amounts of cardamom to make sure this would be safe for you. Do not self-treat high blood pressure with cardamom, or use cardamom instead of the treatment for high blood pressure prescribed by your doctor. The research into the benefits of consuming cardamom for high blood pressure is still preliminary.
References
- "The Jerusalem Post"; Healthy Eating: Spice Up Your Life; Kathryn Rubin; June 2011
- Family Doctor; High Blood Pressure: Things You Can Do to Help Lower Yours; November 2010
- "Journal of Ethnopharmacology"; Gut Modulatory, Blood Pressure Lowering, Diuretic and Sedative Activities of Cardamom; A.H. Gilani, et al.; February 2008
- "Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics"; Blood Pressure Lowering, Fibrinolysis Enhancing and Antioxidant Acitivities of Cardamom (Elettaria Cardamomum); S.K. Verma, et al.; December 2009
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/485783-cardamom-blood-pressure/#ixzz1mZ7Kw0i1
