Nutritional Medicine

The effect of cocoa or chocolate on blood pressure

Published Research

• Effect of cocoa on blood pressure.
  Ried K, Sullivan TR, Fakler P, Frank OR, Stocks NP.
  Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Aug 15;8 Review.
• Chocolate and blood pressure. Chocolate dose may be too much.
  Ried K, Frank OR, Stocks NP.
  BMJ. 2010 Aug 10;341:c4176.
• Does chocolate reduce blood pressure? A meta-analysis.
  Ried K, Sullivan T, Fakler P, Frank OR, Stocks NP.
  BMC Med. 2010 Jun 28;8:39.
• Dark chocolate or tomato extract for prehypertension: a randomised controlled trial.
  Ried K, Frank OR, Stocks NP.
  BMC Complement Altern Med. 2009 Jul 8;9:22.

The effect of garlic on blood pressure and cholesterol

Published Research

• Aged garlic extract reduces blood pressure in hypertensives: a dose-response trial.
  Ried K, Frank OR, Stocks NP.
  Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jan;67(1):64-70. Epub 2012 Nov 21.
• Aged garlic extract lowers blood pressure in patients with treated but uncontrolled hypertension: a randomised controlled trial.
  Ried K, Frank OR, Stocks NP.
  Maturitas. 2010 Oct;67(2):144-50. Epub 2010 Jul 1.
• Effect of garlic on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
  Ried K, Frank OR, Stocks NP, Fakler P, Sullivan T.
  BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2008 Jun 16;8:13. Review.

Other nutritional medicines for heart health

Published Research

• Protective effect of lycopene on serum cholesterol and blood pressure: Meta-analyses of intervention trials.
  Ried K, Fakler P.
  Maturitas. 2011 Apr;68(4):299-310. Epub 2010 Dec 15. Review.

Ginger and nausea in cancer patients

Despite advances in anti-vomiting medication, nausea continues to be a problem for many patients receiving chemotherapy and is usually rated as the worst side-effect of cancer treatments. Nausea may be so severe that some patients want to stop treatment. There is evidence from international trials that ginger capsules in conjunction with standard antivomiting medication, is effective in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea. However, this therapy is not routinely used in oncology clinics due to its novelty and the lack of information about how patients will tolerate ginger in the clinical setting.

We are currently conducting a double blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study which aims to determine:

1. the effect of ginger on the incidence, frequency and severity of chemotherapy-induced nausea;

2. the tolerability of adjuvant ginger to chemotherapy patients; and

3. the feasibility of introducing it in our clinical setting.