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| Garlic
(Allium
sativum) Family: Liliaceae Garlic is an onion, with the bulb made up
of cloves instead of layers. The flowers are white to pink in round shaped
umbels. Hollow long leaves, can reach up to 2 feet. Garlic has been used since the days of the Egyptians to treat wounds, infections, tumors, and intestinal parasites. Anti bacterial, antibiotic, antiseptic,
respiratory problems, gastrointestinal ailments, and lowering cholesterol. Garlic contains 33 sulfur compounds, 17
amino acids, and many other vitamins and minerals. Depending on how garlic
is handled depicts which compound is released. Medical studies have shown that garlic can
lower cholesterol, prevent dangerous blood clots, reduce blood pressure,
prevent cancer, and protect against bacterial and fungal infections. In fact, garlic has been used medicinally for at least 3,000 years, but until relatively recently its benefits were considered little more than folklore. According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Nov. 28, 1990;264:2614), the therapeutic roles of garlic have been described in more than 1,000 scientific studies. Beneficial Properties: Modern scientific research confirms these
ancient uses for garlic, including the ability to lower cholesterol
and blood pressure. Increased levels of
cholesterol and triglycerides (fats) as well as elevated blood pressure
increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Garlic's sulfur-containing
compounds, which lend the herb its pungent, spicy aroma, are responsible
for many of its healing properties. Specifically, these compounds lower
cholesterol by stimulating the release of bile by the gall bladder (bile
contains cholesterol and related compounds) and by decreasing the
production of cholesterol in the liver. In addition, garlic compounds
gently lower blood pressure by slowing the production of the body's own
blood pressure raising hormones. Garlic also possesses the ability to
stimulate the immune system. The bulb
stimulates the activity of macrophages, white blood cells which engulf the
foreign organisms, such as viruses, bacteria, and yeast. It increases the
activity of the T-helper cells, immune cells which are central to the
activity of the entire immune system. Garlic may be particularly effective
in treating upper respiratory viral infections
due to its immune-enhancing properties and its ability to clear mucous
from the lungs. Garlic also possesses the ability to
inhibit the growth of parasites in the intestines, including amoebas which
cause dysentery. Garlic has also been used in folk medicine in many parts
of the world to treat pinworms, an annoying but generally harmless
intestinal parasite. This amazing herb has also demonstrated the ability to protect against a variety of environmental and other toxins. Garlic's sulfur compounds, in addition to selenium containing compounds, are potent antioxidants which protect cell membranes and DNA from damage. Furthermore scientific studies have shown that garlic stimulates the production of the liver's own detoxifying enzymes which neutralize carcinogens and other toxins. Cardiovascular System By the end of the 12-week study, total
blood cholesterol levels dropped by an average of 6 percent among those
taking the garlic tablets, compared with only a 1 percent drop among those
taking a placebo. The garlic takers also benefited from an 11 percent
decrease in the LDL form of cholesterol, compared with a 3 percent
reduction in the placebo group. Blood thinner Typically, patients with the condition are asked to walk, because increased blood flow reduces the number of clots. However, they are easily discouraged because peripheral arterial occlusive disease causes extreme pain after walking only a short distance. Kieswetter gave 32 patients 800 milligrams of garlic powder tablets daily for 12 weeks, while another 32 patients received a placebo. He then measured their "pain-free walking distance." For the first several weeks, both groups of patients progressed about as they would in a typical walking program. As time went on however, patients taking garlic were able to walk about one-third farther without pain, according to Kieswetter's report in Clinical Investigator (May 1993;71:383-6). Blood pressure Cancer Lau, a researcher at the Loma Linda
University School of Medicine, has identified three ways garlic protects
against cancer: by directly inhibiting tumor cell metabolism, by
preventing the initiation and reproduction of cancer cells, and by
boosting a person's immune system to more efficiently fight cancer cells. John Milner, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State
University, University Park, recently studied how aged garlic powder might
protect against nitrosamine-induced cancers in laboratory mice.
Nitrosamines are formed when processed meats, such as bacon and bologna
are eaten. Milner found that a diet consisting of 2 to
4 percent garlic delayed the growth of breast cancer and reduced the
number of tumors. "The total tumor number was reduced by 56% in rats
fed the 2% garlic-powder diet throughout the 20 weeks feeding period
compared to control-fed rats," he explained in Carcinogenesis (Oct.
1992;13:1847-51). Another benefit was that levels of
glutathione-S-transferase were 42 percent higher among the animals eating
high-garlic diets. Glutathione-S-transferase is an enzyme that helps the
liver detoxify carcinogens and other dangerous chemicals. In a separate study, Milner found that
garlic could dramatically reduce the number of "adducts" in
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Adducts are chemicals that attach
nitrosamines to DNA, setting the stage for cancerous changes. Milner exposed a group of laboratory rats
to nitrosamines, but some of the animals were also given large amounts of
aged garlic powder - again, 2 to 4 percent of the diet. Depending on the
amount of garlic they ate, the rats had a 40 to 80 percent reduction in
the adducts in the liver. In addition, garlic-eating rats benefited from
55 to 69 percent fewer mammary gland adducts, according to Milner's
article in Carcinogenesis (Feb. 1994;15:349-52). Several studies have also shown that garlic
reduces the risk of stomach cancer. One study, conducted in China, found
that garlic consumption was inversely related to the incidence of stomach
cancer, according to a report in Preventive Medicine (Han, J., Sept.
1993;22:712-22). Other experiments, such as the one described in Cancer
Letters (Nagabhushan, M., Oct. 21, 1992;66:207-16), noted that diallyl
sulfide significantly reduced stomach tumors in hamsters. In still another experiment, Professor M.
M. El-Mofty of Alexandria University, Egypt, fed Egyptian toads either
freshly minced garlic, garlic oil, or corn oil (placebo) for four months,
then exposed them to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a food contaminant that can
cause liver cancer. "Our results show that feeding toads
minced garlic or garlic oil resulted in a marked reduction in the
incidence of tumors induced by AFB1," El-Mofty wrote in Nutrition and
Cancer, 1994;21:95-100). "The fresh garlic showed a greater
inhibitory effect...This suggests that there are additional highly active
components in fresh garlic." Microbial and Fungal Infections One way garlic works is by promoting
phagocytosis, the ability of white blood cells to fight infections.
Another is by stimulating other immune cells, such as macrophages and
T-cells to fight bacterial and viral infections and to scavenge for cancer
cells. One report, in Deutsche Zeitschrift für Onkologie (April
1989;21:52-3), described how garlic enhanced the body's "killer
cell" activity against the AIDS virus. Lau has also noted that garlic can combat
Candida infections. In one study, he injected an aged garlic extract into
mice with Candida infections. After a day, the Candida colonies numbered
400, compared with 3,500 among the mice given only a salt-water solution.
After two days, the garlic-treated mice were free of Candida.
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