Great Garlic

Original article November 2011 Copyright Jaine Kirtley

The healing powers of garlic have been recognised for centuries; even now scientific research is confirming the great health benefits of eating garlic. Raw garlic works best. If you cook it, you destroy some, but by no means all of the health giving ingredients.
Naturopathic treatment includes recommendations on ways you can change your diet to improve your health. Treatment may also incorporate herbal remedies tailored to your specific needs. Garlic is considered both a highly nutritious food[1-4] and a powerful medicinal herb[1, 5, 6].
Some recent scientific studies show garlic to be helpful for sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease[6-8], bacterial infections[9-11], Bacterial infections not helped by drug antibiotics[12], prostate problems[13], cancer[1, 8, 9, 14, 15], high cholesterol[5, 16-18], cardiovascular diseases[5-8, 18, 19], stroke[8], diabetes[20, 21], helicobacter pylori[9], high homocysteine[17-19], high triglycerides[5, 16], high blood pressure[8, 16, 17], low immunity[1, 10, 18], and ulcers[9], Traditionally garlic has been used as an antibiotic[9], anti viral, anti parasite, fungicide, anti catarrhal and so this list goes on; it was even said to be affective against the bubonic plague! There is no scientific study to back the anti bubonic plague claim, but people did live to tell the tale; which was that where the whole village ate garlic every day no one got the plague. 
With all these fantastic benefits why wouldn’t you eat garlic? Oh yuck I hear the cry it’ll give me smelly breath. The best way to tackle this is to always make sure the garlic is fresh, and have your nearest and dearest eat garlic too. You can also chew parsley after the garlic which is very effective in taking the smell away. 
Some people find that eating garlic causes stomach pain, as they find it hard to digest. One way to tackle this problem is to use a garlic supplement, make sure it is a standardised herbal preparation. However, you don’t have to eat garlic to reap the benefits. Put a clove of peeled garlic into your sock at might. You body will absorb some of the special garlic oils through the sole of your foot. Just tread carefully when you get up!
Contact us to book your personal consultation to help you to improve your health. 

 

References

 

1.             Amagase H: Clarifying the Real Bioactive Constituents of Garlic. The Journal of Nutrition 2006, 136(3):716S-725S.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/3/716S.abstract

2.             Malik MN, Fenko MD, Shiekh AM, Wisniewski HM: Isolation of α-Tocopherol (Vitamin E) from Garlic. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 1997, 45(3):817-819.http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf960524b

3.             Montaño A, Casado FJ, de Castro A, Sánchez AH, Rejano L: Vitamin Content and Amino Acid Composition of Pickled Garlic Processed with and without Fermentation. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2004, 52(24):7324-7330.http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf040210l

4.             Casado FJ, López A, Rejano L, Sánchez AH, Montaño A: Nutritional composition of commercial pickled garlic. European Food Research and Technology 2004, 219(4):355-359.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00217-004-1003-5

5.             Gorinstein S, Jastrzebski Z, Namiesnik J, Leontowicz H, Leontowicz M, Trakhtenberg S: The atherosclerotic heart disease and protecting properties of garlic: contemporary data. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 2007, 51(11):1365-1381.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.200700064

6.             Sun T, Powers Joseph R: Antioxidants and Antioxidant Activities of Vegetables. In: Antioxidant Measurement and Applications. vol. 956: American Chemical Society; 2007: 160-183.http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bk-2007-0956.ch012

7.             Borek C: Garlic Reduces Dementia and Heart-Disease Risk. The Journal of Nutrition 2006, 136(3):810S-812S.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/3/810S.abstract

8.             Borek C: Antioxidant Health Effects of Aged Garlic Extract. The Journal of Nutrition 2001, 131(3):1010S-1015S.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/131/3/1010S.abstract

9.             Sivam GP: Protection against Helicobacter pylori and Other Bacterial Infections by Garlic. The Journal of Nutrition 2001, 131(3):1106S-1108S.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/131/3/1106S.abstract

10.           Wang JP, Yoo JS, Jang HD, Lee JH, Cho JH, Kim IH: Effect of dietary fermented garlic by Weissella koreensis powder on growth performance, blood characteristics, and immune response of growing pigs challenged with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. Journal of Animal Science 2011, 89(7):2123-2131.http://jas.fass.org/content/89/7/2123.abstract

11.           Bjarnsholt T, Jensen PØ, Rasmussen TB, Christophersen L, Calum H, Hentzer M, Hougen H-P, Rygaard J, Moser C, Eberl L et al: Garlic blocks quorum sensing and promotes rapid clearing of pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Microbiology 2005, 151(12):3873-3880.http://mic.sgmjournals.org/content/151/12/3873.abstract

12.           Tsao S-m, Yin M-c: In vitro activity of garlic oil and four diallyl sulphides against antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2001, 47(5):665-670.http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/5/665.abstract

13.           Hsing AW, Chokkalingam AP, Gao Y-T, Madigan MP, Deng J, Gridley G, Fraumeni JF: Allium Vegetables and Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Population-Based Study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2002, 94(21):1648-1651.http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/94/21/1648.abstract

14.           Pinto J, Qiao C, Xing J, Rivlin R, Protomastro M, Weissler M, Tao Y, Thaler H, Heston W: Effects of garlic thioallyl derivatives on growth, glutathione concentration, and polyamine formation of human prostate carcinoma cells in culture. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1997, 66(2):398-405.http://www.ajcn.org/content/66/2/398.abstract

15.           Ngo SNT, Williams DB, Cobiac L, Head RJ: Does Garlic Reduce Risk of Colorectal Cancer? A Systematic Review. The Journal of Nutrition 2007, 137(10):2264-2269.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/10/2264.abstract

16.           Auer W, Eiber A, Hertkorn E, Hoehfeld E, Koehrle U, Lorenz A, Mader F, Merx W, Otto G, Schmid-Otto B: Hypertension and hyperlipidaemia: garlic helps in mild cases. British journal of clinical practice Supplement 1990, 69:3-6.http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/2083170

17.           Yeh Y-Y, Yeh S-m: Homocysteine-Lowering Action Is Another Potential Cardiovascular Protective Factor of Aged Garlic Extract. The Journal of Nutrition 2006, 136(3):745S-749S.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/3/745S.abstract

18.           Budoff MJ, Ahmadi N, Gul KM, Liu ST, Flores FR, Tiano J, Takasu J, Miller E, Tsimikas S: Aged garlic extract supplemented with B vitamins, folic acid and l-arginine retards the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis: A randomized clinical trial. Preventive Medicine 2009, 49(2-3):101-107.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743509003181

19.           Weiss N, Ide N, Abahji T, Nill L, Keller C, Hoffmann U: Aged Garlic Extract Improves Homocysteine-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction in Macro- and Microcirculation. The Journal of Nutrition 2006, 136(3):750S-754S.http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/3/750S.abstract

20.           Eidi A, Eidi M, Esmaeili E: Antidiabetic effect of garlic (Allium sativum L.) in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Phytomedicine 2006, 13(9-10):624-629.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944711305002175

21.           El-Demerdash FM, Yousef MI, El-Naga NIA: Biochemical study on the hypoglycemic effects of onion and garlic in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Food and Chemical Toxicology 2005, 43(1):57-63.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691504002741

 

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