Can you Trust Garlic?
November 22nd, 2008Garlic is another herb whose adjectives sometimes outweigh its usefulness. It is promoted as a cure for deafness, diabetes, hemorrhoids, leprosy, pneumonia, respiratory illness, loss of appetite and cancer.
Health food stores refer to it as natures antibiotic which is funny because almost everything they sell is called that way. Unfortunately, you wont get any scientific studies from these stores to give credence to their claims.
Garlic does possess some germ-killing powers because of a substance it contains called allicin. By todays standards, however, garlic falls short of the effectiveness we have come to expect from a medicine, according to Consumer Guide and the US National Institutes of Health.
Garlic was used for minor cuts and scratches during World War I. But it makes no sense using it today for that purpose since it can burn and blister the skin, according to Kurt Butler and Dr. Lynne Rayner of the University of Hawaii in The Best Medicine. Similarly, the use of garlic for athletes foot is not advised since it can be very irritating and painful to the raw skin, and it could aggravate the condition, they said.
With regard to cancer, garlic does inhibit the growth of cancer cells provided youre a rat. There is no conclusive evidence that it will do the same thing in humans.
Recently, health food stores are cashing in on the idea that garlic can lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels, thereby reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and helping the user lose weight.
While garlic may play a role in cardiovascular health, its still too early to jump to conclusions. More tests are needed to determine the efficacy of this herb in heart disease.
In one small study, garlic reduced blood cholesterol levels by 17 percent in a group of people who took 15 milligrams of garlic oil daily.
Researchers said garlic may also increase the fibrinolytic or clot dissolving activity of the blood. This is beneficial for those with atherosclerosis who are in danger of suffering from a heart attack or stroke. This happens when small clots or thrombi form and lodge in a narrow artery of the heart or brain.
In the study, people who ate 60 grams or 20 cloves of garlic a day increased the fibrinolytic activity of their blood by 100 percent in three weeks and reduced their risk of a heart attack.
While initial results are encouraging, its too early to say that garlic can indeed lower blood pressure and prevent the formation of blood clots. For this reason, the use of garlic supplements or the herb itself is not recommended until further tests are done.
Although the use of garlic sounds like a fascinating and delicious way to lower blood pressure, there is no good scientific proof that indicates garlic is useful for this purpose. Good science does not rely on only a few small studies to draw conclusions. Judgment about garlics true therapeutic value for this problem, as well as others, awaits further testing, said the US National Institutes of Health.
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