Garlic

Garlic is increasingly recognized for its ability to prevent or even reverse some of the causes of heart disease, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and poor circulation. Even better, certain garlic compounds, known as allyl sulfides, just might inhibit the growth of some types of cancer cells. No wonder, then, that the scientific community is exploring garlic's medicinal possibilities.

Test-tube studies have found, for example, that adding commercial garlic extract to cancer cells in breast or prostate tissue cultures inhibits cell growth. Such results point to four key questions that now need to be answered, says Richard Rivlin, MD, principal investigator of the Clinical Nutrition Research Unit at Strang Cancer Prevention Center, and professor of medicine at the Weill Medical College of Comell University in New York City:

1. Will these effects be the same in humans when administered?

2. Which active garlic ingredients do what?

3. Does garlic work best alone or in conjunction with drugs Or other natural agents/foods?

4. What forms of garlic work best?

Researchers at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center are already testing garlic's effect on drugs. A new study by this group, presented at the 2005 World Garlic Symposium in April, found that when heart patients who were already taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs added aged garlic extract supplements to their regimens, they showed additional improvement over simply taking the medication alone. Other research centers are working to establish garlic's stand-alone benefits. For instance, Strang Cancer Prevention Center is launching human trials to establish garlic's effect on cancer, and Harbor-UCLA is expanding studies of garlic's effect on people with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

One challenge for both researchers and consumers is that different forms and brands of garlic supplements vary considerably, which muddies the issue of which garlic ingredient is responsible for which benefit. Study results using one brand can contradict results using a different brand.

That said, some garlic advocates relate its activity to the high allicin content. According to the Physician's Desk Reference for Herbs, successful trials used garlic extract in doses of 3,600-5,400 mcg of allicin per day.

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