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Super Foods that Heal - GARLIC |
Written by Toma Grubb | |
Thursday, 23 November 2006 | |
GARLIC Benefits of Garlic - Heart Disease/Cholesterol Lowering Besides the mythical acclaim for warding off vampires and other evil spirits, garlic has a centuries-old reputation for its health and healing qualities. Today, this plant ranks as our most popular herbal cure-all. And it may indeed have some untapped medicinal potential. An analysis of five studies, reported last year in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicates, for example, that eating one-half to one clove a day reduced cholesterol levels by 9%. Another study in Circulation, the prestigious journal sponsored by the American Heart Association, suggests that garlic may help maintain the elasticity of aging blood vessels. (Blood vessels, like old rubber bands, lose their stretchiness with time. This is why many elderly people have high blood pressure.) In the Circulation study, the average garlic intake was five 100-milligram tablets (a little less than half a medium garlic clove) a day. Other studies have shown garlic may lower high blood pressure, retard the growth of certain bacteria, reduce the risk of breast, stomach and colon cancers, serve as a diuretic, and help in the long-term treatment of intermittent claudication (restricted leg blood flow that causes pain while walking). Nevertheless, munching on garlic cloves or taking garlic supplements is not now being advised by the American Heart Association or any other national health organization. The reason is that appropriate experimental studies have not been conducted -- that is, long-term clinical trials where individuals are randomly assigned to consume or not consume garlic. Of the 1,000 or so garlic and health investigations to date (including those mentioned above) almost all are of the observational or questionnaire type (epidemiological) studies. Gold standard experimental studies are essential to prove the real value of a substance. Furthermore, aside from an antibacterial compound called allicin, scientists do not know which of the many substances in garlic produce beneficial effects. Until all this is clear, health organizations will be reluctant to make any health recommendations for garlic. In addition, there is little market control on garlic supplements. When you purchase garlic pills, you can't be sure of exactly what you are buying. These products, like other dietary supplements, are not viewed as drugs by government regulators; therefore, they are not scrutinized for content, purity or anything else so long as the manufacturers do not make health claims on the package. Consequently, the content of the pills can and does vary. One study found that the amount of garlic ingredients released by different supplement brands varied by as much as 18-fold. Caution. If you regularly take medications such as aspirin or other drugs that thin the blood, see your doctor before taking garlic supplements. Garlic has anticoagulant properties. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 23 November 2006 ) |
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