All About Garlic

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Garlic Pills, Oils, Etc.

Garlic lovers reek of good health - so eat, reek and be merry!

Updated March 20, 2007!

 

Before we get into the physiological effects of garlic, I would like to say that I am not a chemist; neither am I a botanist, biologist nor medical doctor. But I can read and I do love garlic enough to read everything about it I can. I am merely trying to pass on, to you the results of what I have read and otherwise learned in order to help stimulate enough of an interest in you for further study. Don't just take my word for it, Google it yourself and see where your research takes you.

I was also immensely fortunate to be able to attend all four Garlic is Life Symposia from 1998 through 2003 where research scientists from several disciplines came from all over came to deliver lectures to their peers and attend the lectures of all the other scientists. There have never before or after been any other meetings that brought together so many multi-degreed scientists to discuss their findings amongst their peers. These people formed a sort of allium intelligensia and bonded quite well with each other over the 3-4 days of each symposium. The information in this section mostly comes from these lectures and personal conversations with these esteemed and honored scientists who have done the objective studies that have shown the real effects garlic has on health when used in different ways. They didn't have an agenda, just a willingness to learn as much as they could about this wonderous bulb. Click here to read all about the Garlic is Life Symposia

Unfortunately, not all studies are as objective as these, sometimes vested financial interests of the pharmaceuticals industry sponsor studies with the apparent intent to show garlic to have no health benefits and thus seek to undermine the confidence of the public in garlic. There was a study done at a famous Minnesota health clinic a few years ago that purported to show garlic had no health benefits because no changes were measured after consuming the pills. What they did not mention was that the pills they used in the study did not dissolve and therefore the subjects of the study received no garlic. The proper conclusion should have been that the particular pill used did not work because it did not dissolve - a fact well known to other researchers as well. Instead, they drew the conclusion that garlic has no health benefits, in spite of the thousands of other studies which prove otherwise.

There is another more recent study publicized on in February, 2007 making similar claims. I have been too busy to look into it yet but I already know anything that flies into the face of so many thousands of objective studies to suddenly show dramatically different results needs to be looked into more closely. Many thousands of people have died from taking prescription medications,even according to the labels but no one has died from eating garlic - think about it.

I find this sort of pseudoscience to be repugnant. The average American does not have enough information about this and will probably take their word for it rather than try to find out more about it. That's what this webpage and the ones on Chemistry of Garlic and the Health Benefits of Garlic are all about - to help the public learn the facts so they can make up their minds in a more informed manner.

If you find disagreement with the contents of this section, please leave us your comments, as we plan to update this section with the latest information as it becomes available to us. We would not knowingly or intentionally misinform anyone. Where possible, we will cite the specific source of our information and urge you read it to help you be better informed. If you are aware of research papers that you do not see discussed here, please either forward them to us or tell us where we may obtain copies so that we can update our data base.

We realize we are in the middle of a controversial subject area and wish to help you to make intelligent choices based on having the maximum amount of information. We are not trying to practice medicine, give medical advice or anything of the kind. Around our place, we just happen to like the flavor of garlic and are overjoyed that information exists to show that it has beneficial effects on our bodies. Our goal is to inform others about the research that indicates these benefits and let researchers defend their own findings.How Garlic Pills, Oils and Extracts Work

It is almost meaningless to discuss garlic pills without talking about the medicinal aspects of garlic since there would seem to no other reason to take the pills. Accordingly, let us briefly review the health benefits of garlic. Please see our section on the health benefits of garlic for The names of the scientists and their organizations who have reported these findings. Experiments by competent scientists have shown beyond any reasonable doubt that consuming garlic has the following health benefits: Garlic lowers blood pressure. Garlic lowers LDL Cholesterol and can help to reduce atherosclerotic buildup (plaque) within the arterial system. Garlic lowers or helps to regulate blood sugar. Garlic helps to prevent blood clots from forming, thus reducing the possibility of strokes and thromboses (It may not be good for hemopheliacs). Garlic helps to prevent cancer, prevents certain tumors from growing larger and reduces the size of certain tumors. Garlic helps to remove heavy metals such as lead and mercury from the body. Raw Garlic is a potent natural antibiotic, while far less strong than modern antibiotics, can still kill some strains of bacteria that have become immune or resistant to modern antibiotics. Garlic has anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Garlic has anti-oxidant properties and is a source of selenium. Garlic probably has other benefits as well. Since medical doctors, botanists, biologists and chemists in hospitals and universities all over the world have established that the above claims are factual, people have wanted to obtain these health benefits. Many wishing to avoid the social consequences of garlic breath or because raw or cooked garlic in its natural state disagrees with them have turned to garlic oils, pills or aged garlic extract as an alternative. These commercial preparations are designed to go into the stomach or intestines before dissolving, thereby avoiding the taste and immediate smell of garlic breath. How good are these alternatives and which ones offer hope to the socially conscious or the digestively challenged? As in every other kind of business, each manufacturer claims their own product is superior, so how do you know who to believe? We will examine the kinds one at a time and let you draw your own conclusions. Research indicates it is not just the allicin in itself that accounts for all the above listed health benefits. Allicin does not circulate in the human body. It interacts with blood cells and breaks down into sulfides and other compounds and it's half life in the bloodstream is about a minute. Many of those breakdown sulphides, thiols, etc. account for the cholesterol lowering effects, anticoagulant action, cancer prevention and other benefits. Also, from the moment fresh garlic is crushed or dried garlic re-hydrated, it takes about ten minutes for the allinase to react with all the alliin to form allicin, which by then is beginning to form thiosulfinates. If this process takes place in the stomach, acid deactivates most of the allinase, thus little allicin is formed, but if it takes place in the acid-free small intestine, very much more allicin is formed.

True, allicin will breakdown and deliver a wide range of the beneficial compounds, but some of the preparations contain additives or compounds designed to enhance a particular effect, such as ajoene, which appears to be very good at inhibiting platelet aggregation, but may not be as complete as raw garlic in providing some of the other benefits. If you are seeking a specific benefit rather than the general overall effects, you may want to see which preparation seems to provide the particular benefit you are looking for. Again we refer you to read the section on the health benefits of garlic and the results of the experiments contained there. While there is widespread agreement about the health benefits of garlic, there is also some disagreement among researchers about garlic and its resultant sulphides, bi-sulphides, tri-sulphides, thiols, etc. Much of the research has been done using commercial garlic preparations, either due to the variations in fresh garlic or, sometimes, it appears to me, because some of the researchers may be trying to promote the particular manufactured preparation that employs them or pays for the research. A couple of researchers even claim, against overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that allicin is toxic and proudly state that their product has none of it. Yes, if you eat 100 bulbs of strong raw garlic a day, you probably would not feel or smell very good. I suspect they may be engaging in a little spin control to make their product look a little more favorable against competitor's products. Allicin is probably toxic to individuals who are allergic to sulphur and those people probably shouldn't use garlic, or garlic pills or oils for that matter.

We suggest that you read the research papers very carefully and draw your own conclusions as to the scientific objectivity of the researcher. I'm not the slightest bit objective; I like fresh whole garlic and I make no apologies for it. The farm animals around our place either do not object to my aroma, or if they do, they don't communicate their displeasure to me in any way I can see. Since our neighbors all know I grow garlic, they seem to expect me to smell funny, but it doesn't seem to diminish our relationship in any way. For a more comprehensive description of commercial preparations we recommend the very readable book, "Garlic, Nature's Original Remedy" (Go to your local bookstore and buy it, it's only $6.95 and a bargain at twice the price). Fulder and Blackwood offer an excellent explanation of the oils and pills and we shall draw upon their findings here.

Garlic Oils

Garlic Oils are the oldest kind of manufactured preparation and were first made some 70 years ago, long before research identified the active ingredients we know of today.

Garlic oil is made in two ways, one is derived by steaming crushed garlic and capturing the resultant oil released as the allicin breaks down into sulphides. Steam distilled garlic oil contains fair amounts of DADS and DATS. It takes about a pound of garlic to produce a gram of oil. That would make them too concentrated and very expensive, so vegetable oil is usually added to the garlic oil that goes into the capsules, diluting them to a more digestible concentration. The average garlic oil capsule actually contains about one percent of garlic oil and the rest of its net weight is usually vegetable oil. Steam distilled garlic oil contains oil soluble sulfides that circulate via the lymphatic system and studies indicate to be more anti-tumoric, more immune system enhancing and somewhat antibiotic.

The other way is to crush or chop (macerate) garlic and incubate it 24 hours in vegetable oil, then remove all pieces of garlic. garlic macerate oil contains ajoene, highly antibiotic and especially good at inhibiting platelet aggregation, and vinyldithiins, which are water-soluble and circulate through the blood system and likely are more beneficial to the heart and circulatory system.

Both are very low odor and it would seem to be better to take both since they provide different effects and circulate differently in the body. Both are lower in concentration than properly manufactured garlic powder pills that don't dissolve until they get to the duodenum, but do dissolve there.

Reduced Odor Garlic Pills In low-odor pills the garlics are sliced, dried and then ground into powder before the allicin is formed. A little allicin is formed where the cloves are sliced, but most of the cells are unbroken when dried and the alliin and allinase remain separate. This powder is put into capsules or made into pills and given an enteric coating designed to survive and not dissolve in the low pH of stomach acid but to prevent it from dissolving until after it leaves the stomach and enters the duodenum.

It makes a big difference whether the pill is dissolved in the stomach or intestines, because if the alliinase reacts with stomach acid it will be neutralized and no allicin will be formed. But if the pill/capsule dissolves in the duodenum, and mixes with the intestinal fluids, the sulfenic acid immediately forms and breaks down into allicin and then into the sulfides or other breakdown products and then gets into the user's system.

The manufacturer generally guarantees its potency, but it actually provides only the potential to form allicin and the actual amount may be difficult to measure since only the breakdown compounds get into the consumer's system and only then if the pill makes it through the stomach sunstantially intact or at least with plenty left to interact with intestional fluids, which are much higher in pH than the stomach acids.

It does seem to be a good way to get the benefits of both the allicin and the sulphides with a minimum of resultant odor, IF THE ENTERIC COATING WORKS RIGHT AND DISSOLVES PROPERLY. Not all enteric coatings are equal as some partially dissolve in the stomach, losing some of their potential to stomach acid while others not only stay intact in the stomach, but also remain intact throughout the small intestine and never do dissolve, being excreted along with other intestinal contents. Needless to say, such a pill would have no health benefits except for placebo effects. In fact, such pills have been sometimes used in studies in order for the experimenter to show that "garlic has no measurable health benefits," when the study really showed only that particular pill was ineffective because it did not dissolve. Interpretation is everything.

Again, though, fresh garlic is cheaper and as good or better, of course, it does have that aroma - might as well get used to it because if the pill is any good, you'll still have garlic breath, just later.

Odorless Garlic Pills (Sometimes Called Allicin-Standardized Pills) Garlic is processed in a way the manufacturer says prevents the conversion of alliin into allicin (the allinase is de-activated), then it is crushed and dried. Allicin is not formed until the capsule gets into the consumer's digestive system. The pill's enteric coating is designed to resist disintegration in the acid of the stomach, but to readily dissolve in the small intestine, where the breakdown products are absorbed. The manufacturer may guarantee it's potency.

It seems like a good way to get the full range of garlic benefits without the immediate garlic breath, But, again, it would seem to be difficult to tell exactly how much allicin is actually formed. Also, if it is really good, it would seem to me that there would eventually be at least a mild odor as the sulphides and other breakdown products work their way through the consumer's circulatory system and lungs. Still, fresh garlic is at least as effective, if you know how to use it, and is cheaper and tastes better, to boot.

Allicin Stabilized Pills

There is no such thing as stabilized allicin. Allicin is unstable by its very nature and will react with itself if there is nothing else around to react with. I would be leery of any claims manufacturers might make. You can prolong allicin's half-life from a couple of days to a couple of months by adding vitamin C, but that is only temporary. Allicin might be seen as being "stabilized" by employing an enteric coating that resisted dissolving of the pill; thereby, the formation of allicin, in the acid of the stomach, but readily dissolved in the Ph neutral small intestine, but allicin, itself, is not stable.

Ajoene Professor Eric Block, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at State University of New York at Albany, discovered that when garlic is heated in solvents (or solvents mixed with water, but never in water, alone), such as acetone, or vegetable oil, it makes a compound which he named ajoene (pronounced AH-HOE-EEN, Ajo is spanish for garlic). Tests have shown ajoene to be especially effective at preventing blood clotting and thereby minimizing the probability of strokes and thromboses. Ajoene apparently affects the platelet's ability to produce thromboxane, which causes clumping. Only the oil-macerate garlic supplements contain Ajoene. Ajoene is also highly antibiotic and recent studies have shown it to have promise in treating colon cancer.

Aged Odorless Garlic Extract This preparation is in a class by itself among commercial products. It is made by chopping garlic and aging it in alcohol for almost two years. It no longer has any allicin. Its manufacturers claim that allicin is harmful since the extract contains no allicin or diallyl Disulphide, or other sulfides as they disappeared early in their extraction process. Rather, they focus on the thioallyl compounds, S-allyl cysteine and S-allyl mercaptocysteine, which are among the compounds that form when allicin breaks down the farthest and are the least odorous. These are the most abundant compounds in Kyolic, even though there are only small amounts of them. Most of their research focuses on these two water-soluble compounds rather than allicin and diallyl di-and tri-sulfides that other pill manufacturers focus on.

There seems to considerable controversy about this as their findings seem to contradict the findings of so many other researchers. There is certainly truth in the statement that the breakdown compounds of allicin contain many of the active constituents that promote better health, rather than the allicin, itself and in densely populated areas, people may have more interest in the odorlessness of a product than elsewhere. There have been a number of studies showing aged garlic extract to be effective in producing some health benefits when used in greater amounts than are normally consumed and that it may have less toxicity than some other alternatives in large doses, yet other researchers point out that is because it is less potent to begin with and that . Only time and more research will tell for sure which viewpoint will prevail. Competitive ControversiesThere have been studies sponsored or conducted by Kyolic brand of aged garlic extract showing health benefits for Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract. Read them and determine for yourself what you think. Kyolic seems very enthusiastic only about aged garlic extract but less than enthusiastic about other commercial products and fresh garlic. Another leading garlic researcher points out that one's loyalty to an employer or sponsor might have a tendency to obscure one's total objectivity. I find these publicity battles between manufacturers to be annoying and wish all would be as independently objective as the true scientist is supposed to be.

At the recent third annual Garlic is Life! Symposium in Tulsa, Ok in fall of 2001, Dr. Larry Lawson explained the recent controversy over a study done at a major Clinic with some garlic pills that didn't show the expected benefits usually attributable to garlic and concluded that garlic was not effective. Dr. Lawson rightfully pointed out that the studies were done with a new formulaion of an older pill that had performed well in prior tests, and that the new pill's enteric coating failed to dissolve properly resulting in the release of little or no allicin or other breakdown products. The correct conclusion was that the new pills were not as good as the old, but the researchers mistakenly concluded that all garlic in all forms was ineffective. The study was apparently financed by a major pharmaceutical company.

The study itself was a valid study, only the conclusions drawn from it were obviously erroneous, once you learned about the pills they used. If you were to just read the report, you might actually agree with it if you didn't know better. It's when you get the background information that you can see the study had been set up to result in finding fault with garlic. It was never an objective study at all, but a deliberate attempt to sabatage garlic. The pharmaceuticals industry sees food supplements as a major competitor for the health consumers dollars and disparage them at every opportunity in order to undermine consumer confidence in a competitor.

 

In Summary I think most of the commercial preparations have health benefits, based on the research papers I have read and some of them seem to target certain areas better than others. Each person should read all they can on the matter and become a more educated consumer, then make up their own minds about which ones they want to use. I see nothing wrong with eating a reasonable amount of fresh and cooked garlic and supplementing it with commercial products, as long as one doesn't overdo it. For myself I enjoy fresh garlic, which I believe to be very healthful, simply because I like the taste of it and the way it makes me feel and I'm just glad to know there are health benefits as an added bonus. If you would like more information about this aspect of garlic, please follow our links and join the Garlic Seed Foundation. They have more information available than I could possibly type into a website.