Benefits of Garlic

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Excerpt of article on benefits of garlic:

 

For thousands of years, garlic has been recognized for both its culinary

qualities

and a variety of medicinal properties. Garlic cloves, for example, were

reportedly

applied to the feet of smallpox victims as “treatment” for the disease.

In today’s

more science-oriented world, research has shown garlic to have a host of

positive

health effects, including antiseptic qualities that have been credited

to sulfur compounds

in the cloves. The Chinese have long used garlic to reduce blood pressure

and treat cardiovascular disease—a few of the many medicinal effects

under study

in the U.S.

Despite a flurry of research on garlic in the 1990’s, much remains to be

learned.

Scientific and medical research continues worldwide on the health

properties of various

forms of garlic and garlic supplements. Health benefits ascribed to

garlic and

garlic supplements include:

 

• antibiotic/antifungal effects;

• antiseptic properties useful in fighting infections and

dysentery-causing amoebas;

• antioxidant effects, protecting cells from free-radical damage and cancer;

• cholesterol reduction, lowering LDL and increasing HDL;

• natural anticoagulant properties, preventing blood clots and strokes; and

• anti-hypertensive effects, reducing blood pressure.

 

Documented medical research studies supporting the presence of these

health benefits

are numerous. A 1993 study at Pennsylvania State University found that

garlic

reduces triglycerides and cholesterol in livers and blood of laboratory

rats. The

Mayo Clinic reports that garlic is an effective blood thinner, reducing

plateletclotting

action. The clinic also states that garlic may reduce hypertension and help

fight infection. Further, in a study involving more than 100,000 people,

research

released this year at the University of North Carolina found that eating

one clove of

raw or cooked garlic each day may reduce colon and stomach cancer.

Allylic sulfides

(found in garlic and onions) are considered by many researchers to be among

the most potent of all nutrients from plants and may prevent some

cancers and

coronary disease.

Further research is underway in institutions such as the Mayo Clinic,

the Harvard

Medical School, and the Cornell University Medical Center (which has a

toll-free

garlic hotline). In addition, the National Cancer Institute is funding

research at

Queen’s University in Ontario on garlic’s ability to shield lungs

against chemical

toxicants and potential carcinogens.

 

For full article see:

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/AgOutlook/Jun2000/ao272e.pdf