Liliaceae

Collection: The bulb with its numerous cloves should be unearthed when the leaves begin to wither in September. They should be stored in a cool dry place.

Constituents:

• Volatile oil, consisting of sulphur-containing compounds, including allicin (=S-allyl-2-propenthiosulphinate), allyl-methyltrisulphide, diallyldisulphide, diallyltrisulphide, diallyltetrasulphide, allylpropyldisulphide, ajoene, 2-vinyl-4H-l, 3 dithiin, and alliin, which breaks down enzymatically to allicin; with citral, geraniol linalool and a- and b-phellandrene
• Miscellaneous; enzymes including allinase, B vitamins, minerals flavonoids.

Actions: Anti-microbial, diaphoretic, cholagogue, hypotensive, anti-spasmodic.

Indications: Garlic is among the few herbs that have a universal usage and recognition. Its daily usage aids and supports the body in ways that no other herb does. It is one of the most effective anti-microbial plants available, acting on bacteria, viruses and alimentary parasites. The volatile oil is an effective agent and as it is largely excreted via the lungs, it is used in infections of this system such as chronic bronchitis, respiratory catarrh, recurrent colds and influenza. It may be helpful in the treatment of whooping cough and as part of a broader approach to bronchitic asthma. In general it may be used as a preventative for most infectious conditions, digestive as well as respiratory. For the digestive tract it has been found that Garlic will support the development of the natural bacterial flora whilst killing pathogenic organisms. In addition to these amazing properties, Garlic have an international reputation for lowering both blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels and generally improving the health of the cardio-vascular system. A recent study was conducted on two groups, one consisting of 20 healthy volunteers who were fed Garlic for 6 months and the other of 62 patients with coronary heart disease and raised serum cholesterol. Beneficially changes were found in all involved and reached a peak at the end of 8 months. The improvement in cholesterol levels persisted throughout the 2 months of clinical follow-up. The clinicians concluded that the essential oil of Garlic possessed a distinct hypolipidemic, or fat reducing, action in both healthy people and patients with coronary heart disease. Garlic should be thought of as a basic food that will augment the body's health and pretect it in general. It has been used externally for the treatment of ringworm and threadworm.

Preparations & Dosage: A clove should be eaten three times a day. If the smell becomes a problem, use Garlic oil capsules, take three a day as a prophylactic or three times a day when an infection occurs.

Clinical Trials (101 available)(PubMed Database)

The effectiveness of the antioxidant drug "Karinat" which contains garlic powder 150 mg as one of the ingredient per tablet was significantly higher (29%) in 34 patients with chronic atrophic gastritis. [Article in Russian]. Berspalov 2004

The hypolipidemic effect of Kwai, a preparation based on garlic powder was most pronounced in patients with coronary heart disease with initial cholesterol >7.0 mmol/liter and triglyceride >1.92 mmol/liter. Chernyad'eva 2003

Treatment of Naturopathic Herbal Extract Ear Drops which includes Allium sativum was found to be beneficial in 171 children aged between 5 to 18 years suffering with otitis media. Sarrell 2003

Topical application of ajoene, an organosulfur compound derived from garlic, to the tumors of 21 patients with either nodular or superficial basal cell carcinoma reduced the tumor size in 17 patients by inducing the mitochondria-dependent route of apoptosis. Tilli 2003

The study of antimicrobial activity of garlic, tea tree oil, and chlorhexidine against oral microorganisms of 30 subjects showed that garlic and tea tree oil found to be an alternative to chlorhexidine. Groppo 2002

Consumption of whole strawberries, garlic juice, or kale juice may reduce endogenous N-nitrosodimethylamine formation. Chung 2002

Dietary supplementation with aged garlic extract for 14 d reduced plasma and urine concentrations of 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha) by 29% and 37% in nonsmokers and by 35% and 48% in smokers. Dillon 2002

The reduced risk of prostate cancer associated with allium vegetables like garlic,scallions,onions, etc., was independent of body size, intake of other foods,& total calorie and was more pronounced for men with localized than with advanced prostate cancer. Hsing 2002

Some of the positive and negative results from randomized trials utilizing dietary supplements including garlic, for a number of non-urologic and urologic conditions, including cancer have been reviewed. Moyad 2002

Aged garlic extract may have significant anti-oxidant effect on sickle RBC. Takasu 2002

Lipid lowering herbal drugs like Allium sativum L., Cynara scolymus L.,Curcumae longa L exert beneficial effects for the prophylactic or therapeutic treatment of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis patients.[Article in German]. Wegener 2002

Garlicin effectively inhibited the CD11a expression (49.16 +/- 31.68%) in peripheral blood neutrophils and improved the deformability of the neutrophils in acute cerebral infarction patients. [Article in Chinese]. Zhang 2002a

Allicor significantly inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation in vitro and ex vivo, reduced blood fibrinogen, and normalized initially low fibrinolytic activity and fibrinolysis index. Andrianova 2001

Volunteers in allicin-containing supplement treatment group were less likely to get a cold and recovered faster if infected. Volunteers taking placebo were much more likely to get more than one cold over the treatment period. Josling 2001

The enteric-coated garlic powder supplements with 9.6 mg allicin-releasing potential in 46 hypocholesterolemic patients, reduced total cholesterol (TC, -0.36 mmol/L. -4.2%) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C, -0.44 mmol/L, -6.6%) in a double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled intervention study. Kannar 2001

Reduction of in vivo cytochrome P450 2E1 activity by diallyl sulphide is consistent with inhibition observed in vitro. The inhibitory effect of DAS maybe additive with daily consumption of Allium vegetables in particular. Loizou 2001