2009 7 Nov

Facts You Should Remember About Garlic – One Of Nature’s Most Valuable Foods

In order to provide you with the sufficient amount of info it should be started with the definition that states that garlic is a member of the onion (Allium) family, and it can be used in fresh or dries form as a source of characteristic sulphur containing substances that have potentially useful effects within the body. It is also useful for you to remember that some of these compounds are present in garlic in a latent form, which are activated when garlic cloves are crushed or digested.

To go into more details there is a need to say that when garlic is crushed, or digested within the intestinal tract, the sulphur containing amino acid derivative alliin is converted by the enzyme allinase that is additionally present in garlic, into allicin, which is the most essential of the active substances present in garlic. The truth is that the activity of the enzyme allinase is reduced by heat and that is the reason why you need to remember that the potential benefits of garlic are reduced by cooking. The other essential fact to be mentioned here is that the active compounds in garlic decrease the adhesiveness of blood platelets and have ant i-thrombotic action. It is critical for you to comprehend that in this way garlic reduces the tendency of blood to clot. It should be also pointed out that these active compounds dilate blood vessels, thereby reducing blood pressure. The other benefit is that they also have immune system enhancing effects, as well as having anti-microbial action against certain types of pathogenic bacteria. Clinical studies have shown supplementation with garlic to have the following advantages:

• Garlic inhibits the development of atherosclerosis

• Garlic reduces blood cholesterol levels

• Garlic inhibits the development of particular types of cancers

• Garlic reduces high blood pressure

What evidence is there for the usefulness of Garlic?

It will be the interesting detail for you to discover that clinical trials have shown supplementation with garlic reduced arterial plaque formation inpatients with atherosclerosis, and it should be also pointed out here that it reduces the risk of death from heart illness by inhibiting atherosclerosis. It will be useful for you to find out that a meta-analysis of the effect of garlic on blood pressure indicated that garlic may be also useful in reducing blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension. Needless to say that the effectiveness of garlic in reducing blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels has been the theme of debate. However, there is also a need to point out that the balance of evidence from randomized clinical trials suggests that garlic supplementation is capable of moderate reductions in blood cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels.

It will be useful for you to know that the reputation of garlic as an helpful treatment for malignant tumours extends back to the time of the ancient Egyptian civilization, but scientific support for its therapeutic potential has been obtained just recently. The point is that cell culture, animal model and epidemiological studies have shown evidence for anticancer activity of garlic extracts or specific chemical compounds derived from garlic. It is the vital fact to mention that these effects consist of the regulation of cell cycle progression, the regulation of nuclear factors involved in inflammation, the stimulation of immune function, and the modification of signal transduction pathways.

As a matter of fact this is a great product and in order to prove this there is a need to add that a number of case control studies have been reported which demonstrate a protective effect of garlic consumption against human cancers; examples incorporate prostate cancer, breast cancer and gastric cancer.

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