"Benefits of Garlic for Fighting Cancer and the Common Cold"
Garlic lowers blood pressure, regulates cholesterol, and stimulates immunity.
I’ve talked about the heart disease risk factors; what about the immunity?
Eating garlic appears to offer the best of both worlds,
dampening the over-active face of the immune system
by suppressing inflammation while boosting protective immunity,
for example natural killer cell immunity, which our body uses to purges cells
that have been stricken by viruses or cancer.
In World War II garlic was evidently dubbed ‘Russian Penicillin’ because,
after running out of antibiotics, that’s what the Soviet government turned to.
But does it actually work?
You don’t know, until you put it to the test.
For example, how about preventing the common cold, perhaps the world’s most
widespread viral infection, with most people suffering
approximately two to five colds per year.
The first double-blind, placebo- controlled trial to investigate
the prevention of viral disease with a garlic supplement.
Those randomized to the garlic suffered 60 percent fewer colds,
70 percent fewer days affected, so not only fewer colds but faster recovery,
suffering only one and a half days instead of five.
So, accelerated relief, reduction in symptom severity,
and faster recovery to full fitness.
OK, but this study was done nearly 20 years ago.
What about all the other randomized controlled trials?
There aren’t any—just that one trial to date—but still,
and the best available balance of evidence then suggests that
garlic may indeed prevent occurrences of the common cold.
The common cold is one thing, but what about cancer?
Is it a stake through the heart of cancer?
Various garlic supplements have been tested
on cells in a petri dish or lab animals,
but there were no human studies to see if garlic could affect gene expression until...
NOW!
Eat one big clove of crushed raw garlic, and within hours
you get an alteration of the expression of your genes
related to anti-cancer immunity.
It’s one thing to see a big boost in the production of
cancer-suppressing proteins like oncostatin
when you drip garlic directly on cells in a petri dish,
but you also see boosted gene expression
directly in your blood stream within hours of eating it.
Does this then translate into lower cancer risk?
Ten population studies put together, and those reporting higher consumption
of garlic only had half the risk of stomach cancer.
How do you define high?
In each study it was different,
from a few times a month to every day, but regardless, those who ate more
appeared to have lower cancer rates than those who ate less,
suggesting a protective effect.
And hey, stomach cancer is a leading cause
of cancer-related death around the world while garlic is relatively cheap,
widely available, and easy to incorporate into your daily diet
in a safe manner, and perhaps the more the better.
The only way to prove garlic can prevent cancer, though, is to put it to the test.
Thousands of individuals were randomized to receive
seven years of a garlic supplement or placebo.
And they did tend to get less cancer
and die from less cancer, but the findings were not statistically significant,
meaning they could have just happened by chance.
Why didn’t we see a more definitive result given that garlic eaters
appear to have such lower cancer rates?
Well, they didn’t give them garlic; they gave them garlic extract and oil pills,
and it’s possible some of the purported active components
weren’t preserved in supplement form.
One study of garlic supplements found that it might take up to 27 capsules
to obtain the same amount of garlic goodness
found in just a half of a clove of crushed raw garlic.
What happens if you cook it?
If you compare raw chopped garlic to garlic simmered for 15 minutes,
boiled for six, or stir-fried for just one minute you can get a three-fold drop
in one of the purported active ingredients called allicin when you boil it,
even more if you simmer it for too long and it all seems to get wiped out
by even the minute of stir-frying.
What about roasted garlic?
Surprisingly, even though roasting is hotter than boiling,
it preserved about twice as much.
Raw has the most, but it may be easier for some folks to eat two to three cloves
of cooked garlic than even a half clove of raw.
What about pickled garlic, or those jars of minced garlic packed in water,
or packed in oil, or that fancy fermented black garlic?
Though jarred garlic may be more convenient, there is comparably less
garlicky goodness, especially pickled garlic,
and the black garlic really falls far behind.
Can you eat too much?
The garlic meta- analysis suggests there’s no real safety concerns
with side effects or overdosing, though that’s with internal use.
You should not stick crushed garlic on your skin.
It can cause irritation and if left on long enough, can actually burn you.
Wrap your knees with a garlic paste bandage,
or stick some on your back overnight,
and you can end up like this, or this.
Definitely don’t rub garlic on babies.
“But an article online said that topical garlic was good
for respiratory disorders, and the girl was congested.”
Look at those blisters! Oh, poor pumpkin.
“Natural” does not necessarily mean “safe.”
Don’t put it on your toes, don’t use it as a face mask,
don’t use it to try to get out of military service.
But when you instead just eat it like you’re supposed to,
there shouldn’t be a problem, though some people do get
an upset tummy if they eat a little too much.
And you really can't say no side-effects,
given the body odor and garlic breath.