Garlic Usage

Garlic may have a number of properties that help with colds and flu. For instance, we know that garlic contains compounds that help the plant defend itself from microbes, and these anti-microbial...

Read more about Viral Upper Respiratory Infections (Colds and Influenza) and Garlic.

Garlic may have a number of benefits for the heart, though specific effects are not clear. It may help prevent heart attacks by acting as a blood thinner.^15-18,112 Garlic may also help reduce high...

Read more about Heart Attack and Garlic.

Garlic may help treat high blood pressure by, among other things, acting as a blood thinner.

Read more about Hypertension and Garlic.

Garlic is widely used as an all-around treatment for preventing or slowing the progression of atherosclerosis (the cause of most heart attacks and strokes ). ^{1 2} However, there is actually relatively little in the way of meaningful evidence that it works for this purpose. The balance of the evidence suggests that garlic is not effective for treating high cholesterol , ³ ; there is only minimal evidence that it offers any benefits for people with high blood pressure . ⁴ According to some, but not all, studies, garlic might have blood-thinning effects, ⁵ but whether this translates into any medical benefit remains unclear.

One study found preliminary evidence that use of garlic could enhance blood sugar control in diabetes . ⁶ Garlic has a long folkloric history as a treatment for colds and is commonly stated to strengthen the immune system. However, up until 2001, there was no supporting evidence for this use. Since then, however, evidence including a well-designed double-blind study does suggest that regular use of garlic extract can help prevent colds. ⁷ In addition, folklore suggesting that garlic ingestion can ward off insect bites may have some truth to it, at least when garlic is taken regularly for several weeks. ⁸ When applied topically, garlic can kill fungi, ^{9 10 11} and there is preliminary evidence suggesting that ajoene, a compound derived from garlic, might help treat athlete's foot . ¹² Topical garlic can also kill bacteria on contact; however, if you take garlic by mouth, it will not work like an antibiotic throughout your system. Furthermore, oral garlic has failed to prove effective for killing Helicobacter pylori, the stomach bacteria implicated as a major cause of ulcers . ¹³ Traditionally, garlic was often combined with the herb mullein in oil products designed to reduce the pain of middle ear infections ( otitis media , not external ear infections known commonly as swimmer’s ear), and two double-blind studies support this use. ¹⁴ Note: While these products may reduce pain, it is very unlikely that they have any actual effect on the infection because the eardrum prevents them from reaching the site of infection.

Preliminary evidence, including one small double-blind trial suggests that regular intake of garlic as food or as aged garlic supplements may reduce risk of various forms of cancer . ¹⁵ Based on extremely weak evidence, garlic has been proposed as a treatment for problems related to the yeast Candida albicans, such as vaginal yeast infections , ¹⁶ oral yeast infections (thrush), ¹⁷ and the purported condition discussed in some alternative medicine circles as yeast hypersensitivity syndrome .