Garlic is a powerful detoxifying agent that can protect against various liver toxins. In an experimental study, garlic protected against acetaminophen (Tylenol’)-induced liver toxicity.This means that individuals who are taking Tylenol may find garlic is beneficial. Garlic can also kill harmful bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
It’s believed garlic has been used as a medicinal food longer than any other plant. Ancient Egyptians used it in their burials; garlic was found in King Tutankhamun’s pyramid. Dioscorides, the first century Greek pharmacist, prescribed garlic to “clean the arteries” long before the understanding of circulation was established.
Today, garlic is one of the most researched plant medicines. By 1996, more than 1,800 scientific studies had investigated garlic’s medicinal properties. Through these studies, garlic has been verified as an important natural supplement in the treatment of many health problems.
Garlic chemistry is very complex. It’s rich in many active components, including 75 different sulfur compounds. Allicin, the substance that gives garlic its characteristic odor (and to those who partake of its goodness— garlic breath) is the compound that’s most prized. Most garlic producers strive to grow garlic plants with a high allicin yield. Without allicin, garlic might not have any benefit at all.
However, as important as allicin is to garlic growers and harvesters alike, the concentration of allicin in an intact clove of garlic is astonishingly small. This is because allicin is protected in the clove by cell walls. It is only after the cell walls are crushed or cut that garlic cloves release their allicin.
While allicin itself has beneficial health effects, its greatest strength is in what it yields. Once allicin is released, many compounds are formed. These compounds are responsible for most of garlic’s health benefits. Allicin itself is highly unstable.
In fact, allicin cannot be detected in the bloodstream or urine at any time after eating garlic.
Allicin also is destroyed by stomach acid. Many commercial garlic products are enter coated. The tablets go through the stomach intact without dissolving. This delivers the garlic tablet to the small intestine, where the tablet dissolves and releases its allicin. From the small intestine, allicin’s many compounds are formed and then enter the bloodstream. This form of supplementation also avoids the development of garlic breath.
By Decker Weiss: NMD, MCVPR
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