Garlic

HABITAT

Allium sativum is cultivated all over the world in a warm, moderate climate and is used largely as an herb and a vegetable. The plant is native to central Asia but grows wild in Italy and southern France. It grows best in a sunny location in soil that is well-drained yet moisture-retentive and relatively high in organic matter. Well-rotted manure or compost is an ideal soil amendment to improve the latter in garden soils. Garlic prefers a soil pH of between 6 and 7. Liming is recommended if the pH falls below 5.8.

INTRODUCTION

Garlic is the second most widely used cultivated Allium after onion. It has long been recognized all over the world as a valuable spice for foods and a popular remedy for various ailments and physiological disorders. The potency of garlic has been acknowledged for more than 500 years. In the ancient times, garlic was used as a remedy for intestinal disorders, flatulence, worms, respiratory infections, skin diseases, wounds, symptoms of aging, and many other ailments. Through the middle ages into World War II, the use of garlic to treat wounds surfaced repeatedly. It was ground up or sliced and was applied directly to wounds to inhibit the spread of infections.

Garlic is rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, protein, arginine, zinc, saponins, polyphenols, and selenium. Moreover, it is a good source of certain vitamins like Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, and B1 and Vitamin C 14. The unique flavour and health-promoting functions of garlic are generally attributed to its rich content of sulphur-containing compounds, i.e., alliin, g-glutamyl cysteine, and their derivatives.

BENEFITS

Boost Heart Health: Garlic protects heart health. These include lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as reducing artery stiffness and blood markers for inflammation. Garlic extract can help slow the rate of progression of coronary artery calcification, a risk factor for cardiac events, including heart attack and stroke. In people with high cholesterol, garlic has been shown to reduce both total cholesterol and “bad” LDL, while slightly improving protective “good” HDL.

Ayurvedic View: High cholesterol is due to an imbalance of Pachak Agni (digestive fire). Impaired digestion at the tissue level produces Ama (toxic remains in the body due to improper digestion). This causes accumulation of bad cholesterol and blockage in the blood vessels. Garlic helps to improve Agni (digestive fire) and reduce Ama. This is due to its Deepan (appetizer) and Pachan (digestive) properties. It also helps to remove blockage from the blood vessels by eliminating toxins and helps to maintain healthy heart due to its Hrdya (cardiac tonic) nature.

Manage Diabetes: Garlic helps to manage diabetes by regulating blood glucose levels.

Ayurvedic View: Diabetes also known as Madhumeha is due to an aggravation of Vata and impaired digestion. Impaired digestion leads to an accumulation of Ama (toxic remains in the body due to improper digestion) in the pancreatic cells and impairs the function of insulin. Regular intake of Garlic helps to correct impaired digestion and reduces Ama. This is due to its Deepan (appetizer) and Pachan (digestive) properties.

Cold and Cough: Garlic is such a potent viral and bacterial agent that it can destroy the flu virus before it can transform into a full-blown virus in the body. That is because it contains sulphur compounds called allicin and alliin that have a direct antiviral effect.

Ayurvedic View: Garlic helps to control cough associated with common cold when used in the daily diet or if taken with honey. A cough is a common ailment, which usually happens with cold. It is commonly known as Kapha disorder in Ayurveda. A cough is generally caused by the accumulation of mucus in the respiratory tract. Eating Garlic helps to reduce Kapha due to its Kapha balancing property and also expel out accumulated mucus from the respiratory tract due to its Ushna (hot) nature.

MECHANISM OF ACTION

Several modes of action have been proposed. These include: (i) Effect on drug metabolising enzymes (that is induction of phase II detoxification enzymes, including glutathione transferases, quinine reductase, epoxide hydrolase and glucuronosyl transferase that inactivate toxic substances and facilitate their excretion); (ii) antioxidant activity (garlic preparations exhibit radical scavenging activity and decrease lipid peroxidation, which is relevant in the light of the observation that tumour promotion may involve oxygen radicals); (iii) tumour growth inhibition that has been documented in several carcinoma cell lines, including prostate carcinoma cells; (iv) induction of apoptosis, which coincides with an increase in the percentage of cells blocked in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle (possibly through a depression in p34cdc2 kinase); and (v) effective stimulation of the immune response (Organosulfur compounds (OSC) stimulates proliferation of lymphocytes and macrophage phagocytosis, induce the infiltration of macrophages and lymphocytes in transplanted tumours, induce splenic hypertrophy, stimulate the release of interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ, enhance natural killer cell, killer cell and lymphokine-activated killer cell activity).

CLINICAL STUDIES & REFERENCES

Bordia A (1981), “Effect of garlic on blood lipids in patients with coronary heart disease. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 34:2100-2103.
Eidi A, Eidi M, Esmaeili E (2006). Antidiabetic effect of garlic (Allium sativum L.) in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Phytomed. 13(9):624-629.
Ashraf R, Aamir K, Shaikh AR, Ahmed T, “Effects of garlic on dyslipidemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.” J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2005 Jul-Sep; 17(3):60-4.
G. Duda, J. Suliburska, and D. Pupek-Musialik, “Effects of short-term garlic supplementation on lipid metabolism and antioxidant status in hypertensive adults,” Pharmacological Reports, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 163–170, 2008.
I. A. Sobenin, V. V. Pryanishnikov, L. M. Kunnova, Y. A. Rabinovich, D. M. Martirosyan, and A. N. Orekhov, “The effects of time-released garlic powder tablets on multifunctional cardiovascular risk in patients with coronary artery disease,” Lipids in Health and Disease, vol. 9, article 119, 2010.