Garlic producers have long cited the herb as a cure to many illnesses including heart disease, cancer, infections and even mosquito bites through the presence of a sulfur-containing substance called allicin that is released when raw garlic is chopped or crushed.
In lab tests, it can be applied directly to cells and has been shown to prevent cholesterol production but it does not react in the body the same way when eaten, writes Assistant Professor Christopher Gardner of the Stanford School of Medicine in the Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.
Allicin, which inhibits cholesterol synthesis directly, may not be able to do so when garlic is eaten as it may be diluted. Gardner tracked lives of 192 people aged 30-65, with slightly elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the so-called bad cholesterol that clogs arteries.
The participants were divided into four groups: one ate a clove of garlic six days a week for six months, usually in a gourmet sandwich prepared for them. However, two other groups consumed the equivalent amount of garlic either in a popular garlic supplement pill or powder. Researchers concluded garlic had no impact on participants' cholesterol levels even after six months.
AFP quotes Gardner as saying, "It just doesn't work. There's no shortcut. You achieve good health through eating healthy food. There isn't a pill or an herb you can take to counteract an unhealthy diet."
