Study
Shows Garlic Ineffective in Lowering "Bad Cholesterol"
For those enduring
bad breath for the sake of good cardiovascular health, a new study brings
bad news: garlic does not lower LDL, the so-called "bad
cholesterol."
The finding, reported in the Archives
of Internal Medicine, applies to both fresh garlic and popular garlic
supplements.
"We did a bigger
and better trial than has ever been done before and with NIH [National Institutes of Health] funding,
not with supplement-manufacturer funding," says Christopher D. Gardner, Ph.D.,
study lead author and nutrition scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research
Center.
“And as far as lowering cholesterol, garlic didn't
work," he says.
Too much low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in arteries
is known to elevate risks for stroke or heart attack. Typically, patients with
LDL levels below 130 mg/dl are considered to be in the healthy range.
The notion that garlic is one of nature's answers to all
sorts of serious ills stretches as far back as Egypt, circa 1500 B.C., experts
say.
More recent interest in garlic's specific potential as an
LDL-lowering agent stems from lab work and animal testing done over the past
few years.
Findings suggest that crushing garlic produces a sulfur-containing
compound called allicin that might block cholesterol synthesis.
To test that theory, Dr. Gardner's team analyzed the impact
of garlic and garlic supplements on LDL blood levels in 192 men and women between
the ages of 30 and 65.
All of the study participants had moderately high LDL cholesterol
readings that averaged out at about 140 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl).
The researchers
focused on this moderate-level group, because they assumed that those with
more severely elevated LDL would be taking prescription
medications, such as statins, that could affect the results.
By contrast, patients with moderate elevations were more
likely to combat the problem with supplements alone.
Pregnant women, smokers, those with heart disease, cancer,
or diabetes, and current users of high blood pressure or lipid-lowering medications
were excluded from the study.
Six days a week
for six months, all the participants ingested the equivalent of a four-gram
clove of garlic in one of three forms: either
mixed into a sandwich in raw form or as one of two popular commercially-available
supplements, Garlicin® and Kyolic-100®.
The authors pointed out that the two chosen supplements
are manufactured differently.
Garlicin is a powdered option that is the only brand so
far to have demonstrated an ability in lab studies to produce a consumable
amount of allicin equivalent to raw crushed garlic.
By contrast, Kyolic is an aged-garlic extract specifically
designed to reduce bad breath side-effects in users.
This option was
described by the authors as "one of the
most popular brands on the market" and is the only supplement to have been
previously tested for cholesterol-lowering abilities in more than one clinical
trial.
Dr. Gardner notes that in order to match the properties
found in four grams of fresh garlic, patients in the two supplement groups
actually consumed slightly more than the daily-recommended dosage printed on
either supplement's label.
The authors also state that only one dosage level was studied
and that further investigation with higher doses might yield beneficial effects.
Always consult your physician for more information.
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American
Heart Association
Archives
of Internal Medicine - Coffee, Cirrhosis, and Transaminase Enzymes
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National
Institutes of Health (NIH) |
