For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Monrovia,
CA
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Biological Threats and Garlic as a Natural Remedy for What Ails Modern Civilization
By Bill Sardi
May 29, 2014 Every day we read or hear about some biological threat, whether it be from a potentially deadly strain of the flu virus, a prevalent pathogenic bacterium in foods like Campylobacter in uncooked chicken meat; or a seemingly safe FDA-approved drug that has been found to be unsafe like aspirin that induces bleeding gastric ulcers and brain hemorrhages; or pollutants in the air or water like the endemic fungus that causes Valley Fever or chlorine that decontaminates our tap water but increases the risk for colon cancer; or toxic heavy metals like mercury or lead in our dental fillings and roadways; or parasitic germs like H. pylori, Candida albicans, or Streptococcus that are commonly harbored in our own digestive tract. Then there is aging itself with all of the chronic diseases it brings with it ? circulatory problems, insidious decline in vision from cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration, as well as fatty liver, excessive sugar levels, and numerous malignancies. Not to mention excitotoxins like MSG, toxic sugars like fructose, hydrogenated (trans) fats in baked goods, carcinogens like nitrosamines, acrylamide or dioxin, or a newly described threat ? advanced glycation end products produced from heat-processed sugary foods we eat. There are endless studies of each and every one of these and many other health threats, but no study that assesses these risks as a whole. Modern medicine addresses each and every one of these health threats individually and capitalizes on all of them by developing costly medicines and narrowly designed treatments that can be found in the voluminous International Classification of Diseases (ICD-volume 9) published by the World Health Organization and in the Merck Manual. Waiting for each and every one of these threats to occur and then attempting to treat them as they are detected appears to be folly. But that is precisely how modern medicine addresses prevalent health threats and runs up the bill. Mounting a defense against all of them would pose a considerable challenge as well. How many medicines would one have to take to fend off all of them? And in this era of germ resistance, we cannot habitually take antibiotics to ward off infectious diseases before they occur without inducing treatment-resistant forms of these germs over time. If an antidote does exist for all these health threats, it must be safe, widely available, not require a doctor?s prescription, economical, and user friendly. It has to be something that people don?t have revulsion over, like the after-taste of cod liver oil. Vitamins and minerals are essential for health maintenance, but there is no single nutrient that addresses all of these health threats. Upon careful examination, nature does provide one antidote for what ails modern society ? garlic. Garlic, in particular its primary active principle ? allicin: Because of its mineral chelating (key-layting) properties, garlic addresses the aging process itself.[45] It is aging that is responsible for most chronic disease. The ?Overmineralization Theory of Aging? has been proposed.[46] Overmineralization has been called ?the malignant spirit in successful aging.?[47] Garlic has been found to prolong the life of roundworms in a model of aging.[48] Garlic activates internal enzymatic antioxidants via the Nrf2 gene transcription factor ? catalase, superoxide dismutase, heme oxygenase and glutathione, which is considered an anti-aging effect.[49] In 1988, a report published in the Journal of the National Medical Association stated that garlic has ?played in the therapy of many diseases since time immemorial ?. Garlic has been a mainstay in the medicinal arsenal of many past civilizations, including the Egyptian, Hebrew, Chinese, Greek, Indian, Japanese, and Roman ?. No other substance, either natural or synthetic, can match garlic's proven therapeutic versatility and effectiveness ?. Allicin and other sulfur compounds are thought to be the major antimicrobial factors in garlic? Profound therapeutic and economic implications will evolve as data from studies continue to confirm the medicinal spectra of garlic.?[55] It is agonizing to recognize how long garlic and its primary active molecule allicin have been disregarded in preference for synthetic drugs that have boxed mankind into a corner. The plagues of the Dark Ages may return due to germ resistance emanating from overuse of antibiotics. Aged garlic extract offers many proven health benefits, but lacks the pungent allicin molecule that is garlic?s best-studied molecule. In one key study, raw crushed garlic providing allicin, but not boiled or aged garlic, prevented adverse effects upon coronary arteries.[56] The importance of recognizing and obtaining allicin, its principal active ingredient, particularly because of garlic?s germ-fighting properties, has been underscored in this report.[57] Raw, crushed garlic cloves, by virtue of mixing the allicin-activating enzyme alliinase with garlic pulp, reliably produces allicin but, because of its pungency and odor, poses the problem of throat irritation[58] and garlic breath. The pungency and odor produced by raw garlic cloves is an obstacle to public adoption of this natural remedy. Heating garlic cloves to reduce pungency and odor negates any production of allicin, its key ingredient.[59] Over a decade ago enteric-coated garlic pills were initially found to reduce circulating cholesterol levels, then later failed to do so due to a change in manufacturing. Enteric-coated garlic pills, designed to dissolve in the less acidic intestines rather than the acidic stomach, may not always be a reliable way to produce allicin.[60] A 2007 trial published in the Archives of Internal Medicine conducted by investigators at Stanford Medical School using raw garlic, garlic powder, aged garlic extract failed to demonstrate a statistical or clinically significant effect upon cholesterol.[61] This report generated negative news reports and a decline in the public?s interest in garlic at that time. (Since that time cholesterol has been authoritatively dismissed as a predictor of impending heart attacks and arterial calcifications have been identified as the primary cause of mortal heart attacks. A large human trial published in the European Heart Journal recently reveals high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes have no bearing on whether a person will experience a future heart attack while a calcium arterial score of zero indicates an individual has a one-half-of-one percent risk of experiencing a mortal heart attack over a 5-year period.[62] This is another giant misdirection by modern medicine. Garlic therapy has been shown to reduce calcification of coronary arteries.[63]) Meanwhile, the challenge of overcoming garlic?s pungency and odor while delivering allicin, its key molecule, has finally been overcome. The availability of an alkaline, buffered garlic capsule that assuredly delivers about 2500-2800 micrograms (2-3 milligrams) of allicin ? about the same amount as a fresh-crushed clove of garlic, and that also eliminates garlic breath and odor ? is a welcome development. Should adoption of this type of pill into people?s daily health regimens occur, one can anticipate a favorable change in health status and longevity in the population at large. Given the many published reports extolling garlic, its lack of adoption by modern medicine is a major oversight. © 2014 Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc.
[1] Augusti KT, Jose R, Sajitha GR, Augustine P, ?A rethinking on the benefits and drawbacks of common antioxidants and a proposal to look for the antioxidants in allium products as ideal agents: a review, ? Indian J Clin Biochem. 2012 Jan;27(1):6-20. doi: 10.1007/s12291-011-0146-y. Epub 2011 Aug 9; Aviello G, Abenavoli L, Borrelli F, Capasso R, Izzo AA, Lembo F, Romano B, Capasso F, ?Garlic: empiricism or science?? Nat Prod Commun. 2009 Dec;4(12):1785-96. [2] Aslani MR, Najarnezhad V, Mohri M, ?Individual and combined effect of meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid and allicin on blood and tissue lead content in mice,? Planta Med. 2010 Feb;76(3):241-4. doi: 10.1055/s-0029-1186141. Epub 2009 Sep 17. [8] Liu C, Cao F, Tang QZ, Yan L, Dong YG, Zhu LH, Wang L, Bian ZY, Li H, ?Allicin protects against cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis via attenuating reactive oxygen species-dependent signaling pathways,? J Nutr Biochem. 2010 Dec;21(12):1238-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2009.11.001. Epub 2010 Feb 25. [13] Lee SC, Hwang SY, Kim SW, Kim SK, ?Ethanol extract of Allium sativum attenuates testicular and liver toxicity induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in rats,? J Med Food. 2009 Feb;12(1):93-9. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2007.0620. [16] Wang H, Peng R, Kong R, Zeng H, ?Effect of allicin on ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in mice,? Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 1998 Nov 30;27(6):415-7 [Article in Chinese]; Jin ZY, Wu M, Han RQ, Zhang XF, Wang XS, Liu AM, Zhou JY, Lu QY, Zhang ZF, Zhao JK, ?Raw garlic consumption as a protective factor for lung cancer, a population-based case-control study in a Chinese population,? Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2013 Jul;6(7):711-8. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-13-0015. Epub 2013 May 8; Kim MJ, Kim HK, ?Effect of garlic on high fat induced obesity,? Acta Biol Hung. 2011 Sep;62(3):244-54. doi: 10.1556/ABiol.62.2011.3.4. [17] Dilip Reddy G, Gopala Reddy A, Srinivasa Rao G, Haritha C, Jyothi K, ?Interaction Study on Garlic and Atorvastatin with Reference to Nephrotoxicity in Dyslipidaemic Rats,? Toxicol Int. 2010 Jul-Dec; 17(2): 90-93, doi: 10.4103/0971-6580.72678, PMCID: PMC2997463; Palaksha MN, Ahmed M, Das S, ?Antibacterial activity of garlic extract on streptomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli solely and in synergism with streptomycin,? J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2010 Jul-Dec; 1(1): 12-15, doi: 10.4103/0976-9668.71666 PMCID: PMC3217283; An M, Shen H, Cao Y, Zhang J, Cai Y, Wang R, Jiang Y, ?Allicin enhances the oxidative damage effect of amphotericin B against Candida albicans,? Int J Antimicrob Agents, 2009 Mar;33(3):258-63. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2008.09.014. Epub 2008 Dec 17.Antibacterial activity of garlic extract on streptomycin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli solely and in synergism with streptomycin Interaction Study on Garlic and Atorvastatin with Reference to Nephrotoxicity in Dyslipidaemic Rats [18] Osman M, Adnan A, Salmah Bakar N, Alashkham F, ?Allicin has significant effect on autoimmune anti-islet cell antibodies in type 1 diabetic rats,? Pol J Pathol. 2012 Dec;63(4):248-54 [pancreas]; Li W, Wang D, Song G, Zuo C, Qiao X, Qin S, ?The effect of combination therapy of allicin and fenofibrate on high fat diet-induced vascular endothelium dysfunction and liver damage in rats,? Lipids Health Dis. 2010 Nov 14;9:131. doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-9-131 [liver]; Li XH, Li CY, Lu JM, Tian RB, Wei J, ?Allicin ameliorates cognitive deficits ageing-induced learning and memory deficits through enhancing of Nrf2 antioxidant signaling pathways,? Neurosci Lett. 2012 Apr 11;514(1):46-50. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.02.054. Epub 2012 Feb 25 [brain]; Banerjee SK, Sood S, Dinda AK, Das TK, Maulik SK, ?Chronic oral administration of raw garlic protects against isoproterenol-induced myocardial necrosis in rat,? Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol. 2003 Dec;136(4):377-86 [heart]; Melzig MF, Krause E, Franke S, ?Inhibition of adenosine deaminase activity of aortic endothelial cells by extracts of garlic (Allium sativum L.),? Pharmazie. 1995 May;50(5):359-61 [arteries]; Shiju TM, Rajesh NG, Viswanathan P, ?Renoprotective effect of aged garlic extract in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats,? Indian J Pharmacol. 2013 Jan-Feb;45(1):18-23. doi: 10.4103/0253-7613.106429. [20] Lee SH, Liu YT, Chen KM, Lii CK, Liu CT, ?Effect of garlic sulfur compounds on neutrophil infiltration and damage to the intestinal mucosa by endotoxin in rats, ? Food Chem Toxicol. 2012 Mar;50(3-4):567-74. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2011.11.027. Epub 2011 Nov 26. [21] Elkayam A, Mirelman D, Peleg E, Wilchek M, Miron T, Rabinkov A, Oron-Herman M, Rosenthal T, ?The effects of allicin on weight in fructose-induced hyperinsulinemic, hyperlipidemic, hypertensive rats,? Am J Hypertens. 2003 Dec;16(12):1053-6. [22] Sasaki J, Kita T, Ishita K, Uchisawa H, Matsue H, ?Antibacterial activity of garlic powder against Escherichia coli O-157,? J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo), 1999 Dec;45(6):785-90. See also http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/ [23] Feldberg RS, Chang SC, Kotik AN, Nadler M, Neuwirth Z, Sundstrom DC, Thompson NH, ?In vitro mechanism of inhibition of bacterial cell growth by allicin,? Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1988 Dec;32(12):1763-8 [bacteria]; Weber ND, Andersen DO, North JA, Murray BK, Lawson LD, Hughes BG, ?In vitro virucidal effects of Allium sativum (garlic) extract and compounds,? Planta Med. 1992 Oct;58(5):417-23 [viruses]; Aala F, Yusuf UK, Jamal F, Rezaie S, ?Antimicrobial effects of allicin and ketoconazole on trichophyton rubrum under in vitro condition,? Braz J Microbiol. 2012 Apr;43(2):786-92. doi: 10.1590/S1517-83822012000200044. Epub 2012 Jun 1 [fungi]; Peyghan R, Powell MD, Zadkarami MR, ?In vitro effect of garlic extract and metronidazole against Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis, page 1987 and isolated amoebae from Atlantic salmon,? Pak J Biol Sci. 2008 Jan 1;11(1):41-7 [amoebae]; Aboelhadid SM, Kamel AA, Arafa WM, Shokier KA, ?Effect of Allium sativum and Allium cepa oils on different stages of Boophilus annulatus,? Parasitol Res. 2013 May;112(5):1883-90. doi: 10.1007/s00436-013-3344-0. Epub 2013 Feb 23 [ticks]; Velkers FC, Dieho K, Pecher FW, Vernooij JC, van Eck JH, Landman WJ, ?Efficacy of allicin from garlic against Ascaridia galli infection in chickens,? Poult Sci. 2011 Feb;90(2):364-8. doi: 10.3382/ps.2010-01090 [nematodes]; Coppi A, Cabinian M, Mirelman D, Sinnis P, ?Antimalarial activity of allicin, a biologically active compound from garlic cloves,? Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2006 May;50(5):1731-7 [malaria]. [27] Abdullah TH, Kandil O, Elkadi A, Carter J, ?Garlic Revisited: Major Therapeutic for the Diseases of Our Times?? J Natl Med Assoc. Apr 1988; 80(4): 439-445. PMCID: PMC2625738. Garlic Revisited: Therapeutic for the Major Diseases of Our Times? [29] Cañizares P, Gracia I, Gómez LA, Martín de Argila C, Boixeda D, García A, de Rafael L, ?Allyl-thiosulfinates, the bacteriostatic compounds of garlic against Helicobacter pylori,? Biotechnol Prog. 2004 Jan-Feb;20(1):397-401; Khodavandi A, Harmal NS, Alizadeh F, Scully OJ, Sidik SM, Othman F, Sekawi Z, Ng KP, Chong PP, ?Comparison between allicin and fluconazole in Candida albicans biofilm inhibition and in suppression of HWP1 gene expression,? Phytomedicine, 2011 Dec 15;19(1):56-63. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2011.08.060. Epub 2011 Sep 15. [30] Cutler RR, Odent M, Hajj-Ahmad H, Maharjan S, Bennett NJ, Josling PD, Ball V, Hatton P, Dall'Antonia M, ?In vitro activity of an aqueous allicin extract and a novel allicin topical gel formulation against Lancefield group B streptococci,? J Antimicrob Chemother, 2009 Jan;63(1):151-4. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkn457. Epub 2008 Nov 11. [36] Lau KK, Chan YH, Wong YK, Teo KC, Yiu KH, Liu S, Li LS, Shu XO, Ho SL, Chan KH, Siu CW, Tse HF, ?Garlic intake is an independent predictor of endothelial function in patients with ischemic stroke,? J Nutr Health Aging, 2013 Jul;17(7):600-4. doi: 10.1007/s12603-013-0043-6. [48] Powolny AA, Singh SV, Melov S, Hubbard A, Fisher AL, ?The garlic constituent diallyl trisulfide increases the lifespan of C. elegans via skn-1 activation,? Exp Gerontol. Jun 2011; 46(6): 441?452. Published online Feb 2, 2011. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2011.01.005 PMCID: PMC3104016; NIHMSID: NIHMS278246.The garlic constituent diallyl trisulfide increases the lifespan of C. elegans viaskn-1 activation [49] Li XH, Li CY, Xiang ZG, Hu JJ, Lu JM, Tian RB, Jia W, ?Allicin ameliorates cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis through enhancing of Nrf2 antioxidant signaling pathways,? Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 2012 Dec;26(6):457-65. doi: 10.1007/s10557-012-6415-z; Lewis KN, Mele J, Hayes JD, Buffenstein R, ?Nrf2, a guardian of healthspan and gatekeeper of species longevity,? Integr Comp Biol. 2010 Nov;50(5):829-43. doi: 10.1093/icb/icq034. Epub 2010 May 6. [52] Robert E. Graham, MD, MPH, Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, Joshua Borus, MD, Andrew C. Seger, PharmD, Elisabeth Burdick, MS,David W. Bates, MD, MSc, Russell S. Phillips, MD, and Saul N. Weingart, MD, PhD, ?Risk of Concurrent Use of Prescription Drugs with Herbal and Dietary Supplements in Ambulatory Care,? Advances in Patient Safety: New Directions and Alternative Approaches (Vol. 4: Technology and Medication Safety). See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK43772/ [55] Abdullah TH, Kandil O, Elkadi A, Carter J, ?Garlic Revisited: Therapeutic for the Major Diseases of Our Times?? Journal of The National Medical Association, Vol. 80, No. 4, pp. 439-445 (1988) at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2625738/pdf/jnma00911-0085.pdf. [62] See Bill Sardi, ?When Will Modern Medicine Give Up its Cholesterol Cash-Cow?? posted December 27, 2013, at http://knowledgeofhealth.com/when-will-modern-medicine-give-up-its-cholesterol-cash-cow/. [63] Siegel G, Malmsten M, Pietzsch J, Schmidt A, Buddecke E, Michel F, Ploch M, Schneider W, ?The effect of garlic on arteriosclerotic nanoplaque formation and size,? Phytomedicine, 2004 Jan;11(1):24-35. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
|