Numerous studies provide compelling evidence that garlic and its organic allyl sulfur components are effective inhibitors of the cancer process.
What is Garlic
Garlic is the edible bulb from a plant in the lily family. Garlic, onions, leeks, scallions, shallots and chives are classified as members of the Allium genus. Thus, they are commonly described as Allium vegetables.
Does garlic prevent cancer?
Many studies provide compelling evidence that garlic and its organic allyl sulfur components are effective inhibitors of the cancer process. These studies reveal that the benefits of garlic are not limited to a specific species, to a particular tissue, or to a specific carcinogen.
The evidence is particularly strong for a link between garlic and prevention of prostate and stomach cancers. However, all of the available information comes from observational studies comparing cancer incidence in populations who consume or do not consume garlic (epidemiologic studies), animal models, or observations with cells in culture. These findings have not yet been verified by clinical trials in humans.
Don't hold your breath waiting for clinical trials. The drug companies hold the purse strings, and they don't want to prove that garlic, which can't be patented, is better than their drugs.
For instance, Fleischauer AT, Poole C, Arab L. at the Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. wrote a report called "Garlic consumption and cancer prevention: meta-analyses of colorectal and stomach cancers."
They concluded that High intake of RC garlic may be associated with a protective effect against stomach and colorectal cancers. Heterogeneity of effect estimates, differences in dose estimation, publication bias, and possible alternative hypotheses (eg, confounding by total vegetable consumption) preclude sole reliance on summary effect estimates.
What does that mean in everyday language? It means that garlic isn't the only thing that people eat. The anti-cancer effect could be caused by another vegetable that garlic eaters also like to eat.
Although blood pressure health benefits of garlic are frequently reported, excessive intake can have harmful effects. Ancient Chinese medicine warns that you shouldn't eat more than ten cloves of garlic per day. I knew a French Chef who used a lot more than that, and it never did him any harm, but people are all different, so bear in mind that you might be allergic to garlic yourself.
How might garlic prevent cancer?
Several compounds are involved in garlic's possible anticancer effects. Garlic contains allyl sulfur and other compounds that slow or prevent the growth of tumor cells. Allyl sulfur compounds, which occur naturally in garlic and onions, make cells vulnerable to the stress created by products of cell division. Because cancer cells divide very quickly, they generate more stressors than most normal cells. Thus, cancer cells are damaged by the presence of allyl sufur compounds to a much greater extent than normal cells.
I am always suspicious of glib explanations of how something heals. I've just been reading a one hundred year old book about health food. Some of the explanations of why the foods heal are ludicrous in the light of modern knowledge...but the foods still heal. After all, that is all that matters. The explanation doesn't matter.
The chemistry of garlic is complicated. As a result, the quality of garlic products depends on the manufacturing process. Peeling garlic and processing garlic into oil or powder can increase the number and variety of active compounds. Peeling garlic releases an enzyme called allinase and starts a series of chemical reactions that produce diallyl disulfide (DADS). DADS is also formed when raw garlic is cut or crushed. However, if garlic is cooked immediately after peeling, the allinase is inactivated and the cancer-fighting benefit of DADS is lost. Scientists recommend waiting 15 minutes between peeling and cooking garlic to allow the allinase reaction to occur.
In every day language, this means that you should let air get at the contents of a garlic clove for a quarter of an hour. I chop some vegetables then use a garlic press. The press sprays pulped garlic over the chopped vegetables, so that a large surface area is exposed to the air.
Processing garlic into powder or garlic oil releases other cancer-fighting agents. The inconsistent results of garlic research may be due, at least in part, to problems standardizing all of the active compounds within garlic preparations.
This is the universal cry of a scientist who is out of his depth in the complexities of natural foods. If you decide that allin, or alline, or ajoene, or diallyl sulfide or...is important, you set up an experiment and find that nothing works as you expected, because each clove of garlic is an individual. The solution is to stop trying to isolate one chemical, and take advantage of nature's bounty instead. Of course, you can't patent nature's bounty.
Some of the garlic compounds currently under investigation are: allin (responsible for the typical garlic odor), alline (odorless compound), ajoene (naturally occurring disulfide), diallyl sulfide (DAS), diallyl disulfide (DADS), diallyl trisulfide (DAT), S-allylcysteine (SAC), organosulfur compounds and allyl sulfur compounds.
A study conducted at the School of Chinese Medicine also shows that a crude extract of garlic induces a caspase -3 gene expression that leads to apoptosis (cell death) of human colon cancer cells.
What part cures cancer?
Garlic is a mixture of hundreds of chemicals. Scientists like to make guesses about which part cures cancer but I don't really trust any of these guesses. Why should it be one chemical instead of a combination of dozens of chemicals, or even hundreds of biochemicals?
Analysis
Only 13% is wasted (papery skin and knob) and in 100gm of what is left you will find- water 59g
- protein 6.4g
- carbs 33g
- fiber 2.1g
- calcium 181mg
- phosphorus 153mg
- potassium 401mg
- manganese 1.7mg
- vitamin C 31mg
- vitamin B6 1.2mg
- folate 3mcg
- Lutein + zeaxanthin 26mcg
You have to admit that there is nothing in that analysis to get excited about, which supports my belief that scientific analysis is often a waste of time. They do sometimes guess right about what is doing the healing. What matters to me is the results. These will vary because no two garlic cloves are the same, but it doesn't matter if one clove protects you ten times as much as another, as long as a clove per day protects you.
References:
- Amagase, H., Petesch, B.L., Matsuura, H. et al. (2001) "Intake of garlic and its bioactive components. " J. Nutr. 131: 955S-926S.
- Fleischauer, A.T. and Arab, L. (2001) "Garlic and cancer: a critical review of the epidemiologic literature. " J. Nutrition 131: 1032S-1040S.
- Milner, J.A. (2001) "Mechanisms by which garlic and allyl sulfur compounds suppress carcinogen bioactivation. Garlic and carcinogenesis. " Adv. Exp. Med. Biol 492: 69-81.
- Milner, J.A. (2001) "A historical perspective on garlic and cancer. " J. Nutrition 131: 1027S-1031S.
- "Allium Vegetables and Organosulfur Compounds: Do They Help Prevent Cancer? " http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/members/2001/109p893-902bianchini/bianchini-full.html.
