Ellen Campbell -Grizzle
LILIES ARE popular at this time of the year. However, we often forget that garlic (Allium sativum), sometimes called 'stinking rose', is in fact a member of the lily family. Its odour has permeated history for over 6,000 years. The Greeks and Egyptians worshipped garlic. It inspired the first recorded industrial strike, was exchanged as hard currency and used in the trenches during the first world war as an antibiotic. Furthermore, it has been used to:
Bind sworn oaths
Repel vampires and ward off plagues
Flavour meats and vegetable salads
Preserve meats and corpses
Keep pests from crops
Treat diseases ranging from cancer to thinning hair.
The Codex Ebers, an Egyptian medical papyrus dating to about 1550 B.C., mentions garlic as an effective remedy for a variety of ailments, including high blood pressure, headaches, bites and worms.
Today, there is extensive research to unlock the secrets of this versatile herb. The beneficial medicinal effects of garlic are attributed to its sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin, diallyl disulphide, diallyl trisulphide and others.
POWERFUL ODOUR
Allicin is mainly responsible for its powerful odour. It is formed by the action of the enzyme alliinase on the compound alliin. The enzyme is activated by heat, oxygen or water. Scientists believe that this accounts for the weaker medicinal effect and lowered pungency of cooked garlic, garlic oil and aged garlic preparations.
Manufacturers exploited this knowledge to produce a garlic concentrated for alliin that is relatively odourless until converted to allicin in the body. The specially-prepared garlic is enteric coated, so that it does not break down until the garlic tablet mixes with the intestinal fluids. If a non-enteric coated garlic preparation is used, the stomach acid will destroy the majority of formed allicin. This action would weaken the effect of the preparation.
Studies show the positive effect on high blood pressure and cholesterol of garlic and garlic preparations that deliver sufficient doses of allicin. Research continues into the effect of the other active ingredients of the herb. We know that some products contain insufficient alliinase activity, leading to little allicin formation. In fact, there are binders and fillers in some tablets that inhibit alliinase activity. Poor tablet disintegration will also retard allicin release inside the body.
The antibiotic activity of garlic is roughly estimated to be one per cent of the strength of penicillin. Therefore, it would not be an effective substitute antibiotic. However, there is evidence that it is useful in the case of the overgrowth of candida albicans. Experts recommend daily consumption of one to four cloves of garlic or products that provide 10 milligrams (mg) of alliin with a total allicin potential of 4,000 micrograms (mcg).
RELIEVING THE SCENT
Garlic preparations taken orally, even 'odourless' ones, can produce the scent of garlic on the breath and skin. If the aroma hangs on your breath, relieve it by chewing parsley. In massive doses, large amounts of raw garlic have caused anaemia, weight loss, failure to grow and death in rats. Garlic may interact with your medication. It can potentiate the action of blood-thinning drugs and enhance the antiplatelet effects of others, such as aspirin. Garlic may increase the effectiveness of drugs that lower blood sugar levels in the treatment of non-insulin dependent diabetes (Type 2). If you are taking any of these medicines, talk to your doctor or pharmacists before taking garlic or garlic preparations.
Ancient history accorded garlic the status of a universal panacea. Today, the medicinal usefulness of the herb is being re-evaluated. However, without doubt, garlic is more than just a flavouring.
Ellen Campbell-Grizzle is the president of the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists; director of information and research at the National Council on Drug abuse; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
