Saturday Quack – Garlic is Not a Health Food

Garlic has had the reputation of being a health food – several decades ago it was considered the relevant ingredient of the Mediterranean Diet. Some clinical studies have shown a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels, and others have shown no effect. Now Netherlands scientists have reported the results of a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial – the ‘gold standard’ for proving effectiveness. They studied the effects of well-characterized garlic powder (2.1 g/day), a statin (Lipitor®, 40 mg/day), and placebo on blood lipids, C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in 90 overweight 40 – 75-year-old smokers.

CRP and TNF-alpha are ‘markers’ indicating inflammatory changes in the body such as ill-health of the cells lining the smaller blood vessels, such as the coronary arteries. After one and three months’ treatment, none of the tests showed any differences between the results for the garlic-treated and placebo subjects. Lipitor, on the other hand, produced significantly lower CRP and TNF-alpha levels, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides.

This well-conducted study just about lays to rest any ideas that garlic improves the cardiovascular risk factors usually associated with lethal cardiac events – heart attack, stroke, etc. – at least, in overweight smokers. Do what I do – take a statin.

Comments

[Robert Griffith]

And just in case you're still in doubt, see: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/167/4/346 where a well-designed controlled study fails to show any efect of different forms of garlic on LDL-C and total cholesterol in patients with moderate hyercholesterolemia. Bob G.