Garlic helps reduce cholesterol?

Researchers have shown that eating raw garlic or ' taking supplements ' does not reduce the amount of ' bad cholesterol' despite many claims about health health. Some claim that garlic helps lower cholesterol from lab tests. For example, in test tubes and some animals, the allicin compound obtained from pressed garlic prevents cholesterol synthesis.

Associate Professor Christopher Gardner of the Stanford School of Medicine wrote in the Journal of Internal Medicine today: But there is no evidence that it reacts in the human body the same way. His study included 192 people aged 30 to 65 - who had a slightly higher level of LDL (low density lipoprotein), the so-called ' bad cholesterol ' that tended to clog the dynamics. circuit. Gardner said the participants' cholesterol levels were not so high that they had to prescribe drugs containing cholesterol-lowering statins.

Participants were divided into 4 groups: one group ate one garlic clove 6 days a week for 6 months, usually sandwiched in a ' quality ' sandwich prepared for them; the other two groups consumed the same amount of garlic in common garlic supplements or powder, one of which advertised itself as ' aged ' garlic that could eliminate bad breath problems; and the other group has a substitute used to reassure patients.

When researchers examined the cholesterol levels of the participants, they concluded that garlic had no effect at all. He said: ' It really does not work. There is no shortcut. You get good health by eating healthy foods. There are no drugs or herbs that you can take to resist a healthy diet . '

If you rely on garlic to lower your blood lipid level, you may be wasting your time.But scientists can't rule out garlic's role in preventing cardiovascular disease (Photo: Flickr).

'Our research is statistically powerful to observe any small differences that should have occurred and we have time to consider whether it may take some time to be effective in garlic. Slowly appeared. We even noticed participants who had the highest levels of LDL cholesterol compared to those with the lowest LDL cholesterol levels from the start of the study and the results were the same. '

Conclusion like?

However, researchers cannot rule out garlic's effectiveness in treating some diseases. Researchers from Cornell Medical School wrote in an accompanying editorial: "The results do not prove that garlic is not helpful in preventing cardiovascular disease."

Funding for the study comes from donor agencies including the US National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. ' Famous ' garlic is good for health, which comes from the ancient Egyptians and it was consumed by the Greeks and Romans.

Garlic juice has also been used as an antiseptic. The untrue benefits of garlic may have something to do with its strong growth around the Mediterranean region where meals are often rich in olive oil, fish, nuts and nutritious fruit. nourishment. Gardner says other health claims give garlic that it helps boost the body's immune system and fight inflammation and cancer also needs to be studied.

Thien Kim