American Fitness Professionals & Associates

By: Mark Occhipinti, M.S., Ph.D., N.D.c.

As early as 1957, researchers who noted the enzyme activity of certain cancers experimented to determine whether components of garlic (Allium sativum) could affect the oxidation of those enzymes, according to Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., in Dr. Earl Mindell’s Garlic: The Miracle Nutrient.

He noted that a study in Science reported that researchers incubated sarcoma tumor cells with allinase and S-ethyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide, then injected the tumor cells into mice. Tumor growth was completely inhibited and the mice survived beyond the six month observation period according to researchers.

Almost a decade later, Mindell continued, Japanese researchers injected garlic extracts into rats with ascites sarcoma, a cancer tumor, and the results showed that garlic had a twofold effect on the cancer: the garlic extracts brought irregularities and a scattering of chromosomes in the cancer cells and the garlic substances blocked the tumor cells from forming.

“In 1973,” Mindell continued, “a Japanese researcher treated a variety of tumor cell types with fresh garlic extract, then injected the tumor cells into mice. According to the results published in the Japanese Journal of Hygiene, tumor development in the mice was ‘reversed.’ The same researcher was successful in inhibiting mammary tumors and other sarcomas with a solution of fresh garlic extract.”

Garlic possesses important anti-cancer properties, reported Michael T. Murray, N.D., in Natural Alternatives to over-the-counter and Prescription Drugs. He added that Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician, prescribed eating garlic as treatment for cancers.

“Based on animal research and some human studies,” Murray said, “this recommendation may have been extremely wise. Several garlic components have displayed significant immune, enhancing as well as anti-cancer effects.”

He added that human studies showing garlic’s immune-enhancing and anti-cancer effects are largely based on population studies. From these studies, it appears that there is an inverse relationship between cancer rates and garlic consumption that is, cancer rates are lowest where garlic consumption is greatest. For example, he added, in China a study comparing populations in different regions found that death from gastric cancers in regions where garlic consumption was high was significantly less than in regions with lower garlic consumption.

Research by John Milner, Ph.D., and colleagues at Pennsylvania State
University at University Park, reveal that garlic inhibits both a carcinogen’s binding to breast cells and the formation and spread of breast tumors, reported Heads Up, Cambridge, Mass.

“In the latest issue of the journal, Cancer Letters, Milner and doctoral student Sukjatha Sundasram report that several of garlic’s oil-soluble, sulfur-based compounds effectively inhibit growth of tumor cells in another scientific model of breast cancer,” Heads Up added. “One compound actually kills the cells.”

In a study to test the lipid-lowering effects of garlic, 20 healthy volunteers were fed garlic (0.25 mg/kg per day of oil in two divided doses for six months), reported the April 1994 issue of The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, St. Louis, Mo.

This therapy significantly lowered mean cholesterol and triglyceride levels while raising levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, HDL, the beneficial kind, the publication reported sixty-two patients with coronary artery diseases and elevated cholesterol levels also were randomly assigned to two subgroups: one group was fed garlic for 10 months and the second group served as the untreated controls.

Garlic decreased the serum cholesterol, triglyceride and levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL, the bad kind, significantly, while increasing the HDL fraction, the publication continued.

“A study conducted by Tulane University stated that total cholesterol levels in those taking garlic tablets dropped by six percent and LDL cholesterol was reduced by 11 percent,” the Review reported. “Researchers at the University of Kansas discovered that garlic tablets reduced the susceptibility of LDL oxidation by 34 percent compared to the placebo group.”

REFERENCES:

1. “Garlic,” The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, April 1994.
2. “Garlic Acts as An Anti-Carcinogen in Breast Cancer Studies,” Heads Up, 1994.
3. Mindell, Earl, R.Ph., Ph.D. Dr. Earl Mindell’s Garlic: The Miracle Nutrient. New Canaan, Conn.: Keats Publishing, Inc., 1994, pp.
4. Natural Alternatives to Over-the-Counter and Prescription Drugs. New York: William Morrow and Co., Inc., 1994, pp. 296-297.