Sep 2, 2009 7:43 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Study Explores Benefits Of Raw Garlic
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
For centuries, garlic has been hailed as a health food – and now, science is backing up those claims.
Not only is garlic good for you, but it's most effective when taken in its most natural form.
"I am exercising as much as I possibly can, and trying to eat healthier," Eunice Franklin-Wade says.
Franklin-Wade is determined to keep her hearth healthy. She takes her blood pressure and cholesterol medications regularly, and also has enlisted her whole family to join her in using one special seasoning.
"My husband and myself both use garlic in our foods, and my husband, basically he eats raw garlic every morning," Franklin-Wade says.
Experts say that's the right approach, because new research has shown that garlic is most beneficial to the heart when eaten raw.
"Raw garlic, or unprocessed garlic, may be a benefit to protecting the heart from periods of low blood flow, like heart attack," Dr. David Cohen says.
Garlic's heart-healthy effects result mainly from the chemical hydrogen sulfide – the same substance that gives rotten eggs their distinctive odor.
In the study, out of the University of Connecticut, hydrogen sulfide relaxed blood vessels so blood was able to pass more easily through the arteries.
Process or cooked garlic, however, loses its ability to generate hydrogen sulfide.
"My parents also put raw garlic in water and put it in the refrigerator, and they drink it," Franklin-Wade says. "So I got that from my mother."
Dr. Cohen says the study didn't clear up how much garlic one would need to consume for the greatest benefit, but overall the pungent vegetable appears to be safe.
"There's no contraindications with any of the specific cardiac medications we typically use," Dr. Cohen says.
For Franklin-Wade, the benefits are clear, and she says she's found a solution for the smell.
"Most of the time, if you chew some gum or something it will take the smell away," she says.
Garlic also provides a rich array of antioxidants which have been credited with health benefits ranging from boosting the immune system to fighting cancer.
A review of recent clinical trials, published in the Journal of Hypertension, showed that taking garlic tablets cut volunteers' blood pressure by between one and five percent.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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