Garlic Lovers Breathing Easier

Garlic Lovers Breathing Easier

Reported March 03, 2010

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – COLUMBUS, Ohio – Garlic adds zest and taste to some of our favorite foods and now it may have potential to fight cancer, according to results from a new study from Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. In the study, researchers explored how consuming garlic could affect certain cancer-causing processes in the body.

The research is all about body processes associated with compounds that contain nitrogen. These processes include nitrosation, or the conversion of certain substances found in food or contaminated water into carcinogens. To see how garlic might affect nitrosation in the body, the Ohio State team, led by Earl Harrison, PhD, developed a urine test to check for two different markers: one showing how much garlic a person recently ate and the other showing the level of that potentially cancer-causing process.

Results from the small study, published in Analytical Biochemistry, bode well for garlic lovers everywhere. They suggest that garlic consumption may lead to fewer cancer-causing processes in the body.

“Our results showed that garlic consumption and cancer-causing process activity in the body were inversely related,” says Dr. Harrison. “The more we had the marker for the garlic consumption the less we had the marker for the risk of cancer,” Dr. Harrison says.

 

 

Patients involved in the study were given pills containing concentrated garlic. Doctors still aren’t sure if that’s the best way to get garlic’s benefits, but they are confident that eating it as food is a much tastier way.

“If you like foods with garlic, go out and have as much as you want. There is no indication that it’s going to hurt you and it may well help you,” Dr. Harrison says.

Garlic’s new cancer-fighting power comes as a pleasant surprise to Angela Brintlinger of Yellow Springs, Ohio, who packs lots of cancer-fighting garlic into most everything she makes in her kitchen.

Part of that is purely for the taste, but mostly it’s for the medical benefits. Angela has used garlic for years to fight everything from infections to the flu, and now that she’s heard about the results of this study, she’s more likely to keep piling it on.

Dr. Harrison says if people take garlic pills, they should know that the quality of the supplements and the purity of the extracts can vary greatly. The best way to ensure you’re getting enough garlic is to cook with fresh garlic, which has one side effect: a pungent odor but delicious taste.

Source : HealthNewsDigest.com