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Research seeds: Garlic

  • Rebecca Lazarou
    Rebecca Lazarou

    Rebecca Lazarou is our science advisor here at Herbal Reality. She is currently completing her PhD at Kew Gardens and UCL School of Pharmacy in the medicinal plants and fungi of Cyprus. She is the founder of Laz The Plant Scientist where she sells sustainably sourced herbal medicines she has formulated, and is also a board member for the McKenna Academy.

    She completed her degree in  Biomedical Science-Human Biology, always with the intention to study herbal medicines after. She then went on to study a master’s at UCL School of Pharmacy, in Medicinal Natural Products and Phytochemistry. Since then she has been a scientific researcher, editor for the academic Journal of Herbal Medicine, and pharmacology teacher at Betonica School of Herbal Medicine as well as other projects. Her career is an ecology of different disciplines spanning across medical science, ethnopharmacology, herbalism, holistic healthcare, cannabis and psychedelics.

    You can read more about her work at www.rebeccalazarou.com and follow her educational content on social media @laztheplantscientist.

  • 2:39 reading time (ish)
  • Research seeds
garlic plant and bulbs

In this article, we discuss the study  “The effects of time-released garlic powder tablets on multifunctional cardiovascular risk in patients with coronary artery disease

Plant name and species

Garlic (Allium sativum)

Aim of study

The aim of this research was to see the effects that dried garlic had on patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) on predictive risk values for heart attacks, with respect to CHD prevention.

Study method

Patients with documented coronary heart disease between 40-65 years who had a serum cholesterol level above 200 mg/dl upon primary examination were included in the study. 

They were split into two groups, one received the dried garlic extract and the other placebo. 

Clinical and biochemical examination was performed at the beginning and the end of the study. This included measuring total cholesterol, triglycerides and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol  and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. 

The ten-year prognostic risk for heart attack was calculated using the Cox proportional hazards model derived from the “Prospective Cardiovascular Münster (PROCAM) study. The following variables contributed to this calculation; gender, smoking status, age, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, diabetes mellitus, and family history. 

The differences between the groups were then compared.

Herbal preparation

Dried garlic capsules in an enteric coating for slow release.

Sample size

A total of 26 patients were in the group receiving garlic (14 men and 12 women), and the placebo group had 20 people (14 men and 11 women).

Results of study

In the group who received the garlic extract total cholesterol reduced by 12.4%, and LDL cholesterol decreased by 16.3% from the baseline.  Changes in lipid levels were more prominent in men than in women. 

Overall, the 12 month treatment with garlic was shown to significantly decrease cardiovascular risk by 1.5-fold in men and 1.3-fold in women. The main effect that contributed to this was the reduction of the LDL cholesterol.

Discussion

Men differed from women significantly with respect to a baseline prognostic risk level, which is perhaps why their results differed statistically. 

Epidemiological studies show that risks of heart attacks are affected by diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, smoking, abdominal obesity, gender, age and family and medical history. Treatment is often based around correcting lipid metabolism (for example balancing cholesterol), managing blood pressure and smoking cessation. 

As well as supporting healthy cholesterol, garlic preparations have been shown to influence how blood clots, as well as fibrinolytic activity which is the dissolving of blood clots. Both of these factors alter the risk of heart attacks. It contains a multitude of biologically active molecules such as allicin, ajoene, S-allylcysteine, S-methylcysteine, diallyl disulfide and sulfoxides that may contribute to garlic’s anti-atherosclerotic factor. 

Conclusion

This study shows that garlic is a safe and effective treatment for supporting cardiovascular health.

Rebecca Lazarou

Rebecca Lazarou is our science advisor here at Herbal Reality. She is currently completing her PhD at Kew Gardens and UCL School of Pharmacy in the medicinal plants and fungi of Cyprus. She is the... Read more

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