Garlic Central News

New research from Liverpool John Moores University suggests that aged garlic extract could reduce the chance of heart attack in some patients with existing coronary conditions.

The research showed the aged garlic extract might help reduce the chance of blood clots forming in some people.

In some older people the blood platelets can become "sticky" and increase the chance of a blood clot. The garlic extract is believed to work by keeping the blood platelets mobile and preventing them from sticking together. The exact mechanism behind this is not known.

The researchers stress that aged garlic extract should not be seen as an alternative treatment but rather as a supplementary preventative measure for some people.

Research presented to the American Association for Cancer Research suggests that garlic could inhibit the suspected carcinogen PhIP.

PhIP is released when meat or other high protein foods are cooked at high temperatures. When chemically active, PhIP is believed to be linked with cancer, especially breast cancer.

The new research found that diallyl sulphide, derived from garlic, inhibited the PhIP enzyme from becoming carcinogenic in laboratory tests.

For the technically minded, the research is titled: "Diallyl Sulfide Antagonizes PhIP Induced Alterations in the Expression of Phase I and Phase II Metabolizing Enzymes in Human Breast Epithelial Cells".