The humble garlic bulb has had quite a career: from ancient folk remedy; to established Chinese medicinal extract; to respect accorded to it by the most exacting modern research science.
Allicin is the component of garlic that is believed to possess the greatest activity of medicinal interest. A presentation at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in December, 2002, for example, reported on the effectiveness of allicin in combating “superbugs”that become resistant to conventional antibiotics, such as vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Aside from studies of its antibiotic power, allicin has recently been the subject of research substantiating its benefit to cardiovascular health. There has been a long but not entirely conclusive history of clinical studies examining the impact of garlic and allicin on conditions like high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol. However, a 2007 research report funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH and the American Heart Association significantly clarified the cardiovascular benefits of garlic. The investigators demonstrated precisely how garlic and its extract allicin stimulate production of a substance, hydrogen sulfide, that relaxes blood vessel cells, and thus supports health cardiovascular function.
Read more in the NYBC newsletter, THE SUPPLEMENT:
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Please contact NYBC for information about allicin: contact.nybc@newyorkbuyersclub.org
NYBC also stocks Garlicin Pro an enterically coated garlic supplement that eliminates aftertaste.
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