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Garlic: nature's protection against physiological threats
Masood Sadiq Butt1, Muhammad Tauseef Sultan, Mehmood S Butt
1National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. drmsbutt@yahoo.com
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
|June 2, 2009
Summary
Garlic (Allium sativum) demonstrates significant health benefits, acting as a functional food to combat oxidative stress, cardiovascular issues, and immune dysfunction. Its sulfur compounds offer therapeutic potential for various pathologies and chemoprevention.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Science
- Pharmacology
- Immunology
Background:
- Natural products are increasingly relied upon for physiological threats like oxidative stress, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
- Garlic (Allium sativum) has a long history of therapeutic use, recognized for its potential as a functional food.
- Advancements in immunonutrition, physiology, and pharmacology highlight garlic's importance in combating pathologies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the extensive research on garlic's health-promoting properties, focusing on its sulfur-containing metabolites like allicin.
- To emphasize garlic's role in ameliorating oxidative stress, cardiovascular health, chemoprevention, and immune boosting.
- To explore the mechanisms underlying garlic's therapeutic effects.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing scientific literature on garlic (Allium sativum) and its health benefits.
- Analysis of research on garlic's sulfur compounds, including allicin and its derivatives.
- Examination of studies investigating garlic's effects on oxidative stress, cardiovascular parameters, cancer prevention, and immune function.
Main Results:
- Garlic preparations, such as aged garlic extract (AGE) and garlic oil, are effective against health risks.
- Garlic components scavenge free radicals, protect cell membranes, and maintain cell integrity.
- Cardiovascular protection is mediated by reduced cholesterol, blood pressure, and anti-platelet activity, preventing atherosclerosis.
- Garlic exhibits antimutagenic and antiproliferative properties, relevant for chemoprevention via enzyme activation and reduced DNA damage.
- Garlic stimulates immune responses by enhancing lymphocyte proliferation, macrophage phagocytosis, and cytokine release (IL-2, TNF-α, IFN-γ), and boosting natural killer cell activity.
Conclusions:
- Garlic is a potent functional food with multifaceted health benefits, including antioxidant, cardioprotective, chemopreventive, and immunomodulatory effects.
- Its therapeutic potential is largely attributed to its sulfur-containing metabolites.
- Garlic and its preparations represent a valuable natural approach to managing various health challenges and supporting overall well-being.
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