Re: Garlic does not lower cholesterol - study - idiots

On Feb 28, 12:45 am, "TC" <tunder...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://foodconsumer.org/7777/8888/H_eart_amp_B_lood_30/022710062007_G...

Garlic does not lower cholesterol - study
By David Liu - foodconsumer.org
Feb 27, 2007 - 10:06:39 AM

Those who count on eating raw garlic or taking garlic supplements to
get their serum cholesterol under control, may not want to hear this,
but a new Stanford University School of Medicine study has found that
the herb does not help lower low-density lipoprotein or LDL or bad
cholesterol. The study was published in the Feb. 26 issue of the
Archives of Internal Medicine

The study on the effect of garlic on plasma cholesterol was conducted
by a number of "heavy weight" experts including Larry Lawson, PhD, of
the Plant Bioactives Research Institute in Utah, and Eric Block, PhD,
professor of chemistry at the University at Albany, State University
of New York - who understand the biochemical properties of the spice
and helped ensure the quality and stability of the garlic consumed in
the study.

Many studies have been conducted to investigate the possible effect of
garlic on cholesterol, but results are inconsistent or
conflicting.

One early study published in the December 2006 issue of American
Journal of ClinicalNutritionby M BA van Doorn and colleagues found
that garlic preparation has no effect on plasma lipids such as total
cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in 90 overweight subjects aged 40 to
75.

Another study, which is more encouraging, published in Journal of the
American College ofNutrition, vol. 20. No. 3 2001 by David Kannar and
colleagues found that enteric-coated garlic power supplements with 9.6
mg allicin-releasing potential may help patients with mild to moderate
hypercholesterolemia when a low fat diet was also used. In the study
of 46 subjects, the supplement reduced total cholesterol by 4.2
percent and LDL cholesterol by 6.6 percent. The researchers suggest
in their article that the efficacy of garlic for lipoprotein
metabolism might require certain degree of allicin bioavailability.

The researchers of the current study said that their study, believed
to be most rigorous provides evidence proving that garlic does not
help lower LDL cholesterol among men and women with moderately high
levels of LDL cholesterol.

"It just doesn't work," said senior author Christopher Gardner, PhD,
assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research
Center. "There's no shortcut. You achieve good health through eating
healthy food. There isn't a pill or an herb you can take to counteract
an unhealthy diet."

"If garlic was going to work, in one form or another, then it would
have worked in our study," Gardner said. "The lack of effect was
compelling and clear. We took cholesterol measurements every month for
six months and the numbers just didn't move. There was no effect with
any of the three products, even though fairly high doses were used."

According to the researchers, most of the early medicinal claims over
garlic's cholesterol lowering benefit are based on the fact that the
sulfur-containing substance known as allicin, which is produced when
raw garlic is chopped or crushed, inhibits the synthesis of
cholesterol in test tubes and in animals. However, the benefit has
not consistently been demonstrated in humans.

"In lab tests, you can apply the garlic compounds directly to cells,"
Gardner said. "But in real people you don't know whether allicin would
actually get directly to cells if someone ate garlic. You still have
to do the human clinical trial to see if it really works, and the
previous clinical trials left people confused."

There is another fact that garlic supplement makers may claim is that
garlic possesses antioxidative properties and naturally it may be
assumed that it protects against oxidation of LDL cholesterol and the
protection may benefit people with high levels of cholesterol.

The current study was conducted in 192 patients who had moderately
elevated LDL cholesterol levels ranging from 130 to 190 mg/dL with an
average level of about 140 mg/dl when entering the study. They were
assigned into four groups to receive four types of treatments, raw
garlic, garlic power, aged garlic extract and placebo 6 days per week
for six months. According to the study, the amounts used in the study
were standardized to one average-sized garlic clove (about 4 grams).

Garlic was used in 3 forms with raw garlic from California Early;
Christopher Ranch, Gilroy, California, 2 commercial supplements,
Garlicin from Nature's Way Products Inc, Springville, Utah and
Kyolic-100 from Wakunaga of America Co, Mission Viejo, California.

All of the study participants were given tablets as well as sandwiches
with 370 kcal calories in each Sandwich and no more 10 percent
saturated fat prepared by Gardner's team who acknowledged that the
sandwiches may have affect on the serum cholesterol, but the study was
so designed to minimize the potential influence.

During the study, the researchers monitored LDL-C concentration as
primary study outcome. Fasting plasma lipid concentrations were also
assessed on a monthly basis. They also monitor participants closely to
ensure they did not gain or lose weight, which might have affected
their cholesterol readings.

What was found is that the LDL cholesterol levels were essentially the
same in blood samples collected at the start and the end of the study
from all four groups. The groups receiving garlic or garlic
supplements seemingly experienced an insignificant increase while a
tiny drop was seen in the placebo group.

"Our study had the statistical power to see any small differences that
would have shown up, and we had the duration to see whether it might
take a while for the effect of the garlic to creep in. We even looked
separately at the participants with the highest vs. the lowest LDL
cholesterol levels at the start of the study, and the results were
identical," Gardner said. "Garlic just didn't work."

The Stanford University issued a press release saying that "One
potential reason for the confusion surrounding garlic's reputed health
benefits is that the supplement makers themselves funded many of the
previous studies claiming that garlic lowered cholesterol. Gardner's
funding came from the National Institutes of Health." But critics
suggest that funding from the National Institutes of Health does not
necessarily mean free of influence from the sponsor.

Regardless of its effect on cholesterol, Gardner said garlic may still
have an effect against other diseases or conditions that were not
addressed in the study including inflammation, immune function or
cancer. But, again, he added that those health claims must also be
confirmed in rigorously controlled trials.

He also said that garlic can still be valuable part of everyone's
diet. "But if you choose garlic fries as a cholesterol-lowering food,
then you blew it. The garlic doesn't counteract the fries," Gardner
said.

A scientist affiliated with foodconsumer.org comments that the
conclusion researchers made that garlic has no effect on cholesterol
was based on one single dose, meaning that effect of other doses
remains unknown.

He suggests that there may be some drawbacks in the study. First,
participants were instructed to microwave the garlic-containing
sandwiches before eating them. This means that the active components
in garlic and garlic supplements that would otherwise have a potential
cholesterol lowering effect might have been destroyed. The conclusion
may not be applicable to the garlic people use every day, which is
seldom subject to microwaving.

Secondly, he suggests, the effect of sandwiches per se on the serum
cholesterol was unknown. Although the study was so designed to
minimize its effect on the study outcomes among four arms of the
study, high dietary intake of cholesterol-promoting or dietary
cholesterol from foods could overwhelm the garlic cholesterol lowering
effect if there is any.

Thirdly, there was no reporting of what else the participants ate
other than the garlic sandwiches during each day of the six entire
months. A typical American diet consists of high levels of
cholesterol. The foods in one's diet may have a significant effect
on the serum cholesterol.

He suggests that consumers need to know a few things. First, the
conclusion of the current study has its own limitations, meaning that
the conclusion may not be generalized to a real consumption of
garlic. Second, one should never count on garlic to lower their
cholesterol in the first place. Third, one should continue using
garlic as this pungent herb does not only offer a unique flavor, but
also other health benefits such as helping fight a host of cancer
among others.

The best way to naturally reduce the LDL cholesterol without resorting
to garlic, the health observer says is to lower dietary intake of LDL
cholesterol. That means one needs reduce intake of meat and dairy
products although few people would be able to follow such a restricted
dietary regimen.

***

It's not just the garlic. It is the eating of real fresh nutrient
dense real food including garlic and excluding overly processed
refined fake foods like hydrogenated vegetble oils and sugars and
other sweetners.

The can't or won't see the forest for the trees.

TC

Dear
I ran into your message quite accidentally while researching about
some details on 'Nutrition' and thought of sharing some of my
findings.
I've read at 'http://www.medical-health-care-information.com/Health-
living/nutrition/index.asp'
that Cholesterol is a waxy substance produced by the liver. It's one
of the lipids, or fats, your body makes and is used to build cell
walls and form some hormones and tissues.
If you never ate another bowl of ice cream or another cheeseburger,
your body would have enough cholesterol to run smoothly. That's
because your liver makes enough for healthy body function. In fact,
the liver produces about 1,000 milligrams of cholesterol a day. The
rest comes from the foods you eat.
I hope the above is of some help to you as well. Regards, Sherrybove

.