Guest guest Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Garlic - smelly but good for you Article from: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Chicago October 16, 2007 11:45am ALTERNATIVE medicine has been touting the health benefits of garlic for centuries, from its anti-bacterial and antifungal properties, to its positive effects on the cardiovascular system. Now US researchers say they have figured out precisely why the pungent clove makes such a valuable health tonic: it boosts the body's own production of a compound that relaxes blood vessels, increases blood flow, and prevents blood clots and oxidative damage. "This will help us standardise over the counter garlic supplements, and ensure they have the ingredients that produce the key compound,'' said Kraus, a physiologist in the department of environmental health sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Much of the research into the pharmacological benefits of garlic has focused on the organic polysulphides that the clove is rich in - the best known of which is Allicin. But the new research suggests Allicin and similar biologically active compounds are only a piece of the puzzle, and that it's the chemical messenger that is produced when these compounds are metabolised that is important. In laboratory tests, the researchers at the University of Alabama found that it was this chemical messenger - hydrogen sulphide (H2S) - which is essential at low levels for cellular signalling, that appears to relax blood vessels, enhancing blood flow. The team conducted a series of experiments, first extracting juice from supermarket garlic and adding minute amounts to red blood cells. The cells immediately began emitting hydrogen sulphide. Further experiments showed that the key chemical reaction took place mainly at the membrane of the red blood cells, although a fraction of H2S was also produced inside the cells. Further, when the team added a section of rat aorta, a heart blood vessel, to a solution containing organic polysulphides, it began to relax as it produced H2S. The finding may explain why some studies showed there were no cardiovascular benefits to be gained from taking garlic supplements while many others showed that such supplements could halt the progress of cardiovascular disease, the authors said. "In addition, our results suggest that the capacity to produce H2S can be used to standardise garlic dietary supplements,'' the authors wrote. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22594369-5005961,00.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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