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Garlic: Your Perfect Antimicrobial Protection

Dear Friends

Garlic is such a perfect antimicrobial food.  It should be on the very top of your list. Garlic protects you from, and fights against, colds, flues and various infectious diseases caused by viruses, fungus, bacteria, and protozoa . 

In fact, its secondary metabolites have shown excellent health-promoting and disease preventing effects on many of our complex chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, blood pressure, and diabetes, through its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and lipid lowering properties, as demonstrated in plethora of in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies (Ansary, J., 2020).

Garlic is a powerful medicinal food. The Allium family is one of the most successful genera is the plant kingdom with 700 different species in the family. One of the major reasons for their success as a genus is that they have developed a very effective means of protecting themselves from pests such as bacteria, protozoa, fungus, molds and larger critters like insects and foraging animals. Exactly what you need to protect yourself against infections. Instead of thorns, they use secondary metabolites for protection. What are these incredibly effective secondary metabolites?

“Secondary metabolites are specialized substances considered to be dispensable, although their influence on the environment of the plant can be profound, allowing the plant to survive and thrive” (Block, 2010). When the Allium genera (garlic, onions, leeks, etc.) are damaged or attacked by a pest, they produce a group of compounds (secondary metabolites) called thiosulphanates, which have very strong antimicrobial properties.

The predominate thiosulphanate in fresh crushed garlic is allicin—containing about 70% to 80%. The other thiosulphanates also have antimicrobial properties but we tend to focus on allicin because it is abundant and most importantly the best potent antimicrobial as measure by MICs (minimum inhibitory concentration).

But there is some confusion about which of the thiosuphanates is the most potent. In the following calculations I hope to dispel some of that confusion.

There are some in the marketplace that promote ajoene as the most active of the three heavily researched allicin metabolites. What they are in fact saying is that when crushed garlic reacts with oil, the bi-product of the reaction is the production of three metabolites—ajoene, dithiins and allyl sulfides; and of these three metabolites, ajoene, is the most potent. They are not saying, and can’t say, that ajoene is more potent than allicin because it is not. Crushed garlic without the oil does not have ajoene or dithiins present because the allicin would need oil to react with to produce these compounds. If you let crushed garlic sit, the allicin gradually transforms into allyl sulfides, but not to ajoene or dithiins.

Allicin is 2-5 times more powerful antimicrobial than ajoene. If we look at the MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) for each, it becomes apparent. The MIC is the lowest concertation of an antimicrobial that will inhibit the visible growth of a microorganism. An MIC is generally regarded as the most basic laboratory measurement of the activity of an antimicrobial agent against an organism. The lower the MIC the more powerful the antimicrobial.

The MIC for allicin with Staph aureus is 27, and the MIC for ajoene is 55. Allicin is twice as potent. The MIC for allicin with E. coli is also 27, and the MIC for ajoene is 150. Allicin is five times more potent. We normally don’t consider a substance as a serious antimicrobial with an MIC of 50 and above. The reason that garlic does not kill Lactobacillus and Bifido genera is that its MIC is over 200. The genius of Nature!

MICs For Allicin

Bacteria (gram negative)—Helicobacter pylori 6-30, Klebsiella pneumoniae 8, Pophyromonas gingivalis 1.7, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 15, P. nigrescens 0.4.

Bacteria (gram postive)—E. faecalis 28, Proteus mirablis 15, Staph aureus 12-28, pyogenes 3.

Fungi—Aspergillus niger 32, Candida albicans 0.3, C. glabrata 0.3, C. krusei 0.3.

Parasitic protozoa—Entamoeba histolytica 30, Giardia lamblia 30, Leishmanial strains 5-30.

 

One to two capsules of garlic a day to generate a good microbial balance in your body.

References

  • Ansary, J., Forbes-Hernández, T. Y., Gil, E., Cianciosi, D., Zhang, J., Elexpuru-Zabaleta, M., ... & Battino, M. (2020). Potential health benefit of garlic based on human intervention studies: A brief overview. Antioxidants, 9(7), 619.
  • Andrianova, I. V., Sobenin, I. A., Sereda, E. V., Borodina, L. I., & Studenikin, M. I. (2003). Effects of the long-acting garlic tablets" Allicor" on the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections in children. Therapeutic archive, 78(3), 53-56.
  • Agarwal, K. C. (1996). Therapeutic actions of garlic constituents. Medicinal research reviews, 16(1), 111-124.
  • Andrianova I.V., Sobenin I.A., Sereda E.V., Borodina L.I., Studenikin M.I. Effect of long-acting garlic tablets “allicor” on the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections in children. Ter. Arkhiv. 2003;75:53–56.
  • Ansary, J., Forbes-Hernández, T. Y., Gil, E., Cianciosi, D., Zhang, J., Elexpuru-Zabaleta, M., ... & Battino, M. (2020). Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview. Antioxidants, 9(7), 619.
  • Bayan, L., Koulivand, P. H., & Gorji, A. (2014). Garlic: a review of potential therapeutic effects. Avicenna journal of phytomedicine, 4(1), 1.
  • Ebrahimy, F., Dolatian, M., Moatar, F., & Majd, H. A. (2015). Comparison of the therapeutic effects of Garcin® and fluconazole on Candida vaginitis. Singapore medical journal, 56(10), 567.
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  • Gao, X., Chen, Y., Chen, Z., Xue, Z., Jia, Y., Ma, Q., ... & Chen, H. (2019). Identification and antimicrobial activity evaluation of three peptides from laba garlic and the related mechanism. Food & function, 10(8), 4486-4496.
  • Gökalp, F. (2018). The inhibition effect of garlic‐derived compounds on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and saquinavir. Journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology, 32(11), e22215.
  • Gruhlke, M. C., Portz, D., Stitz, M., Anwar, A., Schneider, T., Jacob, C., ... & Slusarenko, A. J. (2010). Allicin disrupts the cell's electrochemical potential and induces apoptosis in yeast. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 49(12), 1916-1924.
  • Hodge, G., Hodge, S., & Han, P. (2002). Allium sativum (garlic) suppresses leukocyte inflammatory cytokine production in vitro: potential therapeutic use in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Cytometry: The Journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology, 48(4), 209-215.
  • Kim, H. N., Kang, S. G., Roh, Y. K., Choi, M. K., & Song, S. W. (2017). Efficacy and safety of fermented garlic extract on hepatic function in adults with elevated serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase levels: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. European journal of nutrition, 56(5), 1993-2002.
  • Nantz M.P., Rowe C.A., Muller C.E., Creasy R.A., Stanilka J.M., Percival S.S. Supplementation with aged garlic extract improves both NK and γδ-T cell function and reduces the severity of cold and flu symptoms: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled nutrition intervention. Clin. Nutr. 2012;31:337–344. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2011.11.019.
  • Madineh, H., Yadollahi, F., Yadollahi, F., Mofrad, E. P., & Kabiri, M. (2017). Impact of garlic tablets on nosocomial infections in hospitalized patients in intensive care units. Electronic physician, 9(4), 4064.
  • Ohtani, M., & Nishimura, T. (2020). The preventive and therapeutic application of garlic and other plant ingredients in the treatment of periodontal diseases. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 19(2), 1507-1510.
  • Parsi, A., Ghorbani, A., Hesam, S., & Hosseini, M. (2020). Comparison of Garlic therapeutic effects and standard therapy with De Penicillamine in patients with Lead poisoning. Journal of Advanced Pharmacy Education & Research| Apr-Jun, 10(S2), 85.
  • Rouf, R., Uddin, S. J., Sarker, D. K., Islam, M. T., Ali, E. S., Shilpi, J. A., ... & Sarker, S. D. (2020). Anti-viral potential of garlic (Allium sativum) and it's organosulfur compounds: A systematic update of pre-clinical and clinical data. Trends in Food Science & Technology.
  • Said, M. M., Watson, C., & Grando, D. (2020). Garlic alters the expression of putative virulence factor genes SIR2 and ECE1 in vulvovaginal C. albicans isolates. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-9.
  • Serrano, H. D. A., Mariezcurrena-Berasain, M. A., Castillo, A. D. C. G., Carranza, B. V., Pliego, A. B., Rojas, M. T., ... & Rivas-Caceres, R. R. (2020). Antimicrobial resistance of three common molecularly identified pathogenic bacteria to Allium aqueous extracts. Microbial pathogenesis, 142, 104028.
  • Sobenin, I. A., Myasoedova, V. A., Iltchuk, M. I., Zhang, D. W., & Orekhov, A. N. (2019). Therapeutic effects of garlic in cardiovascular atherosclerotic disease. Chinese journal of natural medicines, 17(10), 721-728.
  • Soleimani, D., Paknahad, Z., & Rouhani, M. H. (2020). Therapeutic effects of garlic on hepatic steatosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients: A randomized clinical trial. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity: targets and therapy, 13, 2389.
  • Yun, H. M., Ban, J. O., Park, K. R., Lee, C. K., Jeong, H. S., Han, S. B., & Hong, J. T. (2014). Potential therapeutic effects of functionally active compounds isolated from garlic. Pharmacology & therapeutics, 142(2), 183-195.

 

Sincerely yours,

Seann

We have developed our products based on scientific research and/or the practical experience of many healthcare practitioners. There is a growing body of literature on food based nutrition and supplements and their application in support of our health. Please use our products under the advisement of your doctor.


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