Page 49 - Today's Dietitian (February 2020)

Garlic Preparations, Dosages, and Demonstrated Effects

between the groups, suggesting the need Type of Garlic Dosage,
for additional studies, perhaps with Preparation Duration Demonstrated Effects
larger sample sizes and longer durations.
Raw, crushed 5 g, one time Upregulation of genes related to
Brain Health immunity and apoptosis in humans 23
Garlic preparations, due to their antioxi-
dant and anti-inflammatory potential,
also may have neuroprotective effects. Garlic oil 20–40 mg/kg, Prevention of liver cancer nodule
development in rats
five times/week
22
Specifically, AGE may provide protec- for 21 weeks
tion against the inflammatory process
thought to be related to the development
of Alzheimer’s disease. AGE may have Garlic oil 100–200 mg/kg, Modulation of Th1 and Th2 lympho-
cytes in rats
every other day
24
this effect due to SAC’s ability to trap for two weeks
reactive oxygen species, as mentioned
previously. Based on their work exam- Garlic oil 100 mg/kg, daily Prevention of bone loss due to
ining neuronal cells of mice that were for 30 days hormone deficiency 4
treated with reactive oxygen species, Ray
and colleagues found that AGE protected
cells from oxidative damage. Further- Garlic powder 600 mg Decrease in total and LDL cholesterol
26
more, since diabetes and cardiovascular (encapsulated) time-released levels in humans 17
risk factors may play a role in the devel- tablet/day for 12
opment of Alzheimer’s, and since garlic weeks
appears to protect against those issues
as well, AGE could play a significant role Garlic powder 900 mg/day for Decrease in fasting blood sugar levels
in the fight against Alzheimer’s. (encapsulated) 24 weeks in humans with diabetes 19
AGE also may protect the brain after
cerebral ischemia. By inducing isch- Garlic powder 300–1,500 mg/ Decrease in fasting blood sugar levels
emia for one hour and then adminis- (encapsulated) day for 24 weeks and HbA1c in humans with diabetes 20
tering 1.2 mL AGE/kg of weight in rats,
Colín-González and colleagues exam-
ined the impact of garlic in reducing Garlic powder 800 mg/day for Decrease in one inflammatory cytokine
ischemia-related inflammation. Their (encapsulated) one month in humans 28,29
results suggested AGE protected against
the damage caused by ischemia and Garlic powder 600 mg/day for Decrease in body temperature, a
diminished the amount of inflammatory (encapsulated) six days marker of infection in humans 26
markers in the blood after the event. The
levels of inflammatory markers in rats Aged garlic 480–1,200 mg/ Decrease in systolic blood pressure in
that received the AGE were more than extract (AGE) day for 12 weeks humans 10-12
75% lower after the induced ischemia
than in the rats that didn’t receive the
garlic extract. 27 AGE 80 mg/day for 12 Decrease in LDL cholesterol levels in
weeks humans 18
Bone Health
Certain garlic preparations appear to AGE 2.56 g/day for Increase in immune cell proliferation in
25
provide protection against the devel- 45 days humans
opment of osteoporosis in women after
menopause. The prevalence of osteo-
porosis in postmenopausal women
may be due to estrogen deficiency and A study of 44 women with osteoporo- After one month of intervention, the
often is treated with estrogen replace- sis offered different results. Mozaffari- blood levels of one inflammatory cyto-
ment therapy. In rats whose ovaries had Khosravi and colleagues examined the kine were significantly reduced by an
been removed, garlic oil was found to effect of raw garlic tablets on the pres- average of 47% in the garlic group com-
be as effective as conventional thera- ence of proinflammatory cytokines pared with their baseline levels. However,
pies in preventing bone loss. The pos- that have been linked to postmeno- no significant differences in the cytokine
4
sible mechanism through which garlic pausal bone loss due to their influence levels of the garlic and placebo groups
prevents bone mineral loss caused on bone resorption. The study included at the end of the study were observed.
28
by hormone deficiencies involves the two groups, one whose members took These studies suggest the possibility that
increased transfer of calcium through approximately 800 mg garlic per day and garlic supplements may prevent bone
the intestines. 5 another whose members took a placebo. loss, but more research is needed.
FEBRUARY 2020 • WWW.TODAYSDIETITIAN.COM 49