Bad Breath? Try Garlic. Yes, Garlic!
 
(less cancer & heart problems)

July 14, 2005 - Contrary to popular belief, some forms of garlic might actually improve your breath from bacteria-induced odor. While this might come as a surprise, I'm sure many of you won't be surprised at some of the incredible medicinal properties of garlic. It has been used for health concerns and prevention for thousands of years. Now, new studies are showing garlic's healing power and proving why it is such a popular supplement in many of our daily regimens.

Bad breath, otherwise known as halitosis, is a fear that many of us have when we are around others. It's a real turn-off for most people, and naturally, big consumer marketing companies play to those fears. We are bombarded on TV with various ads for mouthwashes and toothpastes to keep our breath smelling clean and fresh. Of course, there are certain foods that we want to avoid at all costs in order to keep our breath clean and smelling fresh. However, bad breath is as much of a "medical condition" as a lack of personal hygiene. It is clearly known that the underlying cause of bad breath is an excessive build up of bacteria in our mouths.

When one takes vitamins and various phytonutrients and herbal products, we typically are not thinking about cleaning our breath; but we definitely should. What if I told you that garlic is actually good for your breath? Perhaps your first response would be, "Dr. Josephs needs a vacation," or perhaps, "He's been out in the sun too long." However, there is good evidence that it does. In the July 2005 edition of the Journal of Archives of Oral Biology, researchers out of England studied the effects of garlic regarding periodontal pathogens. It was found that certain bacteria were killed almost immediately when exposed to garlic extract. The data indicated that garlic extract inhibited the growth of certain oral pathogens and so it may have therapeutic value, particularly for periodontitis. That's important, because periodontitis can have much more serious consequences than just bad breath. It is a serious gum infection that destroys the soft tissue and bone that support your teeth, and it may eventually cause tooth loss.

In another study published in 2002 in the International Dental Journal, 30 subjects were randomly divided into three groups to test the anti-bacterial activity of tea tree oil, garlic and chlorhexidine (an anti-microbial drug) solutions against oral micro-organisms. It was found that all three products did have some anti-microbial benefit, although the garlic solution-which was not tested in the odorless, extract form-caused bad breath and an unpleasant taste.

There was recently another study on garlic paste involving a randomized trial of 56 patients with clinical signs of oral candidiasis (fungus). Now in most cases, the overgrowth of candida is prevented by the presence of the native bacteria and by the body's immune defenses. However, if the population of native bacteria is decreased by antibiotics, or if the patient's immune defenses are weakened by illness (especially AIDS or diabetes), malnutrition or certain medications (corticosteroids or anti-cancer drugs), candida fungi can multiply enough to cause symptoms. In this study, it was found that the garlic paste applied for 14 days was as effective as an anti-fungal agent in treating the oral candidiasis. Therefore, if you feel your immune defenses are currently compromised, then garlic might be a great way to prevent these types of infections.

Now, I certainly do not want all of you going out and chewing on garlic cloves as a way to improve your breath. If you do, you will suddenly find that you have a lot fewer friends than you thought. However, garlic does appear to have several oral hygiene benefits, and in its odorless extract form, might even be an effective agent against bad breath.

More importantly, garlic has some additional amazing properties. Aged garlic, chemically known as allium sativum, has been used as a medicinal agent for literally thousands of years. In fact, there have been multiple studies in the medical literature reporting the potential benefits of garlic as an anti-cancer agent.

While there are probably a couple hundred important components of garlic, the two major compounds are S-allylcysteine and S-allylmercapto-L-cysteine. These two compounds have been noted to have the highest free radical-scavenging activity. S-allylcysteine specifically has been found to retard the growth of chemically-induced and transplantable tumors in several animal models.

The components of garlic also appear to have anti-tumor benefits by increasing glutathione and catalase levels, along with repairing DNA damage, preventing chromosomal damage, etc. In a study published last August in the Journal of Chinese Medicine, a total of 5,000 people with either a medical history of a stomach disorder, family history of stomach tumor, smoker and/or alcohol consumer were randomized into two groups. The treated group took 200 mg of synthetic allitridum (garlic) daily and 100 mcg of selenium every other day for one month of each year over approximately two years. These patients were then followed for approximately five years. Those men in the treated group appeared to have a significant reduction in the incidence of gastric cancer compared to those in the control group.

In another study published a couple of months ago in the British Journal of Cancer, researchers out of Norway noted that garlic appeared to cause disruption of micro-tubules, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis (cell death) in cancer. These studies are quite encouraging for garlic as a potential preventative measure for some serious health risks.

Additionally, the benefits of garlic go way beyond your immunity. This compound appears to have major beneficial effects on arteriosclerosis. In a study published several years ago in the journal Atherosclerosis, 152 individuals were randomized to consume high dose garlic powder or placebo. Those in the treated group significantly reduced arteriosclerotic plaque volume in the carotid and femoral arteries by anywhere from 5% to 18% over the next 48-month observational period. The authors of this study indicated that garlic substantiated not only a preventative role, but possibly also a curative role in that there was some plaque regression as well.

There have been other studies over the last few years trying to determine how garlic may positively affect our vascular system. Some of the studies indicate that it can have a positive effect on lowering your cholesterol, although the results of these studies are modest at best. Rather, it appears that garlic seems to inhibit platelet aggregation and adhesion to the walls of your arteries, which clearly can impact the development of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke.

There was a small interesting study out of UCLA published last year. In the study, 19 patients were randomly assigned to receive either garlic extract or placebo daily for one year. The individuals were then put through electron beam tomography to determine the amount of calcium plaque in their arteries. This technology is being increasingly used by cardiologists to determine who is at risk of developing coronary artery disease. It was found that those individuals treated with garlic had a statistically significant decrease in the amount of total calcium noted in their coronary arteries compared to placebo group. The small pilot study suggested the potential ability of aged garlic extract to inhibit the rate of progression of coronary calcification. It will be very interesting for us to keep an eye on this testing as it develops further.

I consider garlic to be a core supplemental nutrient similar to vitamin C, vitamin E, B vitamins and so on. Nutraceutical Sciences Institute (NSI) offers an aged garlic extract that is totally deodorized. Each 600 mg capsule of garlic is standardized to contain a minimum of 3% (18,000 mcg) of allicin per capsule. The NSI brand contains 180 capsules and costs less than $15. As usual, it is a tremendous value. We also include aged odorless garlic extract in many of our NSI Synergy line of multi-vitamins.

Kyolic also offers a liquid garlic extract that is free from pesticides or herbicides. It is said to have no garlic odor. However, I've never tried the product, so I cannot vouch for this claim personally

I'm so convinced that garlic possesses such amazing medicinal properties, I bet even Dracula himself would take it!