Originally published August 26 2005
New link found between garlic and heart health
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Investigations are under way into a link between the way garlic effects the gastric system and how it benefits the heart.
"It's a possible mechanism for cardiovascular benefit from garlic, but they're a long way off from tying the two together," said Joe Vinson, a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
"It's still in the realm of very basic research," added Ruth Kava, director of nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health in New York City.
If the study is confirmed and replicated by other researchers, however, "it may provide a role for future pharmaceuticals," Kava added.
Garlic, along with onion, leek, chives and shallots, belongs to the plant genus Allium, and is known for its pungency and spiciness.
According to the study, these plants have been used for centuries to treat hypertension, high cholesterol and blood clots.
Garlic, in particular, has been tentatively linked to a variety of beneficial health effects, from reducing blood pressure and cholesterol to treating cancer.
"Garlic lowers your blood pressure, sometimes lowers your cholesterol, sometimes relaxes your arteries," Vinson said.
Study co-author David Julius, a professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been interested in this darker side, studying how plants produce pain as a way to figure out how our sensory neurons detect painful stimuli.
For example, capsaicin in chili peppers causes an intense burning pain by activating specific neurons.
Julius has discovered that capsaicin acts specifically on a cellular ion channel belonging to the TRP channel family.
Wasabi and mustard oil work in a similar way, generating pain and inflammation via TRPA1, another member of the TRP family.
In this study, Julius and his co-authors showed that a molecule in garlic called allicin stimulated sensory pain neurons in rats by activating the TRPA1 channel.
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