Garlic and Vampires

Many cultures throughout history include garlic in their folklore. Long before Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, garlic had been considered by many cultures to have been a vampire repellent. So why do cultures separated both geographically and through the space of time attribute similar mythical properties to garlic? The most popular theory explaining this phenomenon has to do with garlic's proven natural mosquito-repelling properties. Numerous historic cultures were aware that mosquitoes did not like Garlic, and this may have lead to garlic's association with vampires. Mosquitoes suck blood and in doing so can spread disease - so do vampires. Furthermore, several symptoms of malaria, namely fever, exhaustion and anemia are concurrent with the alleged symptoms occurring after a vampire bite. So, does garlic really work against vampires? A scientific study documenting this is rather difficult to perform today due to the lack of vampires, but one recent study attempted to mimic the effect of vampires with blood-sucking leeches:

"In strictly standardized research surroundings, the leeches were to attach themselves to either a hand smeared with garlic or to a clean hand. The garlic-smeared hand was preferred in two out of three cases (95% confidence interval 50.4% to 80.4%). When they preferred the garlic the leeches used only 14.9 seconds to attach themselves, compared with 44.9 seconds when going to the non-garlic hand (p < 0.05). The traditional belief that garlic has prophylactic properties is probably wrong. The reverse may in fact be true."

Surprisingly, the study shows that garlic actually attracted the leeches instead of repelling them. Of course, we will never conclusively know garlic's affect on vampires until a conclusive scientific study utilizing real vampires is carried out.

Garlic and Nerves

According to a study done in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers believe that garlic widens arteries using the nervous system. Specifically, the pungency of the bulb triggers sensory cells on the tongue and the nose to activate the TRPA1 protein (transient receptor potential cation channel), which then widens the blood vessels. TRPA1 is found in approximately 75% of all sensory neurons. Professor David Julius, an author of the study, describes TRPA1 “as a door on a cell’s surface” that opens to certain stimuli, allowing charged particles like sodium and calcium to flow in (if enough charged particles flow in, a signal called an action potential will be sent to the brain).

To test garlic’s effects, Julius and his team used rat cells, but they say human cells will react in the same way. They also correlated pain with the benefits in blood pressure, saying that the electric signal sent to the pain-processing sections of the brain because of pungent stimuli like garlic causes a sensation of pain or discomfort. But what is a little pain when your arteries are opening up?

Garlic and Your Heart

Numerous studies have been done on garlic to determine its effects on the heart. According to VegSource, thirteen of them have shown that garlic lowers cholesterol about four to six percent. Garlic may also lower LDL (“bad” cholesterol), and triglycerides (fats), while raising HDL (desirable cholesterol), and thwarting atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). In essence, garlic decreases the risk of heart attacks. Furthermore, a few randomized trials also suggested garlic’s ability to prevent platelet aggregation, and thrombosis, both of which cause clotting than can lead to heart attack or stroke. Among the many compounds thought to be salutary in garlic, allicin is believed to be responsible for these benefits.

However, the results of these studies are tentative, according to Joe Vinson, a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, who instead says,

“Garlic lowers your blood pressure, sometimes lowers your cholesterol, sometimes relaxes your arteries. I say sometimes because not every study showed this.”

Regardless of the verdict, garlic’s numerous other benefits, including lowering the risk of cancer, are worth eating a clove every now and then—no matter how skeptical one may be.

White Rot: A Garlic Disease

The benefits that garlic provides are wonderful, but unfortunately, garlic fails to protect itself from certain diseases such as white rot. White rot disease, Sclerotium cepivorum, is the most common, destructive, and widespread disease that affects the plants in the Allium family such as garlic.

The white rot disease, which is a soil-borne fungus, is temperature dependant. It only attacks garlic when the soil temperature is between 10º-20º Celsius. Infected soil spreads the disease to many garlic plants that are planted near the infected soil. Also, once soil becomes infected, getting rid of the white rot disease is extremely difficult because the disease survives in the soil for at least 15 years. Therefore, long gaps between planting garlic in the same soil effectively protect white rot disease from spreading.

White rot disease can spread in many ways. The most common way is when the infected soil on plants is carried to another location and infects the soil in the new location. Contaminated soil on boots and garden tools also spreads the disease. Rarely, animals’ manure spreads white rot disease after animals eat the affected garlic plant.

According to a Garlic Diseases Website,

“Symptoms include premature yellowing and dying of older leaves, stunting, and leaf tipburn, followed by destruction of the root system, shoot dieback, and rotting of the bulb.”

Since garlic provides so many health benefits, it is important to prevent white rot disease from contaminating garlic plants.

Garlic and Pregnancy

The list of garlic’s health benefits expands as new research shows that garlic may reduce the pregnancy complications. According to research conducted by Dr. Sooranna, Ms. Hirani, and Dr. Das from the Academic Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, the consumption of garlic during pregnancy has many advantages. First of all, the risk of pre-eclampsia, which is caused by raised blood pressure and protein retained in the urine, is reduced. This condition occurs in about one in ten pregnancies and is a dangerous condition for both the mother and the baby. In their studies, the researchers also discovered that eating garlic during pregnancies may increase the birth weight of babies that would otherwise suffer from a small, unhealthy birth weight. According to the Garlic Information Centre in the United Kingdom,

“experiments by the research team showed that adding extracts of garlic to cells from the placenta of women likely to suffer from these conditions was able to quickly stimulate growth.”

Also, after eating garlic, enzymes that are reduced in abnormal pregnancies are significantly increased in pregnant women. Because of all of the advantages of eating garlic during pregnancy, a pregnant woman should definitely consume at least a clove of garlic daily.

The Gilroy Garlic Festival

Does the idea of feasting on food

"laced with over two tons of fresh garlic, enjoy[ing] three stages of musical entertainment, shop[ping] in arts and crafts, view[ing] the great garlic cook-off and other celebrity cooking demonstrations, spend[ing] time in the children's area, visit[ing] interactive displays set up by many of our sponsors, soak[ing] up some glorious sunshine, and mingl[ing] with a fun bunch of garlic-loving people"

sound like a good time? Then check out the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. This gathering of garlic lovers takes place every year in Gilroy, California during the last full week in July. This year marks the 27th year the festival has occurred, drawing a total of over 3 million people through the years. The festival has everything from children's activities to music, and of course, gourmet garlic dishes. Best of all, all money raised by the event goes to various deserving charities in the area. In the past, the 4,000 dedicated volunteers that make the festival possible have been able to raise almost 7 million dollars for these local charities. Garlic enthusiasts should check out the website for the Gilroy Garlic Festival if they are looking for something fun to do this summer.

Nutritional Content of Garlic

Garlic is famous for its many benefits ranging from reducing the risk of certain cancers to controlling a number of pests such as mosquitoes. However, the nutritional content of garlic is not well known. First of all, many minerals can be found in garlic. Some of these minerals include manganese, copper, iron, zinc, sulfur, calcium, aluminum, chlorine, and selenium. A Garlic Nutrition website states that one hundred grams of fresh garlic will provide:

Copper- 0.30 mg
Iron- 1.7 mg
Manganese- 1.12 mg
Phosphorous- 153 mg
Selenium- 14.2 mg
Zinc- 1.16 mg

Compared to other vegetables, the sulfur content of garlic is extremely high; in fact, garlic has the highest sulfur content of all vegetables. Another important mineral found in garlic is selenium because it acts as an antioxidant.

Three medium cloves of garlic contain only 13 calories, 1 gram of protein, 3 grams of carbohydrates, and 2 grams of sodium. The same three medium garlic cloves contain a couple of necessary vitamins including 2.8 mg of vitamin C and traces of all B vitamins except vitamin B12. The presence of 2.3 mg of magnesium, 36.1 mg of potassium, and 16.3 mg of calcium is also important.

Although garlic contains many minerals, vitamins, and other nutritional benefits, it does not provide people with enough of these nutritional benefits. As the Garlic Nutrition website states,

“One shouldn't expect to gain large doses of vitamins from a clove or two of garlic.”

The amount of nutritional content one garlic clove provides is insignificant compared to the daily amount each person needs.

Garlic and the Digestive Tract

Garlic’s lofty reputation has also developed from its effectiveness as an antibacterial and antifungal agent. According to Better Nutrition, even one clove a day has been proven to aid digestion and reduce bacterial infections including cholera, dysentery, and strep.

Dr. Paul Sherman, a behavioral scientist at Cornell University, believes humans have evolved a taste for spicy food like garlic because the foods are better at killing the germs that cause spoilage. After studying 5000 traditional spices from thirty six countries, he found that the seasoning got spicier as the climate got hotter (since food spoils faster in hot climate). Furthermore, when he examined forty three spices for their ability to kill bacteria, garlic and onions killed all thirty types of bacteria that cause problems in the digestive tract.

Recently, a bacteria named Helicobacter pylori has been attributed to stomach ulcers. In a study done by Chicago University, out of thirty herbs, garlic was one of the most effective in impeding fifteen different strains of helicobacter. The garlic compound called ajoene is mostly responsible for treating stomach ulcers. Garlic is so effective it has been awarded by Herbal Information Center the exalted name,

“Wonder Drug among all herbs.”

With garlic’s protean remedial properties, one may wonder if it really is a panacea.

Diallyl Disulfide and Garlic

There is no question about garlic’s powerful health benefits. Garlic not only acts as an antioxidant, but also reduces carcinogens, thus decreasing the risk of cancer, and strengthens the immune system. Though the chemistry on the formation of beneficial compounds is not fully understood, researchers have recently begun studying diallyl disulfide (DADS), one of the potent compounds in garlic oil that fight cancer. Numerous studies have proven that diallyl disulfide, a fat-soluble sulfur compound, induced apoptosis (induced suicide of a cell) in lung cancer cells, and inhibited hepatocarcinogenicity (carcinogens in the liver).

Furthermore, researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center concluded that diallyl disulfide reduced colonic damage by 47% and the incidence and frequency of colon tumors when it was administered three hours before each carcinogenic injection. Given garlic’s healthy repertoire, numerous studies will continue to be done not only on this impressive compound, but also on the several other compounds including allinase, S-allyl cysteine, both of which have been shown to have salutary properties.

Meanwhile, to maximize the amount of diallyl disulfide for consumption, Gourmet Garlic Gardens says to

“roast the chopped garlic in an oven or microwave itas the heat converts the allicin mostly into DATS and DADS”

or boil it in water in a covered dish for twenty minutes, though some of the compounds will be lost in the steam.

Garlic: A Mosquito Repellent

Having repulsive garlic breath is not a pleasure. However, Pat Kendall, Ph. D., who is a Food Science and Human Nutrition Specialist at the Colorado State University, writes that garlic breath may have its advantages. There have been many studies conducted about garlic’s therapeutic properties, and although garlic’s role in preventing heart disease and cancer is uncertain and debated among people, many studies have confirmed that garlic serves as a good insect-repellent. Pat Kendall states that

“The sulfurs contained within the garlic extract have been shown to be effective against a wide range of insects, including mosquitoes, and the lingering odor can deter mosquitoes from the area for weeks.”

In addition, a number of studies have shown that the oil fraction of garlic successfully kill a certain species of mosquito larvae. In a particular experiment performed in India, a preparation made of 1 percent garlic oil, petroleum jelly and beeswax was rubbed onto people, and this preparation turned out to be effective for up to eight hours. One explanation that Pat Kendall gives for this is that the compounds of the garlic are released from the body through the skin and breath. Therefore, after eating garlic, the sulfur compounds found on the skin and in the breath may act as a repellent for insects like mosquitoes. Since mosquitoes use their sense of smell to detect prey, they keep away from the sulfur scented prey. Although having horrid breath is not attractive, keeping mosquitoes away might be worth the garlic breath.