Garlic is the edible bulb of a plant in the lily family, native to central Asia. In addition to making food taste better, it has traditionally been used for health purposes by cultures such as the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese and Japanese. The folkloric link between vampires and garlic has to do with allicin, the major sulfur "compound that is (briefly) released when the garlic clove is cut," said Eric Block, a distinguished professor emeritus of chemistry at the University at Albany State University of New York and author of "Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science."
"The reason for the presence of sulfur compounds in garlic is to allow the garlic bulb to survive (while it's) in the ground, where it's surrounded by predators microscopic and larger," Block said. The smelly, burning "compounds that are released when the garlic clove is disrupted serve to deter further attack."
The role of allicin found in garlic
"There is a lot of folklore as to the beneficial health effects of garlic in the diet," said Alan Slusarenko, a professor of plant physiology at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, via email. "However, we have no data from controlled clinical trials."
Issue: How to turn allicin into a useful drug
"That's been the big problem: How do you take this compound allicin, with all these wonderful properties demonstrated in (human) cells, and make it into a useful drug?" Block said.
"To try to translate that into a medicine has proven very, very challenging, and has led a lot of companies -- that are out to make money -- to make false claims based on the activity of these compounds in cells," he added. In other words, some companies have been "trying to convince people that just because they're very active in all these experiments, it's also active as a pill or as a supplement."
Allicin is "destroyed" when cooked, Slusarenko said, "and off-the-shelf supplements generally have no or variable contents of allicin."
And the US Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate dietary supplements, so "advertisers can say whatever they want," Block said.
Possible side effects
Given these issues, you might think that people could just eat raw garlic for health benefits.
However, this isn't a good idea for several reasons: Because allicin is garlic's very potent defense, eating raw garlic "can cause severe irritation and burns," Block said. The slower a person's metabolism, the more likely it is that they could experience side effects such as rash, heartburn, stomach irritation, and burns in the esophagus or digestive tract.
Some cultures don't have this problem. In some areas of the Mediterranean, for example, "people will chew on garlic, and I guess they've developed a resistance to it," Block said. But for many others, it's "dangerous and it should never be used with children. And it should not be used on sensitive areas of the body."
A positive, not a panacea
Maybe the biggest benefit of garlic isn't what science has to say about it, but rather how garlic can help us eat better.
"Scientifically, garlic and onions and related plants are really one of nature's wonders. I think that there's some very exciting science that one can discover," Block said.
"It's possible that, in the future, scientists will discover ways to utilize these remarkable molecules in a way to treat disease. But again, that has to be done using the full power of science to test compounds in a fair and honest way to make sure that they actually work."
CNN's Sandee LaMotte contributed to this story.
The rest is here:
Garlic facts and history: The truth about vampires and health benefits - CNN
- In Interview With the Vampire's New Trailer, Louis Begins to Remember the Horrors - Gizmodo - April 2nd, 2024
- Even An Animated Twilight Show Can't Fix The Book's Silliest Decision - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire's new season 2 trailer invites you to the Thtre. - The Verge - April 2nd, 2024
- A Major 'Twilight' Star Is Down To Return For The TV Show, So Bring On The Sparkly Vampires - Yahoo Life - April 2nd, 2024
- Vampire Weekends Only God Was Above Us, Reviewed - The New Yorker - April 2nd, 2024
- Louis' Memories Come Flooding Back in 'Interview With the Vampire' Trailer (VIDEO) - TV Insider - April 2nd, 2024
- Louis and Claudia start new life in Paris in 'Interview with the Vampire' S2 trailer - UPI News - April 2nd, 2024
- AMC Networks Releases A Second New Trailer For 'Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire' Season Two! - Age Of The Nerd - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Trailer Sees Louis (and Molloy?) Remembering Monstrous Things - Reactor - April 2nd, 2024
- Man charged in shooting now accused of stalking women - Gaston Gazette - January 9th, 2024
- 15 Actors Whose Characters Have Died The Most Times On-Screen - Collider - December 12th, 2023
- BBC Radio 4 Extra - The World of The Wicker Man - Seven things we learned from 50 years of The Wicker Man - BBC - December 12th, 2023
- Downloads InfraRecorder - January 9th, 2023
- Teetering Tua, Delightful Danny Dimes, and a Confusing Week 17 Ahead - The Ringer - January 1st, 2023
- Fall TV offers vampires, royals, and return to Gilead - Washington Blade - September 16th, 2022
- Year Of The Vampire: Planet Of The Vampires And Lifeforce Took Sci-Fi Schlock To New Heights - /Film - August 14th, 2022
- Gov. DeSantis' recent hissy fit is the latest in a growing list | Column - Tampa Bay Times - August 14th, 2022
- Zombies 3s Terry Hu & Deacon Phillippe Join 'Never Have I Ever' Season 3 - Just Jared Jr. - July 28th, 2022
- Its Finally Time of the Season for The Zombies: British Invasion Band Gets Feature Doc from Robert Schwartzman, Playtone (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety - July 28th, 2022
- 'V Rising' Hits Early Access on May 17 - Bloody Disgusting - April 21st, 2022
- Looking Back at the Horror Movies and Their Monsters That Inspired "Castlevania" - Bloody Disgusting - September 5th, 2021
- Youtooz and NBCUniversal Team Up to Bring Beloved TV and Movie Characters to Life - Business Wire - September 5th, 2021
- 'The Walking Dead' Stormtroopers Explained: Who Are Episode ... - August 24th, 2021
- The Walking Dead (season 11) - Wikipedia - August 24th, 2021
- When does The Walking Dead season 11 begin, and is it the ... - August 24th, 2021
- It Appears Everyone Quit The Walking Dead At The Same Negan ... - August 24th, 2021
- The Walking Dead: White Armor Soldiers Explained - August 24th, 2021
- 'The Walking Dead' Premiere: Negan Really Did It This Time, Huh - August 24th, 2021
- Call of Duty Warzone could be getting Zombies mode in Season 2 - PC Gamer - February 20th, 2021
- CoD: Warzone and Black Ops Cold War season 2, new maps and Zombies mode - Polygon - February 20th, 2021
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies Adding New Field Upgrade and Ammo Mod - GameRant - February 20th, 2021
- New Skill Tiers Coming To Black Ops Cold War Zombies In Season Two - RealSport101 - February 20th, 2021
- HS BOYS BASKETBALL: Lee injects life into season with win over MHS - Midland Reporter-Telegram - January 31st, 2021
- 2021 ACCORDING TO PSYCHICS: COVID-19 ends, families reunite, Neuralink takes offand zombies? - ABC 4 - January 9th, 2021
- What fresh hell will greet us in 2021? Invasion by an alien species of vampiric sheep? - Telegraph.co.uk - December 26th, 2020
- Jimmy Carr hair transplant on show on Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2020 - before and after - Express - December 26th, 2020
- One Thing Every Universal Monster Reboot Should Learn From The Invisible Man - Screen Rant - December 18th, 2020
- Biden Sees the A-Team. I See the Blob. - Foreign Policy - December 14th, 2020
- WATCH: MrBeast Plays An Intense Game of Among Us With 100 Zombies - EssentiallySports - December 14th, 2020
- 100 best spy movies of all time | Entertainment - Kearney Hub - November 30th, 2020
- Hammer House of Horror: the twisted suburban tales that inspired Mark Gatiss and more - The Guardian - November 1st, 2020
- Terry L. Wood was example of hard work, dedication to family - Mason City Globe Gazette - November 1st, 2020
- We Live: Zombies Are The Least of Humanity's Problems - Screen Rant - October 20th, 2020
- Sci-Fi Explosion: A Spooky Night of Horror Hilarity, Trivia, and Prizes with Warner Archive - Den of Geek - October 13th, 2020
- The Best Horror Movies of All Time - 24/7 Wall St. - October 13th, 2020
- Will Zombies be in Cold War Beta? Learn more about Cold War Beta here - Republic World - Republic World - October 10th, 2020
- Fortnite: New Bosses and Enemies coming with Fortnitemares! - New Leaks, Zombies, Ghostly Henchman and More! - RealSport101 - October 10th, 2020
- First look at Teslas new battery cell produced in-house with Roadrunner - Electrek.co - September 18th, 2020
- A competition has launched to find the UK's messiest bedroom, and the winner gets a new bed - Heart - September 12th, 2020
- Rochester teen charged with conspiracy to commit murder out of jail - Goshen News - September 5th, 2020
- County Mayor Coppinger To Extend Mask Mandate Through Oct. 8; COVID-19 Task Force Members Say It Is Working - The Chattanoogan - September 5th, 2020
- Lord Of The Rings Rewind: 49 Things You Didn't Know About The Return Of The King - GameSpot - September 5th, 2020
- 'Zombies of the Corn' haunted attraction set for 8th season of frightful fun in Freedom - TribLIVE - September 2nd, 2020
- Education: Why energy vampires must be slain - Big Think - August 21st, 2020
- INTO THE FORGOTTEN FOREST - Werewolves and Vampires and Magic, Oh My! - Send2Press Newswire - August 21st, 2020
- What's New On Disney+ (US/Canada) | Magic Camp, Zombies 2 & The Greatest Showman - What's On Disney Plus - August 17th, 2020
- Claes Bang working on 'scary and bloody' Hamlet story - The List - August 10th, 2020
- The 25 Scariest Horror Movies on Netflix Now: Can You Handle Them? - News Lagoon - August 6th, 2020
- Robert Downey Jr. Will Produce and Possibly Co-Star in a New Apple TV+ Detective Series - News Lagoon - August 6th, 2020
- TVLine Items: Phineas and Ferb Movie Trailer, Potter to Peacock and More - News Lagoon - August 6th, 2020
- My Hero Academia Chapter 280 Release Date, Spoilers And All You Need To Know - News Lagoon - August 6th, 2020
- Lord Of The Rings Rewind: 38 Things You Didn't Know About The Fellowship Of The Ring - GameSpot - August 6th, 2020
- The Crown: Will Lady Diana and Prince Charles get married in Season 4? Click b ... - Next Alerts - July 8th, 2020
- Fire Force Season 2 Episode 2: Will Shinra continue to investigate the ... - Next Alerts - July 8th, 2020
- Dark Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix: Will there be a Season 4? Click to find out! - Next Alerts - July 8th, 2020
- The OA Season 3: Is Brit Marling returning as The OA in the upco ... - Next Alerts - July 8th, 2020
- Star Wars' Most Dangerous Army Isn't the Jedi - OR the Sith | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources - July 6th, 2020
- Review: We Are Little Zombies Is a Fun, Wildly Stylized Portrait of Grief - slantmagazine - July 6th, 2020
- WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES Exclusive Clip: Meet The Orphans - ScreenAnarchy - July 6th, 2020
- DaBaby and Roddy Ricch fight off zombies in Rockstar visual - REVOLT TV - July 6th, 2020
- Call of Duty: Warzone Seemingly Teasing Zombies - ComicBook.com - June 26th, 2020
- 'Smartphone zombies' BANNED from texting while walking in Japanese city - RT - June 26th, 2020
- Podcast: not-E3 best bits from the PC Gaming Show and Guerrilla Collective streams - Rock Paper Shotgun - June 19th, 2020
- Hotel Transylvania 4: Release Date, Cast, And What To Expect From The New Film? - The Global Coverage - June 18th, 2020
- Trying to Read 'Arguing with Zombies' as a Republican | Learning Innovation - Inside Higher Ed - June 12th, 2020
- Call of Duty 2020 alpha build leaks on PSN, confirms the return of Zombies - VG247 - June 12th, 2020
- Is Call of Duty Warzone adding Zombies in Season 4 of Modern Warfare? - Daily Star - June 12th, 2020
- Flatbush Zombies Return With New EP, Now, More than Ever - KAZI. Magazine - June 12th, 2020
- More Great EA Games Available on Steam Today - Business Wire - June 12th, 2020
- ESO patch notes: Greymoor patch update for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One - Republic World - Republic World - June 11th, 2020
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero