Garlic has been touted for it's anti-bacterial, antifungal properties and cardiovascular effect for centuries and U.S, scientists may have figured out the reasoning behind it.
Researchers at the University of Alabama found that contrary to previous r
esearch, that focused solely on Allicin (the organic polysulphides), there was another piece to the puzzle. They believe that the chemical messenger, hydrogen sulphide (H2S), that is produced when allicin and other active compounds are metabolized, is more important.
H2S is essential, at low levels, for cellular signaling to relax blood vessels and enhance blood flow. After several experiments scientist found that adding a rat aorta to a solution containing organic polysulphides caused the heart blood vessel to relax as it produced H2S.
The authors of the study believe that the allicin and H2S combination is the reason why previous studies had found conflicting data about the benefits of garlic on halting cardiovascular disease.
"In addition, our results suggest that the capacity to produce H2S can be used to standardize garlic dietary supplements," the authors wrote.
[Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]
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