Garlic and the common cold

Garlic has been used to fight colds in homes for years. Many boost of its greatness, others say they
dont believe anything about the big stink other than the smell.

The US National Library of Medicine released a review of all clinical trials in regards to garlic and the
common with the purpose to explore the belief that garlic is good for colds.

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology published a study saying that garlic has a varied spectrum of
actions. It kills fungus, viruses, protozoa, and bacteria. Garlic is used so much and frequently for
different treatments and applications for a wide range of conditions and illnesses that is of high interest
for further investigation in the field of pharmacology. Garlic has been proven to have anti-microbial
properties. Anecdotal, traditional, and clinical research supports that the allicin contained in garlic has
anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.

“Garlic has positive affects on the cardiovascular and immune systems and has strong anti-microbial
properties,” pointed out by Dr. Ronald Klatz, President of the A4M. The Journal of Nutrition published
a review on the effectiveness of garlic in treating cardiovascular disease stating that scientists have
observed that when consumed on a regular basis the disease is helped, its levels of bad cholesterol are
lowered as well as blood pressure, and it provides antioxidants.

The study pointed out that many of the previous studies done with conflicting evidence were not
conducted properly which affected the outcomes, such as mistakes with subject selection, a variety of
garlic preparations were used, the study not being properly randomized, and too short of trial duration.

According to Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews only 1 study was done properly in regards to
trials on if garlic helps the common cold. In that study 146 people participated some of which took
garlic daily for 3 months, and some took placebo and some no treatment at all or other treatments for
controls and to make the study randomized.

Patients in the garlic group had fewer colds than those of the other groupings, length of colds                                                                    were the same in all groups. The study findings say that in
conclusion garlic may help to prevent colds, but more study needs to be done on a larger sale to
confirm. There are no controlled, randomized, and properly conducted studies to support if garlic
reduces cold length or severity if a person starts taking garlic at the beginning onset of a cold.