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Garlic And Other Heart-Protective Botanicals
Recently, three branches of the US National Institutes of Health threw a little party they called, 'Mechanistic Studies of Cardiovascular Effects of Botanicals.' And you could almost smell the furious wheels of bureaucracy burning. The trio of branches comprised an 'office,' a 'centre,' and an 'institute' - namely the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
When garlic's aim is true
The NIH meeting of international scientists and researchers convened to discuss and guide future research on the cardiovascular effects of popular botanicals, including garlic, ginkgo biloba, hawthorn, and phytooestrogens. The botanical that received the most attention was garlic - a supplement revealed to be far more complex than you might imagine. Garlic, it seems, isn't really all that it can be until you crush it or chew it. That's when the clove is chemically transformed to become a helpmate to the cardiovascular system.
The moment a clove of garlic is crushed, a sort of 'blooming' of chemicals occurs. This release of chemicals triggers the active ingredients that are thought to provide healthy benefits such as protection against bacterial and fungal infections, blood clots, and high blood pressure.
But because garlic has such a complex chemical breakdown, more than 170 clinical trials have not produced an agreement on exactly what makes garlic a heart-healthy dietary supplement. It's generally accepted that the most likely active ingredient is a chemical called allicin, but allicin is an unstable chemical that may be ineffective when cooked or processed.
That doesn't mean your daily garlic pills aren't doing everything the manufacturer says they are. They may well be. But the NIH bigwigs want to have a hand in designing future studies to find out exactly what makes garlic and other botanicals effective supplements. That way, when the specific mysteries of garlic, ginkgo biloba, and soy are revealed, NIH will be in the loop and in a perfect position to help determine guidelines for regulation.
Here comes the regulator
And like any bureaucracy worth its salt, the NIH has deep pockets and a long reach. This past July, NIH announced that two of its many branches (The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Office of Dietary Supplements), will establish a research centre in Ames, Iowa, to study two popular botanicals: Echinacea (believed to diminish colds and infections) and St. John's wort (the widely used antidepressant).
This new research centre is supported by a grant from NIH for $6 million over the next 5 years. Their mission: to advance the scientific base of knowledge on the effectiveness, safety and biological action of echinacea and St. John's wort.
I'm willing to bet that this news does not bode well for either echinacea or St. John's wort.
Believe me, I'm all for the further study of botanical and dietary supplements, but I don't hold out a great deal of hope that we'll be getting good reports out of Ames, Iowa, over the next 5 years telling us how St. John's wort is safer and more effective than any antidepressant pharmaceutical on the market, and how echinacea use can help liberate us from the long range dangers of antibiotics.
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