Allium Benefits: Garlic and Onion

 The Allium family includes approximately 500 members. Commonly used allium vegetables include garlic, onion, leeks, chives, and scallions. These vegetables have a wide spectrum of health benefits. They can kill or inhibit a wide range of microbes including fungi and bacteria. They can inhibit harmful blood clotting. They tend to lower blood fats. Allium vegetables have anti-inflammatory activity and have been shown to help prevent arthritis. They can also lower blood sugars. Current research is looking into how these vegetables reduce or inhibit cancer activity in both the test tube and also in living animals. Garlic and onion are particularly potent in this regard.

The anticancer activity of allium vegetables appears to be tied to the presence of allylsulfides, flavonoids and polyphenols. The chief compound in garlic is allicin which then breaks down into many other compounds. Allicin gives garlic its odor. While deodorized products are commercially popular, most of the research focuses on the smelly stuff as being most potent.

The most abundant chemical in onions is the flavonoid quercetin although the food is also a treasure trove of sulfur compouds containing cysteine which boosts the production of glutathione, one of the body's major antioxidants and detoxifiers.

One of the principles of good nutrition is that sulfur compounds make us healthier. Common foods which contain sulfur include not only the allium family, but also cruciferous foods like cabbage and broccoli, ginger, and eggs.

The study referenced below comments, "Studies in experimental animals indicate that the benefits of Allium vegetables are not limited to one species, tissue, or carcinogen. Organosulfur compounds can hinder activation of active carcinogen from precursors, increase its metabolic detoxification, or prevent its reaction with vulnerable target cells....Overall, evidence shows that allium vegetables have strong cancer-preventive activity but there are many horizons that still need to be explored."

I am often asked why I recommend NeoLife Allium Complex for cancer prevention. An article by Boivin concluded the following: "The extracts from cruciferous vegetables as well as those from vegetables of the genus Allium inhibited the proliferation of all tested cancer cell lines whereas extracts from vegetables most commonly consumed in Western countries were much less effective....These results thus indicate that vegetables have very different inhibitory activities towards cancer cells and that the inclusion of cruciferous and Allium vegetables in the diet is essential for effective dietary-based chemopreventive strategies."

Article on allium and cancer.

Link to article by Boivin