Garlic may help fight arsenic poisoning
January 14th, 2008 by admin
Arsenic is a toxic element that is present in many water streams that supply human populations with drinking water. In some places the amount of arsenic in the water is very high and causes severe toxicologic problems. This is especially problematic in regions of Bangladesh and India, where contaminated water sources affect millions.
A recent study carried out in the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Kolkata by Keya Chaudhuri and colleagues used rats to test the effect of garlic on arsenic poisoning. The rats were given daily doses of arsenic in their water, in quantities similar to those occurring in groundwater in Bangladesh and West Bengal. The groups of rats that were also fed garlic extracts had 40 per cent less arsenic in their blood and liver. They were also fount to excrete 45 per cent more arsenic in their urine. The work was published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology (DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2007.09.108).
About the mechanism by which garlic may be helping, Dr Chaudhuri says that certain compounds that contain sulphur present in garlic could be “scavenging” arsenic from tissues and blood. Based on her findings, she thinks having one to three garlic cloves a day may help people living in risk areas to prevent or reduce the toxic effects of arsenic.
This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 6:32 pm and is filed under General health, Medicine, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
