Thursday, January 7, 2016

Onion, Garlic, Ginger as Health Remedies - UNPROVEN


I will be adding to this post.


A number of anecdotal natural remedies abound on the Internet. Here is what the most current research and information actually says!


human "liver injury..garlic supplementation" 2017
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/jcpt.12558/abstract
"Limited data ... metabolism and safety of garlic supplements ... first description ... liver injury ... garlic supplementation"
Related
rat study 2006
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16910057"

Information ... effect of garlic on the liver and optimal dose of garlic to avoid liver damage is not known"

"Effects of Onion Juice on the Normal Flora of Eyelids and Conjunctiva in an Animal Model", 2014, color and bolding added by me

"it appears that onion juice in the form of eye drops can serve as a new antimicrobial therapy for ophthalmic diseases in future studies and our study may be a starting point for further investigations on this herb." = UNPROVEN

"Comparative in vitro anti H2O2 activity and antibacterial efficacy of garlic and immature onion bulbs against selected human gammaproteobacterial pathogens", 2015, color and bolding added by me
"It is concluded that Garlic and Onion act as an antagonist to the gammaproteobacterial pathogens studied here and if experimented on the synergistic action of both these bulbs active compounds, it might provide good results in future. The methanolic extracts showed better results because polyphenols groups are extracted with polar solvent like methanol and purity of extract is also maintained. Further investigation of individual phenolic compounds and in vivo antioxidant mechanisms are required. " = UNPROVEN

"Garlic: a review of potential therapeutic effects", 2014, color and bolding added by me
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103721/

"In comparison with the antibacterial action of garlic, very little work has been done to investigate its antiviral properties. The few studies have reported that garlic extract showed in vitro activity against influenza ... There are insufficient clinical trials regarding the effects of garlic in preventing or treating the common cold. ... Although garlic is believed to be a safe substance, long-term trials of reasonable duration would provide insights into the possible side-effects of different garlic extracts. The safety of garlic should be tested especially in pregnant or breastfeeding women as well as in young children ... Long-term and large trials are also needed to evaluate the differences in mortality, serious adverse events, and morbidity of cancer and cardiovascular diseases after garlic therapy." = UNPROVEN and Note: in vitro - NOT in people! 

"Garlic Revisited: Antimicrobial Activity of Allicin-Containing Garlic Extracts against Burkholderia cepacia Complex", 2014, color and bolding added by me
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0112726
"Our investigation suggests that further work is required to comprehensively describe the antimicrobial mechanisms of allicin and to assess allicin-containing formulations as adjuncts to conventional antimicrobial agents presently used against this challenging group of bacterial pathogens." = UNPROVEN


"Antimicrobial Activity of Onion and Ginger against two Food Borne Pathogens Escherichia Coli and Staphylococcus Aureus". 2015, color and bolding added by me
"Recent research conducted on the antimicrobial effect of ginger and onion showed weak to medium antibacterial properties ... Onion showed good antimicrobial properties against S.aureus ... but was not all that effective against E.coli. Ginger showed very poor antimicrobial properties against either of the organisms. ...  important to note that the experiment was affected by various factors which include concentration of spice extracts, volume of agar, and concentration of culture and incubation times. Future studies should be conducted in a more controlled environment were these factors are constant. Also future research should observe if the phytochemicals present in spices showed synergetic or antagonistic properties against each other." = UNPROVEN

"Phytochemical Screening and Invitro Antibacterial Activity of Allium Cepa Extracts Against Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Species", 2015, color and bolding added by me
"traditional use of onion for infectious diseases and for controlling MRS species infection appears to be justified" = UNPROVEN