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The Health of It All...
Garlic in Lowering Cholesterol
It has long been thought that garlic helps lower cholesterol, and while it does, it's not as effective as some research has indicated. Most of the research that has been done to prove that garlic lowers cholesterol was either too small or not well enough designed to draw conclusions.
In an analysis that looked at all of the smaller studies combined, it appears that there is a reduction in cholesterol when compared to placebo. This is at best a modest lowering of cholesterol—on the order of 5%, not the 10 to 20% as was once thought. This analysis did, however, only take into account the use of garlic pills and not fresh garlic.
Part of the problem in studying garlic is that researchers can't agree on what form of garlic to use. Also, it's important in research to have the test subjects "blinded" to whether they are getting medication or placebo. This is difficult to do with fresh garlic and many preparations have issues of a garlic smell or taste making it difficult to keep the identity of study medication secret.
Clearly, garlic is not bad for you. It tastes great, is an fundamental ingredient in every kitchen, is low in calories (13 for 3 cloves), has essentially no fat or salt, no cholesterol, is pretty high in vitamin C and lowers cholesterol at least a little.
The only conclusion can be to eat more garlic.
