Garlic is a staple in cooking. It's so familiar that you often forget about its long heritage in folk medicine. From the village healer to the vampire hunter, garlic has made its way through myth and legend and is finally being tested by modern medicine. One of the many claims about garlic's health properties is that it cleanses the liver. While the term "cleanse" is somewhat ambiguous, garlic's well-known effects on the body do present some promise--and risk--in regard to the liver.
Liver Function and Pathology
Understanding liver function is important to see the potential links between garlic and supported liver health. The liver is the largest internal organ in your body, and it boasts an impressive list of vital functions. It's responsible for filtering toxins out of your blood, production of blood proteins and the digestion and production of fats. The liver regulates your body's supply of glucose and stores extra as glycogen. When the liver becomes diseased, its functions diminish, impacting nearly every other system in the body.
Cardiovascular Benefits
Garlic has been used by Mediterranean and Asiatic cultures for thousands of years for health enhancement, particularly as a boost to vitality and endurance. This could be related to garlic's more recently discovered benefits to the cardiovascular system. It reduces levels of cholesterol and serum triglycerides, two types of fat produced by the liver and sent into your bloodstream. Because high fat levels can aid the progression of fatty liver disease, the reduction of these serum levels may help your body regulate liver fat.
Cancer
Garlic is often cited as a cancer-fighting agent. Preliminary clinical research has indicated promising potential for its use in preventing certain cancers, but more specific trials with human subjects will be needed to determine its exact effectiveness. The Mayo Clinic reports that garlic has shown particular potential against gastric and colorectal cancers, but notes that some of the contributing research has not been specific to garlic and yielded unclear results.
Platelets
The Mayo Clinic also notes a potential use for garlic as an anti-coagulation therapy. Many patients with chronic liver disease and liver failure experience very low blood platelet levels, a condition called thrombocytopenia. While this problem can stem from the liver itself, which produces a hormone called thrombopoietin that regulates platelet production, it can also come from various other secondary problems in the body. Whatever the cause, however, the possible anti-platelet effects of high garlic consumption could be harmful to a person already suffering from thrombocytopenia.
Warning
Similar to the potential for garlic to compound the problems of thrombocytopenia, the consumption of large amounts of garlic, or of concentrated garlic substances, may have unforeseen complications. Always speak with your doctor regarding changes in dietary supplementation, particularly if you are taking regular medications. Thankfully, however, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports that garlic has minimal and mild side-effects, limited mainly to bad breath.
