Studies have suggested that aged garlic extract and its active compounds may protect the liver from the toxicity of carbon tetrachloride. In addition, aged garlic extract may increase the glutathione level and glutathione related enzymes which aid in detoxifying the body.
Research has also suggested that aged garlic extract may help to protect the body from heavy metal poisoning. When aged garlic extract was combined with red blood cells it prevented lead, mercury and aluminum from destroying them. When no aged garlic extract was added to the blood samples, these heavy metals ruptured the red blood cells. Garlic is the only antibiotic that can actually kill infecting bacteria and at the same time protect the body from the poisons that are causing the infection. It is known that the most sensitive bacterium to garlic is the deadly Bacillus anthracis which produces the poison anthrax. Even the forefather of antibiotic medicine Louis Pasteur acknowledged garlic to be as effective in killing harmful bacteria as penicillin is today and late studies show similar activity to a more modern antibiotic, chloramphenicol. Even the blood of garlic eaters can kill bacteria and it is also reported that the vapour from freshly cut garlic can kill bacteria at a distance of 20 cms!!



Another once common, and apparently returning disease, tuberculosis was treated with garlic very successfully as the invading organism. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is sensitive to several of the sulphur components found in garlic. Other studies have suggested that aged garlic extract may protect liver microsomal membranes from chemical and physical damage induced by lipid peroxidation and may protect vascular endothelial cells from oxidant injury upon exposure to hydrogen peroxide, a potent oxidant. The endothelial cells lining the vascular system are especially sensitive to attack by free radicals and such attack may contribute to the development and/or progression of cardiovascular diseases.