From the earliest times garlic has been used as an article of diet. It formed part of the food of the Israelites in Egypt (Numb. xi. 5) and of the labourers employed by Cheops in the construction of his pyramid. Garlic is still grown in Egypt, where, however, the Syriafl is the kind most desired.
Garlic was largely consumed by the ancient Greek and Roman soldiers, sailors and rural classes, and, as Pliny tells us by the African peasantry. Galen eulogizes it as the "rustic's theriac" (cure-all), and Alexander Neckam, a writer of the 12th century (see Wright's edition of his works, p. 473, 1863), recommends it as a palliative of the heat of the sun in field labor.

Does garlic prevent cancer?
A host of studies provide compelling evidence that garlic and its organic allyl sulfur components are effective inhibitors of the cancer process. These studies reveal that the benefits of garlic are not limited to a specific species, to a particular tissue, or to a specific carcinogen. Of 37 observational studies in humans using garlic and related allyl sulfur components, 28 studies showed some cancer preventive effect. The evidence is particularly strong for a link between garlic and prevention of prostate and stomach cancers.

Other Research

• Cholesterol - Thirty-seven randomized trials, all but one in adults, consistently showed that compared with placebo, various garlic preparations led to statistically significant reductions in total cholesterol at 1 month and 3 months. Eight placebo-controlled trials reported total cholesterol outcomes at 6 months; pooled analyses showed no significant reductions of total cholesterol with garlic compared with placebo. Statistically significant reductions in low-density lipoprotein levels (LDL) and in triglycerides also were found in pooled analyses at 3 months.
• Certain Cancers - Scant data, primarily from case-control studies, suggest, dietary garlic consumption is associated with decreased odds of laryngeal, gastric, colorectal, and endometrial cancer and adenomatous colorectal polyps.
• Blood Platelet Flow - Ten small, randomized trials, all but one in adults and of short duration, showed promising effects of various garlic preparations on platelet aggregation and mixed effects on plasma viscosity and fibrinolytic activity.
• Atherosclerotic Symtoms - Two double-blind trials in participants with atherosclerotic lower extremity disease evaluated whether garlic increased pain-free walking distance at 12 to 16 weeks compared with placebo. In one trial, 64 of 80 (80 percent) participants completed followup. Pain-free walking increased by approximately 40 meters with standardized dehydrated garlic compared with approximately 30 meters with placebo. In the other trial, with 100 participants, the maximum walking distance increased significantly (114 percent) among persons randomized to a combination treatment of garlic oil macerate/soya lecithin/hawthorn oil/wheat germ oil compared with those randomized to placebo (17 percent) (p < 0.05).