Written by Patrick Massey, M.D., Ph.D. Researchers recently found that eating onions or garlic significantly reduced the risk of a first heart attack.
Last week, I gave a community lecture at the Elk Grove Park District. The topic was nature and health. I described how many of the chronic diseases that afflict us today are, to a great extent, the result of our way of life.
Our lifestyles are out of balance with nature and predispose us to chronic disease.
But nature often also holds the key to good health. Recent medical studies have demonstrated that something as natural as onion or garlic can have a profound effect on us.
Preventing heart attacks is one example. Heart attacks are scary, and many older adults have had at least one. Having an initial heart attack greatly increases the risk of a second heart attack and even stroke. Although we have a number of very good medications for preventing a second heart attack, strategies for averting the initial heart attack seemed to be lacking. Nature however has given us some very tasty, heart attack prevention tools – onions and garlic.
In a recent study, published in the European Journal of the Nutrition, the researchers found that eating onions or garlic significantly reduced the risk of having a first heart attack. This study compared the dietary habits of 760 patients who had suffered a heart attack with 682 matched controls who had never had a heart attack. After adjusting for a number of variables, those who ate at least one serving of onions per week had a 22 percent reduced risk of having a heart attack. A single serving of garlic per week reduced the risk of a heart attack by 16 percent. Although how onions and garlic prevent heart attacks is unknown, compounds found in onions and garlic may thin the blood a little and lower the blood pressure slightly.
Personally, I believe that even a small amount of the right food helps to balance the body through a number of mechanisms – like a domino effect. I was surprised, however, that such a small amount of onion or garlic produced such a large cardiovascular benefit without any side effects.
The benefits of onions and garlic do not stop at the heart. In men, regular consumption of onions and garlic reduces the risk of developing a large prostate and possibly prostate cancer. Women also benefit from onions and garlic by lowering the risk of developing endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer.
Nature has provided us with everything we need to be healthy. The foods we eat do more than simply provide protein, carbohydrates and fats. Nature has generously infused them with wonderful compounds that can prevent serious disease. All we have to do is to listen to nature and the chances are good that superior health will follow.
By Patrick Massey, M.D., Ph.D., Daily Herald Columnist, April 20, 2009. Posted April 22, 2009.
