Though garlic is touted for heart health, new research suggests that garlic supplements have no effect on several heart disease risk factors.

In a study of 90 overweight smokers, European researchers found that those who took a garlic powder supplement for three months showed no changes in their cholesterol levels or several other markers of heart disease risk.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adds to the conflicting evidence on garlic and heart health. A number of studies have found that garlic supplements may help lower blood cholesterol, and possibly blood pressure, but other studies have failed to find such benefits.

In the new study, researchers looked at whether a garlic supplement could affect heart risk factors other than the usual suspects of high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Along with blood cholesterol, they measured participants' levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and other blood proteins that indicate the degree of inflammation in the arteries.

After three months, men and women who were assigned to take the garlic supplement showed no changes in either these measures or their cholesterol levels. In contrast, those given the cholesterol drug atorvastatin (Lipitor) showed a drop not only in cholesterol, but also in levels of CRP and another inflammation marker called TNF-alpha.

(China Daily January 8, 2007)