Garlic supplements

Many dietary supplements should be avoided in pregnancy because they may have emmenagogue activity, promoting menstruation. Some herbs that are considered emmenagogues are feverfew, garlic, and hawthorn [4]. St. John s wort should be avoided in pregnancy due to its emmenagogue and abortifacient properties. 

Many dietary supplements have antiplatelet activity, which may increase the risk of bleeding when used concurrently with anticoagulants. Feverfew inhibits cyclooxygenase and phospholipase A2 and may interact with anticoagulants and potentiate the antiplatelet effect of aspirin. Other supplements that possess antiplatelet activity include but are not limited to garlic, ginkgo, vitamin E, vitamin A, and selenium. 

Garlic supplements - powder tablets or capsules, steam-distilled oil, vegetable oil macerate extract, or extract aged in dilute alcohol - are widely available and are taken by millions. Since the active principle, allicin, is not present in garlic bulb, the supplements rely on the presence of precursor alliin and enzyme alliinase. In tests on 24 commercial brands of enteric-coated tablets, all except one gave low dissolution allicin release 83% of the brands released less than 15% of their potential allicin.78,79 Relevant factors were impaired enzyme activity caused by excipients and slow tablet disintegration. Caveat emptor ... 

Fish Oil Supplements (Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid) Garlic Allium sativum) Gentian Genliana luiea) GingCT Zingiber officinale)... 

Piscitelli SC, Burstein AH, Welden N, Gallicano KD, Falloon J. The effect of garlic supplements on the pharmacokinetics of saquinavir. Clin Infect Dis 2002 34 234-238. 

Borek C. Garlic supplements and saquinavir. Clin Infect Dis 2002 35 343. Gilroy CM, Steiner JF, Byers T, Shapiro H, Georgian W. Echinacea and truth in labeling. Arch Intern Med 2003 163 699-704. 

Gallicano K, Choudhri S, Leclaire T, Poster BC. Effect of short-term administration of garlic supplements on single-dose ritonavir pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2003 55 199-202. 

Lam VWF, Ernst E. Garlic, ginkgo and ginseng herb-drug interactions. In Lam YW, Huang S-M, Hall SD, eds. Herbal Supplements— Drug Interactions. Taylor Francis, 2006. 

Gardner C et al Effect of raw garlic vs commercial garlic supplements on plasma lipid concentrations in adults with moderate hypercholesterolemia. Arch Intern Med 2007 167 346. [PMID 17325296]... 

A systematic review of the literature aimed to assess the effectiveness of any type of complementary therapy for intermittent claudication revealed that there is no evidence of effectiveness of acupuncture, biofeedback therapy, chelation therapy, CO(2)-applications and the dietary supplements of Allium sativum (garlic), omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin E (86). 

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