Garlic oil reported to help protect against diabetic heart disease

A new study by scientists in Taiwan has revealed that the antioxidant properties of garlic oil can help prevent diabetic heart dysfunction . Cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease prevalent in people suffering from diabetes, is a leading cause of death for diabetics, but it appears it can be helped by garlic oil acting to control blood sugar levels .
The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, was conducted on diabetic laboratory rats, which were fed either garlic oil or corn oil, and then monitored to see which was better able to prevention cardiomyopathy. It was found that the rats that took the garlic oil experienced beneficial changes associated with protection against heart damage.
The diet of garlic oil was able to reduce cardiovascular complications, which the rats that had consumed the corn oil didn’t experience. In addition, the garlic oil was also showed to reverse the effects of diabetes on cardiac output and the heart’s pumping capacity in a dose-dependent manner.
Wei-Wen Kuo, lead author of the study, said “Our results show that garlic oil supplementation for diabetic rats leads to several alterations at multiple levels in hearts including cardiac contractile functions and structures, myosin chain gene expressions, oxidative stress, and apoptosis and related signaling activities.”
When the garlic oil was examined, it was found to contain nearly 20 separate substances that could contribute to the protective effect provided by garlic oil.