But later, after brushing and breath mints. That's when people prefer to discuss the good and bad of garlic. And the rumors run rampant.
People claim garlic helps cure everything from cancer to baldness.
Still others say garlic may help lengthen the time it takes blood to clot and may even help dissolve clots. Actual beneficial effects of garlic still remain controversial. Our first stop is the University of Wisconsin, where researchers tested whether garlic might truly protect against clotting in coronary arteries by surgically narrowing the arteries of dogs to guarantee subsequent clotting. The dogs were then given garlic extract by vein, and their arteries remained amazingly clot-free versus those that weren't given the extract. But interestingly, the dogs given garlic extract fought off platelet aggregation, a leading cause of heart attacks.