Calling all herbalist – Garlic: Can garlic kill good probiotics in the gut because of its antiviral effects?
Actually no. Studies are showing that garlic does not kill natural (beneficial) human gut flora. The current theory on the subject is that garlic has been a part of human diets so far back into our evolution that our healthy gut flora has also evolved resistance to garlic, even at therapeutic doses (and even in the form of concentrated extracts.) What’s incredibly cool about this is that garlic (and in particular the component allicin) is effective against “bad” or pathogenic bacteria that have developed multiple resistance to pharmaceuticals – MRSA, Pseudomones aruginosa, etc. Now… will garlic kill the bacteria in PROBIOTICS? If they’re not natural human strains, yep it very likely will. Since many probiotics on the market are not predominantly composed of natural human strains, it’s advisable to take your garlic about 1/2 hour away from your probiotic. FYI – To optimize retention of the probiotics, it’s also for the best to take your probiotics about 30 min away from meals. You CAN
