Cart 0
BEAR GARLIC
Barlauch, or wild garlic or Allium ursinum in Latin, is a plant belonging to the Alliaceae family, derived from the word “ursus”, meaning “bear”. According to folk belief, bears consume this plant after waking up from hibernation in order to eliminate the toxins accumulated in their bodies and regain their former strength (1). Used in traditional folk medicine for centuries, this plant has proven medicinal properties. Since Barlauch has the capacity to bind heavy metals and many toxins, it should be specially grown in environments free from pollutants, insecticides and pesticides for medicinal use (2, 3).
Barlauch Ingredients
Barlauch is a plant that is very rich in sulfur groups. Sulfur gives this plant its distinctive garlic-like odor. Sulfur groups are the most important components of Barlauch both in terms of chemotaxonomic classification and pharmacological activities. The human body needs sulfur for the production of enzymes involved in many physiological functions. Barlauch also shows antimicrobial activity thanks to the sulfur groups (allicin) it contains (4). It is known that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of Barlauch is also due to its sulfur content (5).
Polyphenols in Barlauch, which are not bound to sulfur, have been proven to have antioxidant effects. It has been shown in studies that antioxidant effect is by retaining SORs, inhibiting enzymes required for superoxide anion production, binding and inactivating metals that cause free radical formation, reducing alkoxyl and peroxyl radicals and preventing peroxidation.
It has been determined that flavonoids in Barlauch also show antihypertensive, antioxidant, etc. activity and positively affect health (7).
Steroidal glycosides, also known as saponins, which are Barlauch components, are essential components for cardiovascular system health. They also show cytostatic activity (8, 9).
Barlauch is also a rich source of micronutrients with palmitic acid, linoleic acid, stearic acid, various amino acids, vitamin C and essential oils (1).
Are There Side Effects of Barlauch?
Barlauch (Allium ursinum) is generally considered safe. Due to the sulfur groups it contains, non-serious allergic reactions may rarely occur in those allergic to sulfur. A toxicity of Barlauch, which is used for medicinal purposes and grown in a special way, has not been published, and in case reports published as Allium ursinum toxicity, cases of aluminum-induced toxicity of the wild-growing and aluminum-bound plant have been reported (10). Again, cases of false toxicity due to ingestion of these poisonous plants due to the external resemblance of this plant to other poisonous plants have also been reported (11).
Use in Special Populations and Cautions
Use in Pregnancy and Lactation: There is insufficient data on its use in pregnancy and lactation (12).
Use in Special Populations: May cause allergic reaction in patients with sulfur allergy. It should be used with caution in people taking anticoagulants. It may decrease the effectiveness of anti-AIDS drugs such as saquinavir (12).
Barlauch in Heavy Metal Chelation
Barlauch oxidizes mercury, cadmium and lead in different tissues with the sulfur tripeptide glutathione and makes them water soluble; binds them. The heavy metal and sulfur complexes formed cannot re-enter the cell and their accumulation in tissues is prevented (13). Thus, heavy metals are excreted through urine via the kidneys (14). Barlauch also acts as a sulfur store in the body. Activated sulfuric acid forms an enzymatic bond with heavy metals, especially arsenic, and is excreted by preventing their reentry into the cell (15). Flavonoids in Barlauch have also been shown to bind heavy metals (5). Flavonoids have been proven to bind especially iron and copper (16).
With all these features, Barlauch has been accepted as a constant preparation in chelation therapy. It retains heavy metals mobilized from inside the cell, prevents their re-entry into the cell and storage in the tissue, and ensures their excretion. Barlauch treatment is started simultaneously with Chlorella treatment or at the latest 2 weeks later. While circulating and mobilized heavy metals are excreted with Chlorella and a slow outflow of heavy metals from inside the cell is provided with Chlorella, these mobilized heavy metals should be retained with Barlauch to prevent their re-entry into the cell and accumulation in the tissues.
Chlorella and Barlauch treatment are actually precursor agents that prepare the body for true chelation. They cleanse the environment of circulating heavy metals and provide the preconditions for the most powerful cleansing, the cleansing of the inside of the cell.
Only with the addition of Koriander to the Chlorella and Barlauch treatment, which allows heavy metals to exit the cell, does chelation begin in all its stages.
The purpose of Barlauch’s involvement in the detoxification process is to prevent the re-entry of heavy metals that are already mobilized in the circulation by Chlorella, as well as those that have been removed from the connective tissue and partly from the cell, to retain them and allow Chlorella to remove them. If more heavy metals are removed from the connective tissue than the amount of chelator that can chelate, the heavy metals will again accumulate in the body in a different distribution direction, this time favoring the brain.
Chelation therapy is a long-term treatment. Depending on the degree of heavy metal loading, it can last for months, doses can be adapted and increased according to the recommendation of the complementary medicine specialist, and it is combined with neural therapy to regulate the connective tissue and the vegetative nervous system (VNS).
REFERENCES
1. Sobolewska D, Podolak I, Makowska-Wąs J. Allium ursinum: botanical, phytochemical and pharmacological overview. Phytochem Rev. 2013;14(1):81-97.
2. Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety [Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und LebensmiƩ elsicherheit (BVL)]. BVL Report 8.8. List of Substances of the Competent Federal Government and Federal State Authorities Category “Plants and plant parts”. Berlin: Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und LebensmiƩ elsicherheit (BVL); 2014. 1-154.
3. European Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/62 of 17 January 2018 replacing Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance). Brussel: 41st European Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety; 2018. pp90
4. Bachrach G, Jamil A, Naor R, Tal G, Ludmer Z, Steinberg D. Garlic Allicin as a Potential Agent for Controlling Oral Pathogens. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2011; 14(11), 1338-1343.
5. Kalayarasan S, Prabhu PN, Sriram N, Manikandan R, Arumugam M, Sudhandiran G. Diallyl sulfi de enhances antioxidants and inhibits inflammation through the activation of Nrf2 against gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats. Eur J Pharmacol. 2009 Mar 15; 606(1-3):162-71.
6. Marianna Lenková, Judita Bystrıcká, Tomáš Tóth, Miroslava Hrstková. Evaluation and comparison of the content of total polyphenols and antioxidant activity of selected species of the genus Allium. Journal of Central European Agriculture, 2016; 17(4):1119-1133.
7. Mariann Bombicz, Daniel Priksz, Balazs Varga, Andrea Kurucz, Aƫ la Kertész, Akos Takacs, Aniko Posa, Rita Kiss, Zoltan Szilvassy, Bela Juhasz. A Novel Therapeutic Approach in the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Allium ursinum Liophylisate Alleviates Symptoms Comparably to Sildenafi l. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017; 18(7): E1436.
8. Matsuura, H. (2001). Saponins in Garlic as Modifiers of the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease. The Journal of Nutrition, 131(3), 1000S-1005S.
9. Sobolewska D, Janeczko Z, Kisiel W, Podolak I, Galanty A, Trojanowska D. Steroidal glycosides from the underground parts of Allium ursinum L. and their cytostatic and antimicrobial activity. Acta Pol Pharm. 2006 May-Jun;63(3):219-23.
10. Maud E. Andersson; Aluminum Toxicity as a Factor Limiting the Distribution of Allium ursinum (L.), Annals of Botany. December 1993; 72 (6):607-611.
11. Davanzo F. Plant Poisoning: Increasing Relevance, a Problem of Public Health and Education. North-western Italy, Piedmont region. J. Pharm. Sci. & Res.2011; 3(7): 1338-1343.
12. Borrelli F, Capasso R, Izzo A. Garlic (Allium sativumL.): Adverse effects and drug interactions in humans. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 2007; 51(11): 1386-1397.
13. Priecina, L, Karlina, D. Total Polyphenol, Flavonoid Content and Antiradical Activity of Celery, Dill, Parsley, Onion and Garlic Dried in Conventive and Microwave-Vacuum Dryer. Poster presented at 2nd International Conference on Nutrition and Food Sciences, 2013; 53: 107-112.
14. Yadav U, Mishra M. Heavy metal toxicity and neuro-degeneration. Novus International Journal of Biotechnology & Bioscience. 2013; 2(2): 18-51.
15. Das B, Mandal S, Chaudhuri K. Role of arginine, a component of aqueous garlic extract, in remediation of sodium arsenite induced toxicity in A375 cells. Toxicology Research. 2014; 3(3): 191-196.
16. Antal DS. Medicinal plants with antioxidant properties from Banat region (Romania): a rich pool for the discovery of multitarget phytochemicals active in free-radical related disorders. Analele Universității din Oradea, Fascicula Biologie. 2010; 17 (1): 14-22. ref.119