Garlic cure-all: Don’t hold your breath
There’s not much doubt that garlic is generally good for you. Plenty of studies sing its praises for treating any number of ailments. Sometimes, however, overzealous scientists can’t help themselves and end up making a perfectly simple conclusion much too complicated. One report on garlic’s benefits in helping to prevent stomach and colorectal cancers did just that.
Researchers conducted a “meta-analysis” of 18 studies. The term “meta-analysis” refers to the process of gathering research papers on one subject and piling them all into a statistical lump to determine if the results of each study show a pattern.
The analysis team found that, according to the sources it examined, garlic does indeed have a protective effect against stomach and colorectal cancers. But in a rare candid streak, the researchers admitted that “publication bias [a tendency to publish only positive results] and other confounding factors may have influenced the positive results of the meta-analysis.” Sort of makes you wonder why they bothered in the first place, doesn’t it?
Read meta-analyses, on garlic, or any other substance, with a full measure of skepticism. Eat garlic because you enjoy it, not because the studies tell you it’s a cure-all.
