Garlic and the Prevention of Disease

[RD.]

Over the past decade there has been a number of studies involving garlic and fish food and the anecdotal evidence with regards to feeding fish garlic (Allium Sativum) to rid them of parasites appeared to be quite strong.

Now there is even more evidence to support these earlier findings.

Modern research has attributed garlic's healing powers to hundreds of volatile sulfur compounds including allicin, alliin, cycroalliin, and diallyldisulphide.

It's not just about allicin, which is something that some hobbysists that discuss this topic have apparently failed to understand.

"Contrary to the popular myth that a garlic product must contain allicin to be beneficial, allicin has not been conclusively proven to be responsible for garlic's known health benefits. Most of the garlic or garlic products that have been based to demonstrate garlic health effects do not contain significant amounts of allicin.To date, well over 100 compounds have been identified in garlic preparations.

Though individual compounds, such as S-allyl cysteine, have shown activity in studies and are absorbed by the body, it is likely that a synergism of various compounds provide the benefits of garlic. This is in agreement with Dr. Koch, a renowned Austrian scientist who stated that the activity of various sulfur compounds could not alone be responsible for the benefits of garlic and fixation on a single group of components can lead to mistakes and wrong conclusions."

---- First World Congress on the Health Significance of Garlic and Garlic Constituents, Washington, D.C., Aug. 1990.


While there is still lots to learn on this subject, below is some of what we currently know.





A. M. Shalaby et al. EFFECTS OF GARLIC (Allium sativum) AND CHLORAMPHENICOL ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND SURVIVAL OF NILE TILAPIA (Oreochromis niloticus).

Fish Hatchery and Reproductive Physiology Department, Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research, Abbassa, Abo-Hammad, Sharkia, Egypt

J. Venom. Anim. Toxins incl. Trop. Dis., 2006, 12, 2, p.196


In this particular study the inclusion of garlic at a rate of 3% has shown to increase the overall digestibilty of protein, carbohydrates, and fat (ie; better growth), as well as to lower the total bacteria count within the intestine, muscles, and water column.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1678-91992006000200003&lng=en&nrm=iso


While the document linked to above is a very long read, in the end the authors state:

"Finally, from the obtained results it could be recommended that garlic (Allium Sativum) may be used as a growth promoter and antibiotic for the treatment or prevention of diseases and for enhancing fish tolerance to environmental stress (62); therefore garlic powder should be added to the diet of freshwater fish."

And another recent study ..........


Effect of Allium sativum on the immunity and survival of Labeo rohita infected with Aeromonas hydrophila
S. Sahu, B. K. Das, B. K. Mishra, J. Pradhan and N. Sarangi

Aquatic Animal Health Division, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar, India

Journal of Applied Ichthyology, Volume 23 Issue 1, Pages 80 - 86

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0426.2006.00785.x/abstract

Summary


The aim of this study was to evaluate dietary dosages of garlic on the immune response and disease resistance against infections due to the opportunistic pathogen Aeromonas hydrophila in Labeo rohita fingerlings. Garlic, Allium sativum, was incorporated into the diets (0%, 0.1%, 0.5% and 1.0%) of rohu, L. rohita fingerlings (10 ± 2 g). Every 20 days, different biochemical (serum total protein, albumin, globulin, albumin : globulin ratio, blood glucose), haematological (WBC, RBC and haemoglobin content) and immunological (superoxide anion production, lysozyme activity and serum bactericidal activity) parameters were evaluated. Superoxide anion production, lysozyme, serum bactericidal, serum protein and albumin were enhanced in garlic treated groups compared with the control group. After 60 days, fish were challenged with A. hydrophila and mortality (%) was recorded up to day 10 post-challenge. Survival decreased in control group (57%) up to day 10 after infection. However, this was increased in the garlic treatment group, i.e. 85% survivability in the 1 g garlic kg−1 (B group) and 5 g garlic kg−1 (C group), and 71% survivability in the 10 g garlic kg−1 (D group), respectively. These results indicate that Allium sativum stimulates the immunity and makes L. rohita more resistant to infection by A. hydrophila.

.... and another


EFFECT OF GARLIC ON THE SURVIVAL, GROWTH, RESISTANCE AND QUALITY OF OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS
Salah Mesalhy Aly, Nashwa Mahmoud Abdel Atti* and Mohamed Fathi Mohamed

The WorldFish Center, Research Center for Africa & West Asia, Abbassa, Sharkia, Egypt.Dept of Food Hygiene, Animal Health Research Institute, Ismailia Laboratory, Egypt.


http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/ista/ISTA8/FinalPapers/Growth pdf/22 salah Meselhy.pdf





There has also been some recent research utilizing garlic to inhibit spironucleus.

http://www.omicsonline.org/2155-9546/2155-9546-S2-002.pdf

"Allium sativum (garlic)-derived compounds have proven highly effective at inhibiting parasite growth in vitro, showing great potential as a novel alternative therapy in the treatment of Spironucleosis."

This is huge news for anyone that keeps cichlids, including both Discus & Angel fish as spironucleus vortens has been identified as being the leading cause of intestinal problems in both these species, and most other species of cichlids, including being the ultimate cause of "bloat" in many cichlid species. 　

Abstract

Diplomonads are aerotolerant anaerobic, binucleate flagellates, which are commonly found in the intestinal tract of wild and farmed fish. Of the diplomonad genera, Spironucleus, composed of opportunistic pathogens, poses the greatest threat to aquaculture. Immunocompromised hosts or fish without acquired immunity are thought to be more susceptible to parasitism by these otherwise commensal agents. Accumulation of flagellates along the intestinal tract often leads to systemic Spironucleosis causing high mortality of both ornamental and food fish in aquaculture. The life cycle of these piscine diplomonads is direct, consisting of a motile, parasitic trophozoite and a resilient encysted stage, which facilitates water-borne transmission. Confusion in the nomenclature, as well as numerous reassignments of taxa, hampers our understanding of host range and geographical distribution of fish diplomonads. Accurate identification requires transmission electron microscopy to characterise intricate ultrastructural features. Additionally, sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene allows identification of cryptic Spironucleus spp.



In vitro culture provides a convenient source of flagellates for biochemical and physiological research, allowing the identification of novel parasite-specific molecular pathways such as H2 production within Spironucleus sp. This provides insight into the pathogenicity of these organisms and offers potential new targets for chemotherapy. Restrictions on the administration of the current drug of choice, metronidazole, in aquacultural settings, as well as reported cases of drug resistance, means that control of Spironucleosis is especially difficult. Allium sativum (garlic)-derived compounds have proven highly effective at inhibiting parasite growth in vitro, showing great potential as a novel alternative therapy in the treatment of Spironucleosis. Further characterisation of the biochemistry, pathogenicity and taxonomy of fish diplomonads is required in order to fully appreciate the true impact and economic consequences of Spironucleus spp. in aquaculture. "

In Norway, the Austevoll Aquaculture Research Station has studied the use of garlic as a natural biocide against sea lice, with positive results, and In Israel, researchers from the Ben Gurion University aquaculture dept. are also experimenting with garlic for its anti-bacterial properties.



With regards to the concerns that have been brought up in the past regarding negative health issues from garlic .......


The only true scientific study that I'm aware of where a negative conclusion was reached when feeding garlic (a purified form of allicin) to marine fish, was due to terrestrial based lipids being bad for a fish, which is true, if used in excess. A potential problem if one uses fresh garlic or garlic oil over an extended period of time, a total non issue if one uses a commercial feed where garlic powder is being used. The inclusion rate of lipids via the addition of adding garlic to most commercial feeds (@ 1-5%) wouldn't even register on the overall lipid percentage of the food.

With regards to commercial foods, the "lipid" content derived from the garlic used in most formulas (garlic powder), would be almost nonexistent. Something along the lines of 0.0001%

To think that this will somehow have a negative effect on the health of a fish, be it short term, or long term, due to the lipid content, is quite frankly, ridiculous.

Using this same type of logic one could make the same accusations about Vitamin A, due to the fact that at high enough levels it too can become toxic to fish.

Garlic has been used for centuries for its anthelmintic properties, and contains bioactive compounds that thus far have clearly been proven to have a probiotic effect on fish.

 

[anarekist]

wow thank you for that informative post.

 

[Calihawk]

RD., next time I have a term paper due, you're writing it for me, LOL

 

[RD.]

Glad to see that at least a couple of members here found this to be an interesting read.

 

[clekchau]

great read. do you recommend garlic as a staple food or occasional supplement if so how, soaked or in a pellet like thera a?

 

[arowanas lover]

great read. do you recommend garlic as a staple food or occasional supplement if so how, soaked or in a pellet like thera a?

most people put some in their beefheart mix

 

[fattubwhale]

most people put some in their beefheart mix

I use it in my BH mix!

 

[Gar88]

Homemade Fish Food
Posted on September 9, 2010
After learning about the idea of do-it-yourself fish food from a fellow hobbyist, I decided to try my hand at it. There’s lots of reading available on the Web on this subject, so I won’t try to replace that material, but instead this post will chronicle my experiences and recipe improvements as they are made.

The major benefit of homemade fish food is the cost. If you get to the point where feeding your fish is causing you to have to purchase a small fortune in food each month, consider creating your own. The drawback lies in the food’s effect on water clarity. Homemade food is not as refined as what you will buy in a store (not necessarily a bad thing!), so smaller particles will break off and cloud the water. The more colourful your ingredients, the more noticeable this will be. Anyway, here goes nothing!

A quick Google search for “European Shrimp Mix“, the de facto standard for homemade fish food , resulted in the recipe that follows:

2 lbs. whole shrimp (cheap = good!)
2 lbs. frozen green peas
2 tsp. spirulina powder
100 g powdered gelatin
10 drops freshwater multi-vitamin concentrate
TRIAL 1

Having read through some others’ notes on making food, I raided the freezer in hopes of finding some ingredients. Having bought some other ingredients at the store, I blew the dust of the ol’ food processor and put together the following:

2 fillets frozen fish, thawed
handful frozen shrimp, thawed
1 cup frozen peas, boiled slightly
2 large beets, boiled slightly
2 cloves of garlic
packet of powdered gelatin
The ingredients were pulverized into a lovely purple slop and then scooped into three medium freezer bags, filled about 1/4 full, air removed and sealed, laid on a flat surface and allowed to cool/set slightly. The finished food was put in the freezer, which resulted in a nice slab of frozen food that is easily broken into the desired size.

Source: http://gregthecrazyfishguy.wordpress.com/ (at the end of the page you will see the recipe)

 

[RD.]

do you recommend garlic as a staple food or occasional supplement if so how, soaked or in a pellet like thera a?

The pellets I feed as my staple contain garlic, but I don't use the TherA formula as a regular staple. All of the other formulas contain an ample amount of garlic for most applications.

And yes, one can also use fresh or powdered garlic in home made mixes, although from what I can gather the lipids in garlic can cause health issues in certain marine species so best not to use fresh garlic, or garlic oil in those types of feeds.


BTW - fresh or frozen peas are a piss poor source of 'greens' for fish, and I would never recommend using them in any type of feed. They are full of antinutritional matter, such as tannins, protease inhibitors, and phytic acid. The only way to reduce those substances is to heat/cook the peas first. Also, the anti-nutritional factors found in peas can vary greatly from crop to crop & season to season. Something as simple as dry weather, or a cold spell, can push tannin levels up drastically. Overall raw uncooked peas are not nearly as healthy for a fish as many people believe.

I guess that the guys in Sweden didn't know that when they came up with the Euro shrimp mix 20+ yrs ago.

 

[uncle mike]

Thank you for the excellent article on garlic. I do remember reading many years ago that the famous Discus breeder Jack Wattley was a strong advocate of using garlic to prevent internal parasites.
Sincerely,
uncle mike