The suggestion that garlic has protective effects against heart disease has been challenged by a study in England that found that a powdered form of the clove was no better than a dummy pill in lowering cholesterol and fats in the blood. Earlier studies had suggested several benefits of “the stinking bulb” in protecting against heart disease and heart attacks. One is to reduce the level of cholesterol and other lipids, or fats, in the blood. A second is to block the action of platelets, the tiny fragments that help blood clot. A third is to enhance the activity of antioxidants.

But studies suggesting the lipid-lowering benefits have been criticized for flaws in the way they were carried out, and experts have called for better controlled studies to clearly delineate garlic’s cardiovascular benefits.

So a team of nine scientists in England did what they described as a rigorous two-part study.No statistically significant differences were found between two groups participants in terms of the level of lipids in their blood, the team headed by Dr. H.A.W. Neil of the University of Oxford reported earlier this year in The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of London.