Garlic may not the best aroma, but you'd probably take bad breath over osteoarthritis.
Researchers are finding that the food could help protect against osteoarthritis in the hip. In a study conducted by scientists from King's College London and the University of East Anglia, women with a diet high in allium vegetables, such as garlic, onions, and leeks, displayed lower levels of osteoarthritis in the hip.
In conducting the study, which was published in the BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders journal, researchers looked at 1,000 female twins who did not display signs of arthritis. According to ScienceDaily, "The team carried out a detailed assessment of the diet patterns of the twins and analysed these alongside x-ray images, which captured the extent of early osteoarthritis in the participants' hips, knees and spine."
The report from ScienceDaily further explained:
To investigate the potential protective effect of alliums further, researchers studied the compounds found in garlic. They found that that a compound called diallyl disulphide limits the amount of cartilage-damaging enzymes when introduced to a human cartilage cell-line in the laboratory.
Dr. Frances Williams from the King's College London and lead author of the study, told ScienceDaily:
