Garlic

[Melody]

As if fish didn't already smell bad enough...

The Use of Garlic in the Aquarium

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"Garlic exerts broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against many species of bacteria, virus, worms and fungi. It also displays some immune-enhancing effects." ~ The Pill Book Guide to Natural Medicines, Michael Murray, ND.

The use of garlic in the hobby is a relatively new concept, reportedly begun in or around 1998/99. It was first used to treat and prevent parasites, including Ich and internal parasites.

I suppose its because I'm not into marine fish, but I hadn't heard of garlic in fish food before I tried it myself. I didn't do it first, I just wasn't aware that it had been done. I was, and am, always after ways to boost fish immunity. Commercial Livebearers inspired that mission, being known for their susceptibility to anything and everything in the line of disease or parasites. Blame it on inbreeding or a lack of rearing/breeding practices in general, but the fact remains that fish who were once so tough they were recommended as 'cycle fish', are now hobby weaklings.

It was their weakness that got me into the kitchen (no small feat in itself) and experimenting in my 'cauldron'. I had studied natural remedies/health-enhancers before in regards to humans, so I had a decent knowledge base to start with. Garlic is well known for its wealth of benefits to humans, from heart disease & cancer prevention to immunity boosting properties. It was, of course, the latter that I used it for.

I am no scientist and my experiments are on a miniscule scale compared to anything resembling a scientific study. However, I did see improvements in my fish when I started feeding homemade foods containing garlic. I was encouraged by this and now use all sorts of herbs in my foods, but I haven't studied them long enough to draw any reliable conclusions.

In regards to parasites, I do think fresh garlic has the ability to repell them and perhaps even kill the internal variety. I also believe that it has improved disease resistance and overall health.

I have not seen the same results with feeding commercial food containing garlic and assumed (big word) that it was due to low concentrations in commercial foods. I wouldn't say that it had no effect at all because I am not in a position to declare that, it just didn't seem to have the same profound effect of using garlic in my own preparations or soaking freeze-dried foods in a garlic oil solution.

I was reading 'The Pill Book Guide to Natural Medicines' the other day and happened upon this little tidbit of information that may shed some light on that.

"The pungent odor of garlic is caused mainly by allicin, which is formed when the enzyme alliinase reacts witht he compound alliin. The essential oil of garlic yields approximately 60% of its weight in allicin after exposure to allinase. Because the enzyme is inactived by heat, cooked garlic produces less odor than raw garlic and is not nearly as powerful in its medicinal effects."

As my recent research into how manufacturing processes effect the nutrional content of food indicates, heat is how most fish food manufacturers produce their dry products. Not only is the garlic added in powder form, it is again processed in the preparation of the food it is being used in. Again, its not a scientific conclusion by any stretch of the imagination, but it is logical to conclude that the garlic in foods manufactured using heat is largely ineffective as a natural remedy. It may, however, be enough to act as a preventative and appetite enhancer/attractant.

The 'how much' is largely debated. According to Dr. Murray, "The commercial product should provide a daily dose of at least 8mg of alliin or a total allicin potential of 4000 mcg. This amount is equal to approximately 1 clove (4g) of fresh garlic." That is, of course, as it applies to humans for theraputic use. Since garlic can also cause issues with blood thinning and gut irritation, it shouldn't be dosed too high, but for medicinal use it could be increased from a theraputic level. I use a capsule or two (depending on the batch size) of Garlic Oil in my homemade foods for theraputic purposes. If I want to dose for internal parasites, I use a full clove of fresh garlic. I also use a full clove for food fed to new fish in quarantine.

Overall I think that garlic is a wonderful natural immunity enhancement and is useful for warding off all sorts of human and fish nasties. Anything natural gets my vote by default. I do suggest that you experiment with your particular fish first, preferrably using one fish in a q-tank to begin with. A great start is when you get a sick fish so you can draw something close to a definite conclusion. Using commercial foods with garlic can't hurt and may prove to be more effective than it appears at first glance, but for treatment I will be using something more tangible.



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[Melody]

A Closer Look At Garlic (Allium sativum)


As mentioned more briefly in the initial post, garlic is valued by fishkeepers for its Antioxidants, anti-fungal properties, anti-viral properties, immunity enhancement, anti-microbial action, broad-spectrum antibiotic affects, liver protection, anti-protozoan & anti-parasite abilities, anti-inflammatory effects and appetite enhancement. There have even been reports that Garlic protects against heavy metal poisoning (Skidmore-Roth, 2003; Schulz et al., 2001). Wow - talk about powerful!

Just about all of the major benefits are attributed to the compounds containing sulfer, especially Allicin. I decided to dig deeper into Allicin.

Allicin is a sulfur-containing compound in Garlic. Every single benefit that we value as fish-keepers comes from Allicin, or so it is preached. In humans, the only thing not attributed to Allicin is the possible cancer protection, from what I can gather.

"Allicin, mother nature’s defender, is an agent that can break up a biofilm, destroy a wide range of bacterial species, wipe out fungal infections, boost an under active immune system, reduce cholesterol and blood pressure levels, prevent viral infections, kill off parasites, remove protozoal organisms, vasodilate when necessary, prevent the release of histamine, and even prevent mosquitoes from attacking – yes all of this from an agent that can be produced from fresh garlic!" ~ Natural Health Publications Limited

In order to determine how effective a source of garlic is, such as that found in commercial preparations (food, supplements, additives, etc), we need to know the actual Allicin content. A product containing garlic is not necessarily all it takes. One that appears to have less garlic than another commercial preparation, may in fact include more Allicin.

I would like to see a push for the ingredients list to name stable Allicin rather than garlic, so we know exactly what we're getting out of the garlic in the food. You'll often see this in garlic preparations intended for human use, usually indicated in mcg, mg or percentage form.

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In humans, "Allicin powder extract is the only stable Allicin extract that is ready to be used by the body directly", according to Natural Health Publications Limited. Garlic products may hint at an Allicin 'yield' or 'potential', but it its normally a very generous guesstimate at best. Extracts will report a standardized amount of Allicin.

That is what is new on the Allicin front. Some of the old information about garlic found online, written by those who should know their stuff, questions or outright refutes the benefits of ingested Allicin by fish. The reasoning was sound at the time, based on the instability of Allicin, especially when processed. When we puree garlic the Allicin is 'produced' outside of the fish. As long as it endures minimal heat and processing, it is great stuff. If we simply feed commercial foods containing garlic, the Allicin the fish will ingest is minimal or none. The amount depends upon how the powder they use is processed, and then how the food itself is processed.

On top of that, there are barriers within the body that will try with all of their might to stop the Allicin from reaching the bloodstream. If the fish, therefore, consumes very little Allicin and its not a stable form, the chances of it reaching the bloodstream are slim.

With a source of stable Allicin available these days, its a whole new ball game. The problem is its expensive and I've yet to hear of a commercial fish food that uses that form. If they did, they wouldn't be listing garlic on the label. Instead they would be listing Allicin Powder Extract on the label, much like they list stable sources of Vitamin C.

This clarifies a lot for me. I've heard good reports about theraputic use of commercial garlic foods in regards to parasite prevention, for example, and I've been a big fan of a few of them. Since some parasites don't require the Allicin to enter the bloodstream to be repelled, the small amounts ingested may be enough to do the trick. If fish have a system that differs from humans, in that it allows more into the bloodstream than our system would, the commercial preparations may do more. It is important to note that the majority of benefits claimed by garlic additives can only result from Allicin entering the bloodstream.

What about those who claim their fish actually are enjoying better health since they began using a food with garlic? That's simple enough - most high quality foods also contain added vitamins, such as Vitamin C, which improves overall health and immunity. If they include Astaxanthin (naturally found in Krill, for example), that's another immunity enhancer, and so on.

My conclusion is that its time for the pricey commercial foods to update their formulas and their labels if they want to claim all of the benefits of garlic/Allicin. Otherwise it is little more than another hyped 'natural' ingredient added.

As for adding garlic yourself, puree it to ensure the Allicin is active before feeding and use it asap, and/or store it properly. Expose your mixture to as little heat as possible. If you want to use garlic in a supplement form, make sure it is Allicin Powder Extract and note the amount of Allicin it contains.

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Caution:

- There have been reports in humans of garlic irritating mucus membranes. That, along with its ability to thin blood & lower blood pressure, are all reasons to use caution when adding large amounts of garlic to the aquarium inhabitants' diet. Part of the reason that it is so effective is probably due to the fact that it can penetrate the mucus, but I suspect there is a fine line between helping and irritating.

- Store garlic appropriately - garlic preparations left at room temp or warmer can be a breeding ground for nasty bacteria.

- Be aware that garlic products may differ widely in their biochemical composition. They may contain different pharmaceutical qualities depending on the method of processing & preparation. (MCKENNA ET AL., 2002; AMAGASE ET AL., 2001; KASUGA ET AL., 2001; MUNDAY ET AL., 1999). This is very important when evaluating commercial fish food by comparison to your own homemade foods containing garlic, and in choosing a form of supplement.


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Sources:
Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program
Paso del Norte Health Foundation
Natural Health Publications Limited
Reefs.org
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© Please note: While you are welcome to link directly to this thread,
the contents are copyright Melody McKinnon and cannot be copied.
Thank you for respecting the effort that I have put into our content.
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