This message is from: "Joe Glick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Since I have been feeding garlic to my horses the past two summers, the article in the Horse Journal got me wondering. So I did a massive web search to see what I else I can learn. All I really learned off of the web is that a lot of people are now scared to use garlic. Then I contacted Springtime (my garlic supplier) and asked what their thoughts where on the article. They forwarded a letter to me that was sent to the Horse Journal. It reminded me once again, there are two sides to every story.
Joe Glick Glick Family Farm Gordonville, PA [EMAIL PROTECTED] Letter from Springtime to Horse Journal: June 25, 2005 Horse Journal 6538 Van Buren Road Warners, NY 13164 Dear Editor, The results of the freeze-dried garlic study that you referenced in your July 2005 publication are important and significant but could lead the reader to erroneous conclusions. The doses given in the study were for freeze-dried garlic and must be extrapolated to derive raw garlic doses and cannot be applied at all to the air-dried garlic commonly fed to horses as an insect repellent. Almost three units of raw garlic cloves are required to produce one unit of freeze-dried garlic due to lost moisture. Therefore, a 4.4 oz portion of freeze-dried garlic fed twice daily would equal about 1 lb, 10 oz of raw garlic cloves. According to the study, this amount was fed daily over 30 consecutive days to achieve an anemic condition. That equates to almost 50 lbs of fresh garlic fed within a month period. In real life, no responsible horseman would try to feed this much garlic and no horse would eat it! Even more significant than dosing issues, however, is the distinction between raw and/or freeze-dried garlic and air-dried garlic. Raw garlic contains two chemicals (stored in separate chambers in the clove) which when combined in the presence of water form a highly active but extremely unstable oxidizing substance called allicin. Allicin, as noted in the study, is the substance that causes oxidation of red blood cells when fed in excessive amounts. In the freeze-drying process, also explained in the study, almost all water is removed before the garlic cloves are grated into powder. The preserved freeze-dried product will release allicin only after moisture is added back in during ingestion. In the air-drying process, garlic cloves are crushed in their raw form and then dried. The allicin is released when the cloves are crushed and within minutes metabolizes into other compounds. Air-dried garlic is therefore allicin free and cannot cause the red blood cell damage described in this study. Allicin and/or its metabolites create the characteristic garlic odor that we are all familiar with. Over millions of years, insects have evolved attractions to certain food scents and aversions to odors that signal possible harm. Insects will avoid the garlic odor even when no more allicin is present. That is why garlic oil preparations are effectively used on crops to repel pests and also why horses that eat air-dried garlic will, over a period of weeks, develop an effective protection against many varieties of biting insects. I believe that there is a great interest among your readers in practical, natural food products for their horses and I hope that your publication will provide them with more information on air-dried garlic. Sincerely, Dennis Hampt President
