Frequently Asked Questions

Product Specifications

Firstly, it is important to understand that whenever garlic is processed in any way, whether cooked, crushed, pickled, or aged, as our product is, the chemistry changes. For that reason, one form of garlic cannot be compared to or considered equal to another form. 

If you look at active ingredients, 1 gram of raw garlic contains only 50 mcg of S-allyl cysteine (SAC), but 1 gram of Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract™ contains 1,000 mcg of SAC. Thus, it takes 20 grams of raw garlic to be equivalent to 1 gram of Aged Garlic Extract™ on the basis of SAC. 

Though Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract™ is not exactly the same as raw garlic. in terms of chemical composition, it demonstrates all of the benefits of garlic without the undesirable effects such as odor problems or digestion issues often associated with the consumption of raw garlic. For these reasons, Kyolic may be gentler, more beneficial, and more desirable for supplementation purposes than raw garlic or other garlic products.

While Kyolic is composed of numerous sulfur-containing compounds, no sulfur is added to any of our products. The sulfur naturally found in Kyolic is derived directly from the aging of raw garlic. Therefore, unless you are specifically allergic to the sulfur compounds in garlic, the sulfur compounds should not be a problem for most people.

Sulfa drugs have very distinct chemistry. Those who are allergic to sulfa drugs can usually tolerate foods (such as broccoli, garlic, and onions) which contain sulfur. Usually, specific sulfur compounds cause sensitivities, not sulfur itself.

Sulfur is found in all body tissues. It is a constituent of one of the essential amino acids that the body requires to manufacture proteins for various uses. The average man is made up of 140 grams of sulfur from sulfur-containing compounds.

The capsules themselves have sulfate in them. Therefore, if you are allergic to sulfate, the liquid or tablet Kyolic formulas may be the best solution for you.

Allicin

Allicin is a highly unstable, odorous compound generated when fresh raw garlic is crushed5. An enzyme, alliinase, combines with a compound called alliin in the raw garlic to generate allicin5. Topically, allicin has been shown to kill bacteria and a whole array of organisms, however, in living bodies it changes into other compounds quickly and loses much of its antimicrobial activity.

Allicin receives most of the attention in regards to garlic chemistry due to its characteristic odour. There are more than 70 different sulfur-containing compounds in garlic, which may have therapeutic value, not to mention the various non-sulfur compounds in garlic, such as saponins and fructanes, which are often neglected.

No. Because of its irritating and pungent nature, we have aged our garlic to convert allicin into more stable, odourless, and beneficial compounds. From various studies, it is apparent that neither odor nor allicin is necessary to obtain the benefits of garlic. Further, absorption of allicin by the body has not been proven. Even though Kyolic contains no allicin, many of its beneficial effects have been confirmed by peer-reviewed scientific journals.