However, a Randomized clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States of America and published in Archives of Internal Medicine in 2007 found that the consumption of garlic in any form did not reduce blood cholesterol levels in patients with moderately high baseline cholesterol levels.

In 2007 a BBC news story reported that Allium sativum may have beneficial properties, such as preventing and fighting the common cold. This assertion has the backing of long tradition in herbal medicine, which has used garlic for hoarseness and coughs The Cherokee also used it as an Expectorant for coughs and Croup.

In 1858, Louis Pasteur observed garlic's antibacterial activity, and it was used as an antiseptic to prevent gangrene during World War I and World War II. More recently it has been found from a clinical trial that a mouthwash containing 2.5% fresh garlic shows good antimicrobial activity, although the majority of the participants reported an unpleasant taste and Halitosis.

In modern Naturopathy, garlic is used as a treatment for Intestinal worms and other intestinal parasites, both orally and as an anal Suppository. Garlic cloves are used as a remedy for Infection (especially chest problems), digestive disorders, and fungal infections such as Candidiasis. Garlic has been reasonably successfully used in AIDS patients to treat Cryptosporidium in an uncontrolled study in China It has also been used by at least one AIDS patient to treat toxoplasmosis, another protozoal disease

Garlic supplementation in rats along with a high protein diet has been shown to boost Testosterone levels.