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Garlic breath might just be worth it as a new study is reporting that eating raw garlic can cut one's risk of lung cancer. According to this new study, researchers from China concluded that raw garlic has potent effects that not only prevent lung cancer, but also help with other chronic health issues. Based from this study, people might just start picking up extra bulbs of garlic from the supermarket. If everyone starts to eat raw garlic, garlic breath might not be so bad after all.

In this study, researchers from Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention gathered and compared data between 1,424 lung cancer patients and 4,500 healthy adults. The data was composed from 2003 to 2010. The researchers interviewed the participants about their lifestyle habits, such as smoking and their eating habits, such as their garlic consumption. The researchers discovered that eating raw garlic regularly cut the risk of lung cancer by 44 percent for non-smoking participants. The beneficial effects of raw garlic were not prohibited by the presence of tobacco smoke. Researchers reported that for smokers, incorporating raw garlic to their diets could still cut the risk of lung cancer by 30 percent.

The researchers believe that raw garlic's benefits could be tied to a chemical known as allicin. Allicin is released once raw garlic is smashed into or chopped up. This chemical is believed to be capable of reducing inflammation as well as limiting the damages from free radicals to the body's cells. This study's findings add more evidence that garlic can help with numerous health conditions. An older study done at the University of South Australia reported that garlic could cut the risks of bowel tumors by as much as one-third. Other studies have found that garlic can prevent common colds and help with inflammation.

Although researchers have repeatedly found health benefits from eating raw garlic, they have concluded whether or not cooked garlic has the same effects. Since there are not any unhealthy side effects in eating garlic, except bad breath, adding raw garlic in one's diet could beneficial. The study was published in Cancer Prevention Research.