Herbs, vitamins, other nutrients and non-nutrients are often seized upon by greedy promoters without the scientific data to back them up. Who cares--if there's money in it? Witness the fancy brochures selling hype in a bottle for $40-$100 each sold through the mail.

In the case of garlic however, scientists Fleischauer, Poole and Kohlmeier of the Depts. of Epidemiology and Nutrition of the U. of N. Carolina, have some definitive conclusions. Reporting at a recent annual meeting of the Am. Assn. for Cancer Res., they did find that many previous studies had been poorly constructed.

Nevertheless, overall they felt that one could draw the conclusion that allium vegetables including garlic, onions, scallions, leeks and chives, had a protective effect against stomach, colon and rectal cancers.