Garlic (Lasuna) in Ayurveda: Traditional Use, Research and Safety

Garlic is one of the oldest cultivated flavourings in the world, and one of the most argued over. In Ayurveda it is called lasuna, and the classical texts describe it with respect and with caution in the same breath. Many Indian kitchens cook with it every day, while some traditions leave it out entirely.

This page explains how the tradition describes garlic, how it is used in food, what the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says about the research, and the safety points that matter, especially for anyone who takes blood-thinning medicine.

What it is

Garlic is the bulb of Allium sativum, a relative of onion, leek and chives. The bulb is made of separate cloves, each wrapped in papery skin. When a clove is crushed or chopped, an enzyme turns a compound called alliin into allicin, which is responsible for most of garlic’s sharp smell and taste.

• Sanskrit: lasuna (also rasona, a name explained in the next section)
• Hindi: lahsun
• English: garlic
• Plant part used: the bulb and its cloves, fresh or dried

Cooking changes it a great deal. Raw garlic is hot and pungent, roasted garlic is sweet and soft, and garlic fried in oil is somewhere in between. Garlic chopped and left to stand for a few minutes before cooking develops more of its sharp character.

The traditional view

Later materia medica such as the Bhavaprakasha describe a substance by its taste (rasa), its energy (virya) and its effect after digestion (vipaka). Garlic is a famous case, because it is described as having five of the six tastes. The classical teaching, repeated in many textbooks, is that it has every taste except sour, and the name rasona is explained by that missing rasa. Teachers do not word the rest of the profile identically, but it is usually given as follows.

• Taste (rasa): pungent is dominant, with the other tastes present in smaller measure and sour absent
• Qualities (guna): heavy, oily, sharp and penetrating
• Energy (virya): strongly heating (ushna)
• Effect on the doshas: said to calm vata and kapha, and to aggravate pitta, especially in people who already run hot.

The classical literature records lasuna among substances used for the joints, the digestion, the chest and the voice, and as a rasayana, a traditional category of rejuvenating substances. We report this as what the tradition says. It is a statement about history and culture, not a medical finding, and nothing here says garlic treats any condition.

There is also a second tradition about garlic that has nothing to do with medicine. Many yogic, sattvic, Jain and some Vaishnava and temple traditions avoid garlic and onion, because they are considered to excite the mind and body, which is described with the word rajasic. That is a spiritual and dietary discipline, and it is a choice. A person can follow Ayurveda and eat garlic, or follow it and not, and the page on the six tastes shows how the tradition thinks about flavour in general.

In the kitchen

Garlic is a base flavour in a very large part of Indian cooking, from the first fry of a curry to a green chutney.

• Chopped or crushed into hot oil or ghee at the start of dal, curries and vegetable dishes
• Ground into pastes, often with ginger, as in the ginger-garlic paste found in many kitchens
• Pounded into chutneys, such as the red lasun chutney of Maharashtra and Gujarat
• Roasted whole so the cloves turn soft and mellow
• Pickled or preserved in oil and spice in some regional cooking

Because garlic is heating and heavy, an Ayurvedic reading suggests that people who run warm, or who get heartburn after rich food, might use less of it, or cook it until it is soft. The pages on eating for pitta and eating for kapha explain how this thinking works. Its companions in the pot are described on the pages for ginger and turmeric.

A practical note about handling. Raw garlic crushed against the skin can irritate it, and the smell lingers on hands and breath. Rubbing your fingers on stainless steel may help the smell, and a glass of milk after a garlicky meal is a common household answer to breath.

What research says

NCCIH’s page on garlic says that garlic supplements may reduce total and LDL cholesterol to a small extent in people with high cholesterol, that the evidence suggests a modest reduction in blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, though the effect is small, and that supplements may slightly reduce blood sugar in people with diabetes. Eating garlic does not appear to reduce stomach cancer risk, and the evidence on colorectal cancer is uncertain. On immune function, a 2022 review found only two small studies, both with methodological limitations.

Put plainly, the effects found are small, the evidence concerns supplements and not meals, and none of it tells you to take garlic for a health condition. It is not a replacement for medical care.

Safety and interactions

• Side effects. NCCIH lists breath and body odour, abdominal discomfort, flatulence, nausea and allergic reactions in some people after swallowing garlic.
• Duration. Oral garlic has been shown to be safe in studies lasting up to seven years, according to NCCIH.
• Bleeding. NCCIH says garlic supplements may increase the risk of bleeding. Anyone taking anticoagulants or aspirin should speak to a healthcare provider before using garlic supplements, because harmful interactions are possible. LactMed adds that garlic has antiplatelet effects and should be used cautiously by women at risk of bleeding. Tell your surgical team about garlic supplements before an operation.
• Raw garlic on the skin. NCCIH says fresh raw garlic applied to the skin is unsafe, because it can cause severe skin irritation and chemical burns. Do not apply it to the skin, and keep it away from children.
• Pregnancy. NCCIH says oral garlic in amounts above typical food amounts may be unsafe during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Cooking amounts are ordinary food.
• Breastfeeding. LactMed describes garlic as generally recognised as safe as a food flavouring, including during breastfeeding, and says its odour passes into breast milk. It also says it can cause allergy in people allergic to garlic or related plants such as onion, leek and chives.
• Babies. LactMed notes that topical garlic can cause dermatitis and burns and should be used with particular caution in infants.
• Quality. NCCIH also notes that some Ayurvedic compound preparations may contain heavy metals, so where a product comes from matters.

This page is education, not medical advice. Please read our medical disclaimer, see a doctor for any health concern, and consult a registered Ayurvedic practitioner (BAMS in India) before considering any Ayurvedic treatment.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: NCCIH: Garlic, LactMed (NLM): Garlic, NCCIH: Ayurvedic Medicine in Depth.