An April 3, 2005 article by Randy Dotinga described possible health benefits of garlic but included this skeptical note:
Ruth Kava, director of nutrition with the American Council on Science and Health, said eating two raw cloves of garlic a day could be both physically and socially challenging.
"My advice would be to include garlic in the diet if one enjoys it, but the evidence is not strong enough yet to make it a 'must have' for people with respiratory problems," Kava said. "It's an interesting possibility, but by no means a sure thing. I'd tuck the information away and see if additional research confirms these data."