Why Cloves Have the Highest Antioxidant Value of all Natural Herbs

We aren't often surprised when certain medicinal herbs have a terrible, bitter taste. But it is interesting how many herbs and spices have a pleasant taste, and are some of the most powerful for fighting infections and disease. Among these, cinnamon, peppermint, cardamom, and licorice come to mind. But cloves, one of Dr. Clark's favorite natural remedies, stands at the top of the list for antimicrobial and antioxidant power.

Studies have found that cloves provide a wide range of benefits, given their potency, such as anti-cancer and broad anti-microbial properties including anti-parasitic, anti-viral, and anti-fungal against even anti-microbial resistant strains of bacteria. It exhibits these effects in a highly significant, dose-dependent manner. The principle compound in clove oil that gives it its wide range of activities is eugenol (C10H12O2; 4-alyl-2-methyoxyphenol), which contains a phenyl group able to denature proteins and a hydroxyl group possessing antioxidant activity. It has anticoagulant properties, and was found to prevent blood clotting. 

One of the most striking examples of the potency of clove oil is its activity against Listeria monocytogenes. Clove oil in one study was found to inhibit Listeria through several mechanisms, such as the irreversible damage to the cell membrane, DNA leakage, and disruption of intracellular enzymes (Cui, et al., 2018).  Even more remarkably, it was found to exhibit potential to eradicate bacterial biofilms alone and when used with pharmaceutical antibiotics (Cui, et al., 2015).

Anti-Cancer

Their anticancer potential was demonstrated in many studies, such as one showing that it caused cell death in multiple cancer cell lines through its antiproliferative, and apoptosis-inducing effects (Dwivedi et al., 2011). Another study showed that clove oil prevents expression of NF kappa b, stimulation by TNF-a, and COX-2 in macrophages, and a study on colon cancer found that clove oil corrected the overexpression of interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 α) and IL-1 β ( ) and significantly reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis in a dose dependent relationship.

Similarly, clove oil has been demonstrated to have antifungal activity against C. albicans, fumigatus and C. neoformans. In a human study, clove oil was tested against Candida vaginitis, and they found remarkable reduction the treated group (Amad, 2005).

Anti-Parasitic

The use of cloves in Dr. Hulda Clark's protocol is substantiated through history of herbal medicine, and confirmed in recent studies. Cloves are active against the protozoan, Blastocystis hominis, for example, which causes abdominal pain, rectal itching, and diarrhea. Clove essential oil, primarily composed of eugenol, exhibited 99.22% acaricidal activity against Hyalomma scupense ticks at a concentration of 10 mg/mL, indicating strong potential against ectoparasites(Alimi et al., 2023). Another study found that clove oil was effective against the nematode Meloidogyne incognita, with an EC50 of 0.097% for reducing egg hatch and 0.145% for juvenile viability, demonstrating its nematicidal properties(Meyer et al., 2008).

Recommended Products

Clove Capsules (Gelatin)

Clove Capsules (Vegetarian)

References

Ahmad, N., Alam, M. K., Shehbaz, A., Khan, A., Mannan, A., Hakim, S. R., ... & Owais, M. (2005). Antimicrobial activity of clove oil and its potential in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis. Journal of drug targeting, 13(10), 555-561.

Cui, H., Zhang, C., Li, C., & Lin, L. (2018). Antimicrobial mechanism of clove oil on Listeria monocytogenes. Food Control, 94, 140-146.

Jafri, H., & Ahmad, I. (2021). In vitro efficacy of clove oil and eugenol against Staphylococcus spp and Streptococcus mutans on hydrophobicity, hemolysin production and biofilms and their synergy with antibiotics. Advances in Microbiology, 11(2), 117-143.

Dwivedi, V., Shrivastava, R., Hussain, S., Ganguly, C., & Bharadwaj, M. (2011). Comparative anticancer potential of clove (Syzygium aromaticum)—an Indian spice—against cancer cell lines of various anatomical origin. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 12(8), 1989-93.