Turns Out Garlic Reaches Your Muscles by Going Through Your Brain First

By Mark J Kaylor

Turns out a compound in aged garlic doesn’t head straight for your muscles. It goes through your fat tissue and your brain first.

Researchers working with Japan’s Institute for Research on Productive Aging identified S-1-propenyl-L-cysteine, or S1PC, a compound found in aged garlic extract, and traced exactly where it goes once it’s in the body. Instead of acting on muscle directly, S1PC switches on an enzyme in fat tissue called LKB1. That triggers fat cells to release eNAMPT, a protein essential for making NAD+, the molecule your cells burn for energy and repair. The eNAMPT travels through the bloodstream, but not to the muscle. It goes to the hypothalamus, the brain’s command center for automatic body functions.

Once there, it appears to boost nerve signaling that runs straight to the muscles. In aged mice, that chain of events measurably increased muscle strength and reduced markers of frailty. Circulating eNAMPT rose in the humans tested too, though the muscle strength findings themselves are still mouse data.

Turns out the shortest path to stronger old muscles might not run through the muscle at all. It runs through your fat, and then your brain.

Suzuki J, Yoshioka K, Kurita M, et al. Garlic-derived metabolite activates LKB1, promotes adipose eNAMPT secretion, and improves age-related muscle function via hypothalamic signaling. Cell Metabolism. 2026;38(6):1218-1228.e10. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2026.04.006