Garlic = Bad for fish liver?

Exactly.

Even for ourselves, some substances taken in moderation will help prevent certain health issues, but if abused, can create even worse problems instead.

 

How true.

Why so many would think if a little is good a lot has to be better is beyond me.

I my self have used food with garlic in my reef tank going on 5 years, and i have not seen any ill effects to this date to the fish,or any thing else in the tank.

 

Well, I didn't forget To me, the question is always does the benefit outweigh the risk. It seems reasonable that fish won't be well adapted to terrestrial food and oils though. So, they may have trouble processing them. To what extent, I have no idea. That goes for other terrestrial foods too. My .02 is that it seems that the safest bet is to feed them things they would eat in nature, but I couldn't say how bad other foods may be.

As to the studies, you always need to take individual studies with a grain of salt, researchers tend not to know what other factors could be involved until there is a large body or research. So, it's always possible some other underlying factor was missed. I start to pay more attention when results are shown to be repeatable and when hypotheses, drawn from those results show high predictive value.

For hobby purposes, research isn't going to often provide definitive conclusions, but it can certainly generate good discussions

 

If I didn't comment on this I wouldn't get any sleep. There are plenty of things that us terrestrial beings get from the marine system that we can process quite nicely. Fish oils are a great source of natural fats that are full of omegas and vitamins. Penicillium fungi (yes I had to google that) isn't something that most of us would grab up and eat if we saw it on a lab table, but it cures millions of us each year. My point, simply, is just because it's natural, doesn't mean it's not healthy. (But, your point of "Don't fix something if it's not broke" I definitely can't argue with)


An Excellent point.

 

Yes, it defintiely was an overly generalized, cautious statement. I'm not sure humans are the best example though, as it's pretty scary actually, how high the prevalence of liver disease and dysfunction in humans is.

We generally blame overeating and obesity and to a large extent that's true, however, that is of course an oversimplification. However, a lot also has to do with how we process what we eat. We have enzymes and processes that break down waste, so that it isn't toxic and expel it. However, these enzymes and processes can be specific to certain types of foods. If we eat something that we aren't adapted to, it's more likely that the end product may be more detrimental to our health. It's possible that the enzymes can't act on it, or its similar enough to something else that they do act on it, but it turns into something it isn't supposed to. This may be inert, but it could also be reactive and could potentially interact in various ways that cause damage. This is how some pesticides work. We have enzymes that detoxify them, insects don't they die, we live... Not all compounds act the same in all organisms, but feeding foods that an organism commonly feeds on in nature, is more likely to be processed correctly. Not that there aren't ones that may be beneficial.