1944
'During the 1940s, Adolphus Hohensee urged his audiences to put their faith in garlic for curing low blood pressure, inhibiting germs, cleansing blood, and cleaning out their intestines.'
Whelan, E.M. & Stare, F.J. (1992) Panic in the Pantry. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY.
[with thanks to Stephen Barrett, MD.]
'"In addition to being good for a specific condition of high blood pressure," he [Hohensee] wrote, garlic "also seems to have a profound cleansing effect upon the intestines and, of course, the blood." Among other things, it inhibited growth of the tuberculosis germ. To prove garlic's potency in the system, Hohensee advised putting a piece up the rectum at night: by morning its taste would be apparent in the mouth.'
Young, J.H. (1992) The Medical Messiahs: A Social History of Health Quackery in Twentieth-Century America. Princeton University Press
[available at http://www.quackwatch.org/13Hx/MM/00.html]