November 8, 2017
Garlic is a member of the Allium (onion) family. Throughout history, the main use of garlic was for its health and medicinal properties. Garlic is one of the best kept medicinal treasures, used as an antibiotic to treat bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections for the last 7,000 years.
We now know that most of the health benefits attached to garlic are due to one of the sulfur compounds formed when a garlic clove is chopped, crushed or chewed. This compound is known as allicin, and is also responsible for the distinct garlic smell.
Healthy Benefits of Garlic
Garlic and the Common Cold
Garlic is known to boost the immune system. If you get colds often, try adding garlic to your diet to give your system the boost it needs.
There is nothing better than a hot bowl of soup when you are sick, except for a hot bowl of soup with a little raw minced garlic. If you add garlic each time you get sick it will provide you relief from that stubborn cold and flu. Sipping on some garlic tea with a touch of honey is another way you can add garlic to your diet, it will not only relieve a stuffed nose and cure the cold, but also help you build your immunity.
Garlic is Good for your Heart
Increase your garlic intake and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. This includes the following conditions: heart attack, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and atherosclerosis.
The everyday flexibility of our blood vessels improves with intake of garlic, and blood vessel damage due to chronic inflammation has shown to decrease when garlic is consumed on a regular basis.
Skin, Hair and Teeth
Oxidative damage from free radicals contributes to the aging process. Garlic contains antioxidants that protect against oxidative damage. In turn, garlic protects the skin from the effect of free radicals and slows down the depletion of collagen, loss of elasticity and aging skin.
Garlic can help you overcome acne by purifying your blood from the inside to show healthy skin on the outside. Take two cloves of raw garlic with some warm water every day, and consume a lot of water the entire day and you will see an improvement in your skin.
Applied topically, garlic does wonders to skin infected with fungal infections and provides relief from skin ailments like eczema. It is also an effective remedy for fungal infections like athlete’s foot and ringworm.
Rubbing crushed garlic on your scalp or massaging with garlic-infused oil is known to prevent and even reverse hair loss.
A small quantity of garlic-based mouthwash is enough to ward off cavity-causing bacteria.
Cancer prevention
Garlic has long been recognized for its potential to reduce our risk of certain cancers. But only recently have studies begun to focus more on cancers of the upper digestive system. The sulfur compounds in garlic seem consistently helpful in lowering our risk of cancers throughout our upper aero-digestive tract. Included in this region is our mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. After risk reduction for cancers of the UADT, risk reduction for stomach cancer is the next strongest link in recent studies on garlic and cancer prevention.
With these benefits why not try to include garlic in your current diet. It complements most dishes, particularly soups and sauces. The strong taste of garlic can also add a punch to otherwise bland recipes. My favorite way to use garlic is to press a few cloves of fresh garlic, then mix with extra virgin olive oil and a bit of pink Himalayan salt. This a healthy and tasty salad dressing.
The smallest effective dose for therapeutic effects is one clove eaten with meals, two or three times a day. The active compound allicin only forms when garlic is crushed or cleaved when it is raw. Therefore, the best way to consume garlic is raw, or to crush and cut it and leave it out for about 10 minutes before you add it to your recipes.
