Health benefits of garlic

Forum 9 years ago

Health benefits of garlic

You can increase the health benefits you receive from garlic by letting it sit after you’ve chopped it or crushed it. If you give your chopped/crushed garlic time to sit before changing its temperature (through cooking) or its pH (through the addition of acidic food like lemon juice), it will give the alliinase enzymes in garlic an opportunity to work on behalf of your health. For example, in the absence of chopping or crushing, research has shown that just 60 seconds of immediate microwaving will cause garlic to lose some of its cancer-protective properties. Immediate boiling of whole, intact garlic will also lower these properties, as will immediate addition of a very low-acid ingredient like lemon juice.

Benefits

Cardiovascular protection

Food studies on garlic show this allium vegetable to have important cardio-protective properties. Garlic is clearly able to lower our blood triglycerides and total cholesterol, even though this reduction can be moderate five -15 per cent .

But cholesterol and triglyceride reduction are by no means garlic’s most compelling benefits when it comes to cardio-protection. Those top-level benefits clearly come in the form of blood cell and blood vessel protection from inflammatory and oxidative stress. Damage to blood vessel linings by highly reactive oxygen molecules is a key factor for increasing our risk of cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and atherosclerosis. Oxidative damage also leads to unwanted inflammation, and it is this combination of unwanted inflammation and oxidative stress that puts our blood vessels at risk of unwanted plaque formation and clogging. Garlic unique set of sulfur-containing compounds helps protect us against both possibilities-oxidative stress and unwanted inflammation.

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