Garlic may be commonly known as a simple ingredient to dishes that give tasteful flavor and richer aroma. Good news is that it can also help optimize your health, because it’s packed with many medicinal benefits!
Yes, you read that right! This ingredient is powerful that it can prevent or combat certain health conditions. It’s famous for its strong aroma, but there’s more to it than just making your food scrumptious.
Considered as one of the healthiest foods on Earth, garlic belongs to the family vegetables called Allium. It’s a family that also includes onions, shallots, chives, and leeks. This vegetable contains allicin, a sulfur compound that acts as antibiotic, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and antioxidant agent. This is produced once garlic is chopped or shredded, and chewed.
Now, let’s see one by one what garlic can really do for your body. Here are several health benefits you should know.
1. Antibacterial and Anti-viral
As mentioned previously above, garlic is able to fight germs, bacteria, viruses, and other types of microorganisms that cause health conditions. You can prevent having certain diseases and infections if you chew more slices of garlic. In fact, it also helps prevent poison, which you may get from eating food with harmful bacteria.
2. Heart Protection
As you grow older, your arteries also change, but worse than normal. It starts to lose its natural ability to stretch, and when this happens, it stops pulsating. Nobody likes to suffer from heart attack, cardiovascular disease, and other heart related sicknesses.
Fortunately, garlic can help protect your heart. It blocks free radicals that can damage your heart.
3. Anti-Clotting
Garlic also prevents blood clotting that may form inside your blood vessels. Thick blood is far from happening if you absorb the particular compound found in this ingredient, which is ajoene.
4. Low Blood Pressure
The sulphur-compound allicin in garlic is able to block angiotensin II. Sorry for several scientific terms, but this is important to know. Angiotensin II increases blood pressure, and this can result to hypertension or stroke.
Likewise, it has polysulphides that become converted into hydrogen sulphide. Once the transition happens, blood vessels start dilating, and eventually control blood pressure.
To maintain normal blood pressure or at least reduce the high level, let garlic do that job through its allicin and hydrogen sulphide.
5. Reduced Cholesterol
Like blood pressure, cholesterol levels are also lowered. Many people have problem in regards to this. Yet, garlic is the cheapest and most natural solution. While it’s totally alright to eat some foods with a bit higher amount of cholesterols, it’s still best that you stay away from such consumption.
6. Weapon Against Skin Allergies, Pain, and Inflammation
There are also anti-inflammatory properties (diallyl sulphide and thiacremonone) present in this food ingredient. It’s beneficial to combat allergies due to insect bites, foods, and other factors. It can also treat skin infections, such as ringworm and athlete’s foot, and alleviate pain and inflammation.
Other than common skin rashes and blemishes, garlic also break warts and corns. For these kinds of conditions, you may have to undergo laser or surgical removal. But why spend a big amount of cash if you can count on some cloves of garlic? This is true; just apply dissolve garlic extracts on affected areas.
7. Cancer and Diabetes Prevention
Diallyl sulphide, ajoene, quercetin, allin, and allicin are all essential properties that lower the risk of some cancers, most particularly breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, and stomach or colon cancer.
Based on results conducted by modern studies, diallyl sulphide is able to inhibit the transition of PhlP into carcinogens, which cause cancerous cells. These and other cancer-preventing compounds are the basis why this bulb has been considered among the top foods that fight cancers.
Diabetes is another serious disease that garlic can prevent. It increases insulin, which helps normalize blood sugar levels. It is definitely recommended for people with diabetes. However, it must still be taken for non-diabetics to further prevent having high blood glucose.
8. Cure for Respiratory Problems
Conditions (cold, throat problems, and flu) that affect your respiratory system are also prevented or treated with garlic. Even difficulty in breathing, asthma, and lung problems are avoided. So, yes you can expect to get treated immediately if you chew some slices of garlic while you have common cold.
9. Improvement in Absorption and Metabolism
The process of metabolism is more effective with garlic. It does also improve absorption, especially in iron. If you lack some iron, you must eat iron-rich foods with garlic to increase its production.
10. Reduced Weight
If you try to lose 5 or more pounds, garlic is one of the natural options. It has properties that regulate good fat cells in the body, while prevent you from gaining weight.
11. Toothache Solution
There’ll be times where you may have toothache. Before you go to the dentist and shell out some cash, try chewing garlic first. This helps in alleviating pain in teeth. It does work, and can save you some money!
12. Enhanced Immune System
Your cells in the body’s immunity system are also protected or improved. This is one important benefit of garlic that you can really count on. Once your immunity system is doing excellent, it helps in fighting other diseases and infections.
The interesting fact about garlic is that it can be used in many different types of cuisines. Whether the flavor is sweet, sour, or spicy, you can chop some garlic. Unlike other food additives, garlic does not impact the flavor. In fact, it improves taste and adds more aroma. This makes you more encouraged to eat such food.
It’s better if you add some garlic slices or extracts to your dish, unless not appropriate. That way you guarantee to absorb the beneficial compounds and nutrients found in this white bulb. You won’t only provide aromatic and delightful taste to your meal, but also increase your chances to become healthier. So go ahead buy more garlic, or better yet, grow on your own, and eat lots of garlic.
Please share this post with your family and friends and let them know the benefits of garlic!