Antibiotic
Anti-Viral & Anit-Fungal Properties
Anti-Inflammatory Action
Heart Ally
Lowers Cholesterol & Blood Pressure
Improves Blood & Circulation
Cancer Preventive
This pungent fellow, affectionately termed ‘the stinking rose’, has been unsurprisingly hugely praised throughout history. Sanskrit records dating back 5,000 years report of its medicinal virtues, and it has been a functional herb in Chinese medicine for at least 3,000 years. The ancient Egyptians were wise to its benefits, as were the Greeks and Romans. Louis Pasteur, discoverer of penicillin, acknowledged its anti-bacterial powers back in 1858, and during World War I and II it was used to help prevent wounds from turning septic.
Beyond its various health gifts, discussed more below, where would cuisine be without the extraordinaire of its aromatic splendour that can transform even the dullest of meals into delicious culinary creations. Full-bodied, with a firey heat and delicate sweetness, this herb is an excellent flavour enhancer, bringing out the best in foods. Not for the faint-hearted perhaps, garlic may be friend or foe to the palate depending on your preference. Don’t shy away from this wonder herb, it has extensive medicinal properties as shared below.
Garlic is recognised for defending against everything from a common cold to vampires (it is certainly effective at repelling the modern day equivalent, the mosquito!). A myriad of studies currently exist to validate the use of garlic as an anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent, an effective antioxidant and immune booster, and a potential benefit for those with diabetes, asthma and cancer. It is also widely known for its heart-health properties, lowering bad cholesterol and blood pressure and aiding circulation.
Garlic’s might is largely due to the sulfur compounds it contains, such as allicin. Garlic also houses vitamin C, B6, selenium, magnesium, potassium, calcium and manganese.
Garlic is a member of the allium family, as are onions, which are also incredibly good for you. Studies at Tufts University in Boston indicate that eating the equivalent of an onion a day can raise beneficial cholesterol by up to 30 per cent; around the same as regular exercise.
Onions are rich in C and B vitamins, potassium and calcium, and along with garlic contain health-active sulfur compounds. Onions are known to improve circulation, lower bad cholesterol, fight bacterial infections and congestion and inhibit the growth of cancer cells in animal studies. If garlic isn’t your thing, amp up onions in your diet.
Anti-Microbial Properties
Allicin, one of the active sulfur compounds in garlic, provides many of the noted benefits of this herb (as well as its notorious odour!).
Allicin is actually formed during the chemistry creating when chopping, crushing, or chewing garlic; the more thorough the milling, the more of the allicin compound is created.
Allicin has antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties, and the reason why garlic has been used for skin infections such as Athletes’s foot, herpes and warts, digestive and lung infections such as diarrhea, coughs and colds, and Candida yeast and other microbes, though there is little documented research on such uses.
Garlic’s antibiotic potency has been demonstrated even against drug resistant illnesses such as the MSRA ‘hospital’ virus. Research conducted at the University of California Irvine Medical Center, found that mice injected with MRSA and subsequently given garlic extract demonstrated a significant decrease in levels of this strain. The garlic also provided beneficial antioxidant protection.
Studies have also demonstrated garlic’s ability to protect against damage from the bacterium Helicobacter Pylori, known to cause stomach ulcers and implicated in stomach cancer. Whist the growth of H. Pylori is inhibited in these studies, there is no evidence to suggest garlic supplementation can in-and-of itself prevent or eradicate the infection.
Allicin begins to degrade once produced and on cooking, so eating garlic raw and soon after chopping ensures the assimilation of highest levels of this compound. Add some to salad dressings!
Remember though, garlic is potent and may cause a burning sensation or irritation when eaten raw (especially if in large quantities!) so go easy and don’t eat raw garlic alone on an empty stomach.
Garlic also contains diallyl sulphides, though less powerful than allicin, these sulfur compounds don’t degrade as quickly and their benefits survive the effects of cooking even. Again, chopping and crushing produces these chemicals, which though not anti-fungal like allicin, are reportedly good for the blood and circulation, lowering bad cholesterol and boosting the immune system.
Rats that were put on a diet featuring both allicin and diallyl sulphides had a substantial increase in their levels of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione-S-transferase. This enzyme, produced within the body is critically important in helping to rid the body of toxins, drugs and carcinogens. Increasing levels of this and other phase II enzymes may be one way garlic helps to prevent against cancer, enhancing the elimination of potential carcinogens from the body.
Anti-Inflammatory
The sulfur compounds in garlic have also been found to have anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the activity of inflammatory enzymes. Along with vitamin C this can make garlic a protection against the pain associated with arthritis and asthma attacks.
Heart Ally
Much of the research on garlic has demonstrated its abilities to lower cholesterol, blood pressure and protect against heart disease and stroke. It has also been found to increase levels of healthy LDL-cholesterol, stimulate the production of nitric oxide in blood vessels aiding their dilation, and assist the body’s ability to dissolve blood clots (fibrinolyisis).
The antioxidant properties of garlic (with its high content of vitamin C, as well as manganese that functions as a cofactor in numerous important antioxidant enzymes), can also protect against cardiovascular disease by inhibiting the oxidation of bad cholesterol which builds up in artery walls. Further, folate in garlic is known to protect the cardiovascular system.
Cancer Prevention
Population studies reveal that eating garlic regularly, and other alliums such as onions chives and scallions, reduces the risk of oesophageal, colon and stomach cancer. This may be partly due to garlic’s ability to protect against and reduce the formation of carcinogenic compounds. Sulfur compounds such as allicin and ajeone have been found to stop the growth of various cancers in animal laboratory studies, including skin, stomach, colon, breast and oral cancer.
Garlic also contains the powerful antioxidant mineral selenium, known for its anti-cancer properties.
Diabetes
Some of the damage that can result from the degenerative effects of diabetes such as diseases of the kidney, retina and nervous system, may be deterred by garlic. Rats that were given a drug that would induce similar diabetic-effects in the body, namely an increase in blood sugar, cholesterol and damaged fats and a reduction in the body’s antioxidants, experienced fewer negative effects from the drug and an increase in antioxidant levels when given a daily dose of garlic oil.
References for the above post are available at this page.
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