Could Something So Simple Make Such a Difference?

While some people are concerned about it’s aroma, others don’t care and can’t get enough garlic because it adds real flavour to so many dishes. Apart from its use in cuisines the world over, garlic is a real medicine, with real health benefits, documented to have 57 pharmacological effects on the body. which include cancer, stroke, infections, atherosclerosis and diabetes.  

The notion that herbs, spices and healthy foods are less potent than medication is not always the case. Culinary herbs and spices can be effective at addressing health issues. The trick is to eat them regularly.

EVIDENCE BASED REASONS TO EAT GARLIC

• Heart Attack and Stroke

Garlic has a beneficial effect on triglycerides, blood pressure and blood clotting.  Garlic use is associated with a significant decrease in heart disease.

• High Cholesterol causing Atherosclerosis (clogging of arteries)

Studies show garlic lowers cholesterol levels inhibits the formation of arteriosclerotic plaque.It also fights arteriosclerosis, calcification of the arteries, and plaque. 

• High Blood Pressure

A groundbreaking study in the Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences compared garlic tablets with blood pressure lowering medication.  It found that garlic in daily doses ranging from 300 to 1,500 mg significantly reduced blood pressure. How? Sulfur compounds* in garlic enter the red blood cells and dilate the blood vessels, which helps boost blood flow and so reduces blood pressure.

Chinese researchers recruited 125 stroke patients and asked them how often they ate garlic. The average was 2.9 grams per day – about one clove.  Then they measured arterial blood flow using ultrasound. Amazingly, the researchers found they could accurately predict blood flow based on the amount of garlic the patients reported eating.

• Infection.

Garlic has potent antibacterial powers and may be  something medicine will need to turn to  with growing problem of multi-drug resistant bacteria.  Studies how that garlic can address both viral and bacterial infections.

One study used two 500 mg garlic tablets or two 250 mg doses of Flagyl (metronidazole) for women with vaginal infections.  After seven days the garlic reduced the active infection by 70% compared to 48% for the drug – without side effects.

Even though eating garlic is a good idea, few of us are willing to consume a clove of garlic every day. Even if we love eating raw garlic, the social impact is definitely a deterrent! (Chewing raw parsley is said to neutralise the odour of garlic.) There are of course garlic supplements, but there’s nothing like the fresh herb. Adding crushed fresh garlic to salad dressing, and make a marinade with garlic, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and a little butter to mix through your steamed veggies, is a great way to get your garlic dosage up. Garlic bread, wholemeal, easy on the butter, is the most fun and delicious – some even recommend it as your way to get garlic. Use it in cooking, but fresh, raw garlic will deliver the most health benefits.

* The sulphur compounds in garlic that are so, so healthy are also found in other foods, like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and asparagus. Eating these daily will also benefit your heart health.

Read about a man in his 50s with heart disease and diabetes whose doctor told him he had a few months to live, used nutritional therapy and recovered to live a full and active life. He tells his story in Good News for People with Bad News.