5 proven health benefits of garlic

"Let your food be your medicine, and let your medicine be your food."

These are famous words from the Greek physicist, Hippocrates, who is often called the father of Western medicine.

He therefore indeed wrote garlic for treating a variety of medical conditions. And ... many of the beneficial health effects have recently been confirmed by modern medicine.
Below are 11 health benefits of garlic, which are supported by research on humans

1. Garlic contains allicin, a substance with powerful medicinal properties
   Garlic is a plant from the family of the Allium (onion).

It is closely related to onions, shallots and leeks. It grows in many parts of the world and is a popular ingredient in cooking, because of its strong smell and delicious taste.

But in ancient times garlic was mainly used for medicinal and health-promoting properties.

Its use has been well documented by all major civilizations ... including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and Chinese.

This is how garlic looks like:

garlic

The whole 'head' is called the garlic bulb and each segment is called a clove. There are about 10 to 20 cloves in one ball. We now know that most of the health effects are caused by one of the sulfur compounds formed when a clove is finely chopped, pressed or chewed.

This compound, allicin, is also responsible for the specific garlic smell. Allicin enters the body from the digestive system and spreads throughout the body, where it can do its powerful biological work (about which more).

In short: Garlic is a plant from the onion family. It is grown because of its cooking properties and health effects. There is a high content of the sulfur compound allicin, which is believed to produce the most health effects.

1. Garlic is very nutritious, but contains very few calories
   Garlic is incredibly nutritious. In one serving of an ounce (28 grams) is:

   manganese: 23% of the ADH
   vitamin B6: 17% of the RDA
   vitamin C: 15% of the RDA
   selenium: 6% of the ADH
   fibers: 1 gram
   Quite a bit calcium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B1

Garlic also contains small amounts of all kinds of other nutrients. It actually contains a bit of everything we need.

It also contains 42 calories, with 1.8 grams of protein and 9 grams of carbohydrates.

In short: Garlic contains few calories and a lot of vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and manganese. It also contains traces of other nutrients.

1. Garlic can fight diseases, including a cold
   Garlic is known to give the function of the immune system a boost. A large 12-week study showed that a daily garlic supplement reduced the number of colds by 63% compared to a placebo.

The average duration of the common cold symptoms was also reduced by 70%, from 5 days in a placebo to only 1.5 days in the garlic group.

Another study showed that with a high dose of garlic extract (2.56 grams per day) the number of sick days due to colds or flu decreased by 61%.

If you often have a cold, adding garlic to your diet could be very useful.

In short: A garlic supplement helps to prevent and reduce the severity of common diseases such as flu and colds.

1. The active ingredients in garlic can lower blood pressure
   Cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes are the most important causes of death in the world. High blood pressure is one of the main drivers of these diseases. Research on humans has shown that garlic supplementation makes a significant contribution to lowering blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.

One study shows that a dose of 600-1500 mg garlic extract per day for 24 weeks was just as effective in lowering blood pressure as the drug Atenolol.

The dose must be quite high to achieve these desired effects. The amount of allicin that is needed is equal to about 4 cloves of garlic per day. In short: A high dose of garlic seems to have a positive influence on blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. In some cases, their administration can be just as effective as a regular medication.

1. Garlic improves the cholesterol level, which can reduce the risk of heart disease
   Garlic can lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. In people with high cholesterol, garlic supplementation appears to reduce total and / or LDL cholesterol by about 10-15%.