Garlic

Garlic
Prevent heart disease and stroke, Reduce the risk of stomach and colon cancers, Lower cholesterol

An enormous amount of research has been done on this pungent bulb, and the results have been, quite literally, amazing. Dozen of medical benefits have been linked to garlic.

Studies show that garlic lowers cholesterol and thins the blood, which help prevent high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

Research has shown that garlic help boost immunity and reduce high levels of blood sugar. It relieves asthma and keep individual cells healthy and string - delaying or preventing some of the conditions associated with aging.

Garlic’s healing potential has been recognised for thousands of years. Historically, it’s been used to treat everything from wounds and infections to digestive problems. In World War II, for example, when Russian soldiers ran out of penicillin for their wounds, they requisitioned garlic cloves. And today, in Germany, Japan, and other modern countries, garlic formulas are sold as over-the-counter drugs.

There’s increasing evidence that including garlic in the diet may play a role in preventing and treating cancer. Studies suggest that garlic can block cancer in several ways: by preventing cell changes that lead to cancer, by stopping tumors from growing, or by killing the harmful cells outright.

A compound in garlic called s-allyclysteine stops the metabolic action that causes healthy cell to become cancerous. The substance called DADS (sulfur compounds) slows down the growth of cancer cells by interfering with their ability to divide and multiply. DADS chokes cancer cells until their numbers are reduced and they start dying.

Another substance in garlic is diallyl trisulfide (DATS), which is 10 times more powerful that DADS at killing human lung cancer cells. Its effectiveness is comparable to that of 5-fluorouracil, a widely used chemotherapy agent. And since garlic is vastly less toxic to healthy cells than the chemotherapy drug, there’s hope that some day garlic could form the basis for a gentler chemotherapy.

Garlic also contains compounds that help prevent nitrites - common substances found in some foods as well as a variety of everyday pollutants - from transforming themselves into nitrosamines, harmful compounds that can trigger cancerous changes in the body.

A frightening trend in recent years has been antibiotic resistance - the ability of bacteria to shrug off the effects of once-effective drugs. Recent research suggests garlic more effective where traditional drugs have failed or are too toxic.

Recently Boston City Hospital completed study where they swabbed 14 different strains of bacteria from the noses and throats of children with ear infections. Many of these infections were resisting treatments with antibiotics. Garlic extract effectively killed the resistant germs.

In another study, researchers at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, tested whether garlic could be used to treat otomycosis, or swimmer’s ear. Swimmer’s ear is caused by a fungus called aspergillus. And normal treatments for it less than ideal. Topical drugs can be uncomfortable and cannot be used if the ear drum has already been broken.
In the laboratory study, researchers treated swimmer’s ear fungi with mixture of garlic extract and water. Even at very low concentrations, the garlic blocked the growth of fungi just as well as available drugs, and in some cases, it proved even better.

You can enjoy eating garlic fresh - crushed raw garlic contains allicin, a compound that breaks down quickly into cascade of healthful compounds like DADS and DATS but each form of garlic - raw, cooked, or powdered - has its own important compounds. By taking advantage of each of these forms, you can slip more garlic and its important healing benefits into your menu.