National Garlic Month- See Breakthrough studies

                              

Yesterday was World Garlic Day. It is celebrated every year. So in the spirit of the celebrations. I bring you some recent studies of garlic and its benefits.

Garlic (Allium sativum L.), a member of the onion family, has been cultivated for thousands of years and is widely used for both its culinary and medicinal attributes. Garlic was one of the earliest “performance enhancing” substances.
It was traditionally used in ancient cultures to reduce fatigue and enhance the work capacity of labourers. Most notably, it was administered to Olympic athletes in ancient Greece.

Garlic has long been considered a herbal “wonder drug” with a reputation for preventing everything from the common cold and flu to the Plague!

Some of the old stories of garlic many benefits have been backed up by modern scientific research. There are two main medicinal ingredients which produce the garlic health benefits are Allicin and Diallyl sulphides.

Amongst the most interesting benefits are that garlic assist in the management of cholesterol and increased blood pressure levels. In one study, aged garlic extract at doses of 600-1,500 mg was just as effective as Tablet Atenolol at reducing blood pressure over a 24 week period.

For those with high cholesterol, garlic supplementation appears to reduce total and/or LDL cholesterol by about 10-15%.

Modern science has shown that garlic is a very powerful antibiotics albeit broad-spectrum rather than targeted. The bacteria in the body do not appear to evolve resistance to the garlic as they do to many modern pharmaceutical antibiotics. This means that its positive health benefits can continue over time rather than helping to breed antibiotic resistant "superbugs".

Some studies have also shown that garlic have a powerful antioxidant effect. Antioxidants can help to protect the body against damaging free radicals.

A four week study in employees of a car battery plant (excessive exposure to lead) found that garlic reduced lead levels in the blood by 19%. It also reduced many clinical signs of toxicity, including headaches and blood pressure. Three doses of garlic each day even outperformed the drug D-penicillamine in symptom reduction.

So, eat garlic once a week if you can (We do not want you to over eat).

Enjoy!