The official name for garlic is allium sativum. Garlic is a plant with a very potent, bitter flavor that is used in both the medical and culinary fields for centuries.
The medicinal medicinal component in garlic is allicin, which has been proven to have amazing anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant and anti-fungal properties.
Garlic is used to treat a range of ailments
Garlic is often used to as a treatment for high cholesterol, respiratory issues, parasites, low energy and poor digestion. Research indicates that eating garlic on a regular basis is effective in lowering blood pressure, boosting the immune system and controlling blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels. In addition, garlic has also been known to decrease the risk of colon, stomach and esophageal cancer.
Eating raw garlic is not recommended, because the enzymes that are needed in order to produce allicin can be destroyed in the stomach before it has a chance to have any positive effects on the body.
This is the reason powdered or dried garlic tablets are more appropriate when you want to take advantage of the immune-boosting abilities of garlic. Research has proven that other forms of garlic including aged garlic, cooked garlic and pickled garlic are all beneficial as well.
1. Garlic Can Help With Allergies
Garlic is used by many people because of the antiviral properties that it possesses, which helps to fight off allergies. All you have to do is take a single garlic supplement tablet every day for about two or three weeks before it is time for the normal allergy season start.
2. Garlic To Help Reduce Coughing
Garlic is known to have antibacterial properties, which make it a superb treatment for coughs and many other throat annoyances. Garlic has also been known to decrease the rigorousness of infections of the upper respiratory tract.
3. Garlic For Treatment of Diabetes
Garlic is often used to normalize blood sugar levels by escalating the release of insulin in individuals who have diabetes. An effective therapy is to consume a single garlic tablet or capsule each day.
4. Garlic To Help Reduce High Blood Pressure
Several laboratory tests have proven that individuals who suffer from high blood pressure can lower blood pressure levels effectively by taking garlic capsules every day for at least five months.
In fact, patients who participated in the tests reduced their blood pressure levels effectively as patients who took prescription drugs to lower their blood pressure. The recommended dosage is six hundred to nine hundred milligrams of garlic once a day, usually in capsule or tablet form.
5. Garlic To Help Reduce High Cholesterol Levels
Research indicates that consuming six hundred to nine hundred milligrams of garlic a day reduces cholesterol levels. In addition, garlic has also been known to lessen the formation of arterial plaque by as much as five to eighteen percent.
Garlic powder and fresh garlic should be readily available at your local grocery store. The majority of health food stores carry garlic in the form of capsules, extracts, oils and tablets.
For most people, there are no serious side effects to consuming garlic regularly. However, some people are allergic to garlic in large quantities and may experience heartburn, flatulence and other stomach irritations. Check with your doctor before beginning any new diet or exercise regimen.
Garlic is one of the healthiest foods you can eat, and is so often overlooked, or just added in small quantities for flavor. But, in many other countries it is eaten in much larger quantities than here in the US, and is eaten just as much for the health benefits as the taste.
Garlic complements nearly anything you put it with, and considering that it can help keep blood pressure stable and help control diabetes, it’s surprising that we don’t find more ways to incorporate it. Garlic is also easy to grow at home; even for the person who doesn’t have a lot of garden space.
It can easily be grown in a container if you don’t have much garden space. If you want to grow your own garlic so that you can have plenty, plant it in the fall (around October) and snip off the stems in May. Your garlic should be ready to go in July. If you store it in a cool dry place, it will keep for a long time.