"Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food."
Those are famous words from the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, often called the father of Western medicine.
He actually used to prescribe garlic to treat a variety of medical conditions.
Modern science has recently confirmed many of these beneficial health effects.
Today let's talk about some Proven Health Benefits of Garlic
1. Garlic Contains Compounds With Potent Medicinal Properties :- Garlic is a plant in the Allium (onion) family. It is closely related to onions, shallots and leeks. Each segment of a garlic bulb is called a clove. There are about 10–20 cloves in a single bulb, give or take.Garlic grows in many parts of the world and is a popular ingredient in cooking due to its strong smell and delicious taste.The sulfur compounds from garlic enter the body from the digestive tract and travel all over the body, where it exerts its potent biological effects.
2. Garlic Is Highly Nutritious But Has Very Few Calories:- Calorie for calorie, garlic is incredibly nutritious.
One clove (3 grams) of raw garlic contains (5):
- Manganese: 2% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Vitamin B6: 2% of the DV
- Vitamin C: 1% of the DV
- Selenium: 1% of the DV
- Fiber: 0.06 grams
- Decent amounts of calcium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B1
Garlic also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients. In fact, it contains a little bit of almost everything you need.
3. Garlic Can Combat Sickness, Including
the Common Cold
Garlic supplements are known to boost the function of the immune system.
One large, 12-week study found that a daily garlic supplement reduced the number of colds by 63% compared to a placebo.The average length of cold symptoms was also reduced by 70%, from 5 days in the placebo group to just 1.5 days in the garlic group. Another study found that a high dose of aged garlic extract (2.56 grams per day) reduced the number of days sick with cold or flu by 61%.
4. The Active Compounds in Garlic Can
Reduce Blood Pressure
Cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes are the world's biggest killers.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the most important drivers of these diseases.
Human studies have found garlic supplements to have a significant impact on reducing blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.
In one study, 600–1,500 mg of aged garlic extract was just as effective as the drug Atenolol at reducing blood pressure over a 24-week period. Supplement doses must be fairly high to have the desired effects. The amount needed is equivalent to about four cloves of garlic per day.
5. Garlic Improves Cholesterol Levels,
Which May Lower the Risk of Heart Disease
Garlic can lower total and cholesterol. For those with high cholesterol, garlic supplements appear to reduce total and/or LDL cholesterol by about 10–15%. Looking at LDL (the "bad") and HDL (the "good") cholesterol specifically, garlic appears to lower LDL but has no reliable effect on HDL. High triglyceride levels are another known risk factor for heart disease, but garlic seems to have no significant effects on triglyceride levels
