Health Benefits of Garlic

• Garlic has been used effectively as food and medicine for many centuries.
• It has long been used as an antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal agent and a treatment for infection.

Garlic & Cancer :

1. Garlic & its allyl sufur constituents have been reported to exert their protective effects on colonic carcinogenesis.
2. Various studies have shown that garlic can slow the development of bladder, skin, stomach and colon cancer.
3. Risk of cancer in the distal colon was 50% lower in women with highest consumption of garlic than that of women who did not consume garlic.
4. In northern China, where garlic production is high, people have the lowest mortality from Stomach cancer in all of china.

Garlic & Cardiovascular Disease :

1. Regular use of garlic can be effective in reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke because it lowers total cholesterol and LDL Cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations without affecting HDL-Cholesterol concentrations.
2. On average, one-half to one clove of Garlic per day reduces hypercholesterolemia by 10%.
3. Reductions in blood pressure in response to garlic supplementation have also been seen.
4. Platelet aggregation is one of the first steps in the formation of blood clots. Garlic also increases fibrinolReReduction (breakup the clot) and inhibits platelet aggregation.
5. Researchers found that daily ingestion of 3g garlic for 6 months resulted in an 80% decrease in serum thromboxane B2 and a 20% decrease in coronary heart disease in middle-aged men.

So How do we include it in our Diet?

• Dried garlic is less effective than fresh garlic.
• The enzyme Alliinase present in garlic is inactivated by heat. The protective effect of garlic can be partially conserved, recommended by some scientists, that crushed or chopped garlic be allowed to "stand" for at least ten minutes prior to cooking.