Garlic has to be the ultimate health food. For centuries it has been
used for medicinal as well as culinary purposes but now scientists
are uncovering the secrets of it's amazing properties. It can
benefit nearly all aspects of your health from your heart to your
immune system to protecting against cancer. Garlic can even assit
with weight loss and impotence too.
Love it or hate it, and there doesn't seem to be an in between, no-one
can now deny the substantial research backing up the many claims of the
health benefits of garlic.
It has played a central role in the healthful Mediterranean Diet for many centuries and as such
is partly responsible for the lower rates of heart disease and cancer
than in other parts of the western world. The Spanish have long used
it as a preservative which helps to add creadence to it's
anti-bacterial properties and whole books have been devoted to the
health benefits of garlic, the most important of which I will try to
summarise here.
Garlic and Your Heart.
The positive effect of garlic on your circulatory system is extremely well documented
and it has been proved to lower blood pressure, decrease platelet aggregation,
lower serum triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol ( the bad type) levels,
increase serum HDL-cholesterol (the good type) and fibrinolysis
(the process through which the body breaks up blood clots.) Plus it
stimulates the production of nitric oxide in the
lining of blood vessel walls, a substance that helps them to relax. As a result
of these beneficial actions garlic helps to prevent arteriosclerosis
and thereby reduces the risk of heart attack or stroke. Two or three
cloves a day have cut the risk of subsequent heart attacks in half
in heart patients.
One reason for these beneficial effects may be garlic's ability to
reduce the amount of free radicals in the bloodstream.
According to a study published in Life Sciences, a daily dose of
1 ml/kg body weight of garlic extract for a period of 6 months resulted in a
significant reduction in oxidant (free radical) stress in the blood
of arteriosclerosis patients. It's positive effect on the circulatory system
improves blood flow throughout the body so has even been hailed as a cure for impotence!
Garlic and Cancer
This remarkable little bulb now tops the American National Cancer Institute's list
of potential cancer-preventative foods. It contains multiple anticancer
compounds and antioxidants, more than 30 at the last count, which such powerful
compounds as quercetin, diallyl sulphide,allin and ajoene. These have the ability
to block cancer causing agents such as nitrosamine and aflatoxin which
have been specifically linked to stomach, lung and liver cancer. Garlic’s
ajoene and allicin have also been shown to retard cancer cells as a type
of natural chemotherapy.
Meat cooked at high temperatures can produce carcinogenic (cancer producing)
chemicals and research has recently discovered that when meat is cooked with garlic
this effect is limited.
Garlic- and the Immune System.
Not surprisingly the presence of all these antioxidants in garlic have
a very positive effect on the immune system in general and can therefore
protect the body against all types of bacterial and viral attacks. Research
has recently even shown it to have an inhibiting effect on MSRA which
is currently reeking such havoc in U.K. hospitals.
Garlic also acts as a good cold medication, decongestant and expectorant. It is a
surprisingly good source of vitamins C, B6 and the minerals
selenium and manganese all of which have long been associated with immune system
boosting as well as other benefits.
Garlic-Promotes Weight Control.
Allicin is the most potent substance found in garlic and this has been shown
to not only lower blood pressure, insulin and triglyceride levels in
laboratory animals fed a sugar rich diet, but also to
prevent weight gain. A study published in the American
Journal of Hypertension reported that animals who developed high
insulin levels, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides were
given either allicin or served as a control. Although
all of the animals consumed the same amount of food, weight rose only in
the control group whereas the animals who were being supplemented with
allicin maintained stable weight or a slight decrease was actually noticed.
The researchers concluded that allicin may be of practical value for
weight control.
Article submitted by
Ruth Polak the owner of
target="_blank">www.costadelsol-vacationrentals.com
A web site specializing in holiday villas and apartments on the Costa
del Sol and in Rural Andalucia. You will also find lots of information
about Spain and Andalucia, in particular.
