Benefits of Garlic

(En Español)

Garlic enthusiasts have exaggerated their therapeutic properties. The history of this plant shows a strong odor and potential medical historians have identified more than a hundred non-culinary uses of garlic. For example, the Egyptians gave it to the builders of the pyramids to increase their strength and prevent dysentery. Europeans ate during the Middle Ages to protect against the plague. Doctors in the fields of battle in the two World Wars garlic used to disinfect wounds. It has been used to treat athlete’s foot, tuberculosis and hypertension. Even rumored to have aphrodisiac properties.

Most of these focus on the role garlic plays in cardiovascular disease and cancer with antibacterial and antioxidant properties. It is clear that garlic is an herb worthy to be taken into account, and a remedy whose impact rivals in some cases, with pharmaceutical drugs.

Read “Tea Benefits”

Help for the heart

Garlic contains more than one hundred chemically active compounds. One of the most important is the alliin, a sulfur compound that is converted into allicin when the bulbs are crushed or chewed. Scientists believe that allicin is responsible for the antibiotic properties of garlic, as well as many of its benefits for the heart. What we know for certain is that in countries where people eat lots of garlic, appears to have unusually low rates of heart disease.
Consider the effects of garlic on blood platelets, blood cell structures that tend to stick together and form clots in the coronary arteries. One study found that the rate of aggregation or platelet aggregation in men who were given the equivalent of six cloves of fresh garlic lowered from 10 to 58%. Certain chemicals that contain garlic can be as effective as aspirin in inhibiting clot formation.
Apparently, garlic works similarly to drugs that inhibit cholesterol production in the liver, cholesterol is a waxy substance that contributes to plaque formation and increases the risk of heart disease. Reviews of dozens of scientific studies indicate that eating garlic every day can lower cholesterol levels between 9 and 12%.
Garlic improves blood circulation throughout the body and not only in the coronary arteries. It is a vasodilator, which means it expands blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. Also thought to improve the flexibility of the arteries.

Combats cancer

Dozens of studies suggest that garlic prevents cellular changes that cause cancer and can kill cancer cells that have already been formed. In one study, showed that eating less than one clove of garlic a day reduces the risk of prostate cancer by 50%. In a study of women in Iowa, United States, it was determined that people who eat garlic every week have about a third less likely to develop colon cancer than those who never eat it.

In a Chinese study showed that garlic consumption is associated with a lower risk of stomach cancer. The incidence in people who eat lots of garlic was only 8% of which is recorded in people who eat very little garlic, but garlic consumption was very high, and amounted to 20 grams each day.
Nobody knows for sure how exactly Garlic fights cancer. Allicin and other compounds containing seem to work directly against tumors. The garlic may block the formation of carcinogenic compounds. Neutralizes harmful molecules called free radicals, byproducts of oxidation that contribute to aging of cells and damage DNA and initiate carcinogenic changes in cells. Garlic inhibits the formation of nitrites, chemicals that affect the development of stomach cancer. It also strengthens the immune system.

What is?
• Colds
• high cholesterol
• cuts and scratches
• diarrhea
• sore throat
• Hypertension
• fungal infections
• Urinary tract infections
• bites and stings
• stye
• Ear Problems
• sinusitis
• cough

An antibiotic edible

Raw garlic is crushed and applied to wounds kills a variety of organisms that cause infections, including fungi that cause athlete’s foot, vaginal yeast infections and many types of ear infections. Kills many different types of bacteria, including that which causes tuberculosis and the dreaded E. coli, responsible for many urinary tract infections. You can even kill some bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics.
Garlic kills germs both outside and inside the body. Eating can help protect the stomach lining against H. pylori, the bacterium that causes most peptic ulcers. In addition, because the essential oil of garlic is excreted through the lungs, it is especially beneficial for treating respiratory diseases.

How much to take

One or two cloves of raw garlic a day or boiled enough for their healing benefits. Raw garlic contains more properties, because cooking inhibits the formation of allicin and kills some healing chemicals.
Must crush or chop and chew the tooth to ensure that the allicin in garlic oil becomes allicin. According to the National Cancer Institute USA, a delay of 15 minutes between peeling and cooking garlic allows enzymes to carry out activities that can help preserve some healing properties that are lost in cooking.
Problems with garlic are its smell and taste. If you want to avoid garlic breath, chew parsley after eating garlic.
Doctors agree that fresh garlic offers greater healing and preventive properties. However, if you do not tolerate the taste, take garlic supplements with enteric coating. They will not cause garlic odor on the breath because they pass through the stomach undigested. The doctors advise taking 400 to 600 mg of garlic in supplement form daily, but this dose may be taken four times a day when it comes to fighting a cold.