The health benefits of Garlic cannot be overstated. It’s a superfood. Its medicinal use has been recorded in history for thousands of years. From ancient Egypt to Mesopotamia, records show that healers used garlic for various sicknesses and health reasons. Garlic can also be used as a preventative medicine.
Kitchens also benefit from this strong and flavorful herb. In Asia, few dishes can be cooked without garlic. However, one small problem is that garlic contains several sensitive nutrients that get destroyed in high temperatures.
That’s why even if you eat cooked garlic every day, it doesn’t have much effect on your well-being. The ideal way to take garlic for health reasons is to crush one or two cloves, put them in your mouth, and swallow with some water. The ideal time to take garlic is in the morning on an empty stomach.
If you fear the smell or bad breath, there’s nothing to worry about either. Have breakfast after 30 minutes to 1 hour and brush your teeth before going to work. The smell will go away.
Here are the top 15 health benefits of garlic that are medically proven:
1. Excellent Against Cold and Cough
Garlic can help prevent and cure common coughs and colds. Admit it, everyone catches some cold once or twice a year. Taking raw crushed garlic during the cold season can prevent you from catching any.
Garlic can also help heal faster after you have caught a cold. A potent combination of Vitamin C, A, B-6, K, Potassium, Niacin (B-3), iron, and zinc helps improve the overall immune system.
Garlic also has general antiviral properties that stop viruses from bonding with or entering healthy cells.
2. Helps with Diabetes
Garlic regulates blood sugar like no other. Therefore, it can be used to prevent diabetes progression in pre-diabetic patients. It can also help post-diabetic patients by reducing blood sugar levels.
If you take raw garlic in the morning for a long time, there is a chance you won’t have diabetes because garlic contains manganese that keeps the pancreas healthy and functioning properly.
Garlic also contains magnesium. Magnesium helps the production of insulin, which metabolizes sugar so Type-2 diabetes patients can benefit from garlic.
3. Improves Heart Health/Blood Pressure/ Cholesterol
Have heart problems, high blood pressure problems, or cholesterol issues? Garlic is your one-stop solution to all the problems. Garlic contains zinc, potassium, and manganese which make the heart muscles stronger.
Garlic is also a blood thinner, which means it allows blood to flow fluently improving blood pressure-related issues. Additionally, garlic reduces cholesterol levels in the blood.
4. Helps with Weight Loss (Metabolism)
As mentioned above, Garlic reduces cholesterol. It also has a potent combination of Vitamins B-6, B-3, manganese, selenium, and fiber. Therefore, together with heart health and good blood flow, it helps reduce weight.
It breaks down fatty acids and converts them into energy, which we will discuss later.
5. Improves Skin Conditions
When you have good blood flow and lower levels of fatty acid, your skin will surely improve. Around 15 studies have shown that garlic can help you have glowing and younger-looking skin.
It also reduces the black circles around your eyes and helps remove wrinkles on your forehead by evenly distributing collagen and elastin.
6. Has Anti-Aging Properties
Aging is directly related to cell production. Trillions of cells die every day and our body replaces them. This process (Mitosis) slows as we age. Garlic boosts mitosis and helps regenerate new cells and can stop aging.
7. Helps with Digestion
Garlic is rich in fiber and other nutrients that improve the functions of the digestive tract. You may say, that garlic is the ultimate cleanser. Having some raw garlic every day can keep your digestive tract clean and functional at an optimal level.
Garlic also has antibacterial properties that can help with UTIs, Ulcers, and other infections.
8. Has Anti-Cancer Properties
Garlic is a strong anti-oxidant and anti-toxin. It helps the body reduce and flush out free radicals and other toxins. If you take garlic as a preventative measure, your chances of catching cancer are reduced by 30%.
Garlic can protect against lung, liver, colon, prostate, and bladder cancers.
9. Improves Brain Functions (Memory/ Smartness)
The presence of zinc, potassium, magnesium, and B-6 are indications that garlic can improve our brain functions. Our brain requires the most amount of nutrients. Therefore, a good blood flow to the brain is essential. We already know that garlic improves blood flow.
Also, the presence of Iron, means that garlic helps oxygen delivery to our brain. In other words, garlic is a “Smart Drug”. It helps you think clearly, make decisions, improve memory, and even help with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
10. Releases Energy (Workout/ Sexual Performance)
Zinc, potassium, and Vitamin B (3, 6, and 9) directly improve heart performance and blood flow. That means you can see improvement in your workout activities. You can work out harder, faster, and over a long period.
That also means that your sexual performance improves with regular use of garlic. Both male and female genitalia depend on proper blood flow for sexual performance and gratification. So, garlic is your natural Viagra.
11. Has Anti-Anxiety/ Anti-Depression Properties
While anxiety and depression are mental health issues, they affect physical performance as well. Conversely, a physically healthy and active person enjoys a good level of mental health as well.
If you combine what we have learned about garlic so far (Improved brain functions, good blood flow, heart health, low cholesterol, cleansing, cell regeneration), it is not difficult to conclude that garlic can elevate mood and improve mental health.
People are quick to take anxiolytics like Valium or antidepressants. Why not try a natural method and take some garlic instead? – no side effects, no addiction.
[ Related: Where to Buy Valium online ]
12. Improves Bone Health
The presence of calcium in garlic is very little. It does not contribute to bone health much. However, some other nutrients like selenium and folate help absorb calcium better.
This implies that if you take garlic regularly, it will help extract and absorb calcium from other foods (eggs) and drinks (milk) and store it in your bones.
Prevent Osteoporosis before you catch it with regular use of garlic.
13. Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Inflammation is our body’s response to injury. Our body tends to constrict the blood vessels around the injured area to prevent blood from flowing out. Garlic helps restore blood flow and reduce inflammation.
You can also buy garlic oil that you can directly apply to the swollen area.
14. Improves Liver Functions
Do you have a drinking problem? Chances are you are hurting your liver. Garlic is a cleanser, a detoxifier, and a cell re-generator. It can prevent and treat liver damage. It also contains manganese that directly strengthens liver tissue.
15. Helps with Drug or Alcohol Withdrawals
It is another benefit of garlic’s cleansing effects. It can help detoxify our blood, which means it helps with withdrawals. Additionally, as we have seen that garlic can elevate mood, it can be very helpful during drug and alcohol withdrawal.
The Takeaway
There are so many other helpful properties of garlic that we can’t list them all. Therefore, we have only listed the benefits that are medically proven. We hope this article helps and has a positive impact on your life.