Garlic is often used in dishes for its distinctive aroma and pungent flavor. According to the World's Healthiest Foods, garlic offers many health benefits---it contributes to heart health, offers antibacterial and antiviral properties and reduces the risk of developing certain types of cancers. According to Richard Passwater, Ph.D, Garlic Festival Foods, chopping or crushing garlic stimulates an enzymatic process that converts a phytochemical or nutrient-like substance in garlic, into a more active form.
Cardiovascular Benefits
Compounds released in chopped garlic may offer health benefits for your heart. Garlic contains various sulfur compounds such as diallyl disulfide or DADS. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, diallyl disulfide has proven to reduce blood pressure mildly and help smooth blood flow by inhibiting platelets from sticking together and adhering to arterial walls. These benefits may improve cardiovascular health outcomes, although evidence is still preliminary. According to an article published in the "Journal of Nutrition" in March 2006, garlic's sulfur compounds lower blood cholesterol levels by inhibiting its production, which takes place in the liver. As little as 1/2 clove of garlic daily offers heart health benefits.
Antibacterial Properties
The major sulfur compound in garlic is alliin. Crushing or chopping it converts this compound to allicin which acts as a powerful antiviral and antibacterial agent. Garlic is also a good food source of vitamin C. Together, these nutrients in garlic help kill harmful germs, according to World's Healthiest Foods as well as an article published in "Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry" in September 2009. Allicin is particularly effective in fighting common infections such as colds, ear and throat infections and stomach viruses. Both garlic and onions, a vegetable within the same family, contain compounds that inhibit enzymes in the body that generate the body's inflammatory process, known as lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase---so garlic is also beneficial for reducing inflammation.
Cancer Prevention
Diallyl disulfide may help prevent cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, it protects the body's cells against changes that may lead to tumor development, inhibits tumor growth, interferes with the ability of cancer cells to multiply and divide, and garlic may kill cancerous and precancerous cells directly. Another potent sulfur-like substance in garlic is diallyl trisulfide (DATS). It is particularly beneficial for killing lung cancer cells, working in much the same way as chemotherapy.
According to research published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in November 2006, garlic might reduce the risk of developing all types of cancers in individuals that consume the most of this vegetable---particularly cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus and larynx.
References
- Garlic Festival Foods: The Chemistry of Garlic Health Benefits
- U.S. National Library of Medicine: Garlic
- "Journal of Nutrition"; Inhibition of sterol 4alpha-methyl oxidase is the principal mechanism by which garlic decreases cholesterol synthesis; DK Singh et al.; Mar 2006
- "Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry"; Antibacterial potential of garlic-derived allicin and its cancellation by sulfhydryl compounds; H Fujisawa et al.; Sep 2009
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Onion and garlic use and human cancer; C Galeone et al.; Nov 2006
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