Most people think of garlic as a humble spice that lends some flavor to recipes but no more. In reality, garlic is one of the healthiest foods out there. People throughout history have used garlic as a medicine, but those same health benefits can be gathered from cooking with it as long as chefs know how to incorporate this delicious but strongly flavored food in sufficient amounts.
Until recently, most people, including scientists, believed that garlic had to be consumed raw to take advantage of its health effects. Thankfully, that’s not true. From using minced garlic in food to roasting it and eating it as a vegetable in its own right, recipes that feature this delicious superfood can still confer many of the plant’s top benefits.
How Cooking Affects Garlic
The reason that researchers and nutritionists used to assume that consuming garlic raw was the only way to take advantage of its beneficial compounds is that the heat from cooking can inactivate a key enzyme found in the delicious but spicy vegetable. The enzyme, alliinase, is responsible for creating allicin, which breaks down to form beneficial organosulfur compounds that help to explain garlic’s positive impacts on many aspects of health, so it was logical to assume that garlic was the healthiest raw.
The good news is that alliinase begins to do its essential job as soon as fresh garlic is crushed. Crushing the cloves more than 10 minutes before cooking them allows the enzyme to work its magic before the heat inactivates it.
Garlic’s Potent Therapeutic Compounds
Allicin isn’t the only potent therapeutic compound found in the garlic plant. There are plenty of other sulfur compounds that confer health benefits, the best-known of which are diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide, and s-allyl cysteine. Garlic is also remarkably high in key nutrients like vitamin B6, manganese, vitamin C, and selenium despite being a very low-calorie food.
Diallyl Trisulfide Protects the Heart
When taken in garlic oil, diallyl trisulfide has been shown to protect the heart both after heart attacks and during cardiac surgery. Researchers believe it could also be an effective treatment for heart failure, although there is not yet enough evidence to prove that claim.
Additional studies on garlic oil show that it may help to protect patients with diabetes from heart-related complications like cardiomyopathy. This chronic cardiac disease causes abnormal thickening, enlargement, or stiffening of the heart and is the leading cause of death among diabetics. Mouse studies show that garlic oil provides significant protection against this form of heart damage.
Organo-Sulfur Compounds Are Effective at Treating Brain Cancer
Glioblastomas are a particularly deadly type of brain tumor that may be susceptible to treatment using the organo-sulfur compounds found in garlic. The Medical University of SC researchers reported that a pure organo-sulfur compound referred to as DATS was the most effective at destroying glioblastoma cells, but two other compounds, DAS and DADS, were also found to be helpful.
Diallyl Sulfide Is a Powerful Antibiotic
Studies have shown that diallyl sulfide is 100 times as effective at fighting off infections from Campylobacter bacterium as two of today’s most popular antibiotics. This bacterium is a common cause of infections of the intestines, which makes consuming garlic a convenient way to fight it.
Organosulfur Compound DADS May Protect Against Liver Injury
Chronic overconsumption of alcohol is known to induce liver injuries, due largely to ethanol-induced oxidative stress. Given that garlic is packed with powerful antioxidants, it’s unsurprising that it may have a protective effect on chronic alcohol users. Research into how this protective effect may be exerted shows that the organosulfur compound DADS is responsible.
Does Cooking with Garlic Confer the Same Benefits?
Most of the studies performed in both rodents and people have used garlic extracts rather than whole cloves, but it’s largely for the sake of consistency. Studies of people who consume garlic either raw or cooked have also shown numerous benefits.
Garlic and Prostate Cancer
Glioblastomas aren’t the only type of cancer cells that may respond to the chemical compounds in garlic. Doctors at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, China published a comprehensive literature review in 2013 that showed all allium vegetables, but particularly garlic, to have a protective effect against prostate cancer.
Garlic and Hip Osteoarthritis
A twin study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders evaluated the impact of a diet high in allium vegetables on women’s risk of developing hip osteoarthritis. The long-term study had over 1,000 participants. Those that consumed greater amounts of fruits and vegetables, particularly garlic, showed fewer signs of osteoarthritis at the same age as their twins who did not follow plant-based diets.
Garlic and Preterm Delivery Risk
There are many healthful or therapeutic compounds that pregnant women must avoid because of the impact they could have on the developing fetus. Garlic is not one of them. On the contrary, women who consumed large amounts of antimicrobial and prebiotic foods, especially garlic, demonstrated a lower risk of spontaneous preterm delivery.
Garlic, Cholesterol, and Blood Pressure
A small study performed by researchers at Ankara University showed that participants with high cholesterol and hypertension who were given garlic extract as a supplement for four months showed improved blood lipid profiles and significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The researchers also noted decreased levels of oxidation products in the participants’ blood samples.
Can Garlic Really Protect Against the Common Cold?
Garlic has developed a reputation as an effective prophylactic against the common cold, but until recently, most of the evidence to back up that claim was anecdotal. Now, research published in American Family Physician shows that eating garlic can decrease the frequency of colds, although the jury is divided on whether it really helps people recover from colds faster.
Find New Ways to Use This Delicious Superfood
People have known about the health benefits of garlic since ancient times, but now, modern chefs and consumers have the evidence from Western science required to back up that implicit knowledge. The best part is that there are almost infinite ways to incorporate this delicious superfood into different meals, so don’t be afraid to experiment.
