Health Benefits of Garlic |
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On Friday I wrote about the history of garlic. Some of you seemed to find it interesting, but many of you don’t read this site for history. You come here to learn about health. What health benefits does have to offer? It turns out there are quite a few.
Garlic has long been known to have antibiotic properties. Louis Pasteur showed that garlic killed bacteria in a laboratory. Around the 1900s, garlic was used to treat tuberculosis. In World War II battle wounds were treated with garlic. It’s not the best antibiotic around. Wright State University estimates that garlic is 1/100 as potent as penicillin when used as an antibiotic. People often become resistant to modern antibiotics. However this isn’t the case with garlic - it can continues to fight the good fight.
Here are some other health benefits of garlic:
- Antioxidant - Like some vitamins garlic has been shown to protect the body against free radicals.
- Lowering Cholesterol - It looks like one study found a 7% drop overall
- Prevent Cancer - Eating garlic regularly has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer in the digestive system. It does this by reducing the formation of carcinogenic compounds. Lab studies show that garlic’s sulfur compounds slow the growth of cancer. This is particularly true of breast and skin cancers.
- Lowers Blood Pressure - Garlic is a tremendous way to fight high blood pressure. It dose this in a variety of ways that are best explained at Garlic Central.
- Repel Mosquitoes - Perhaps this is why vampires are repelled by garlic in folklore - they both live off of blood.
- Acne - Some use it to treat acne symptoms. Here’s one attempt, but be warned - she does write that it is smelly.
The first four benefits there will likely add years to your life. Why not have something with garlic tonight?
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April 8th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Garlic has been very helpful to me lately! I’ve been trying to eat it fresh at least once a day. I found out about the benefits of garlic from a home remedies book, then came across this site and decided I should start taking it for my congestion and more-frequent-than-usual colds. I found a trick for those who find garlic too strong to eat: try stooping some chopped up garlic in tea with sugar & honey! Hides the strong taste and doesn’t linger on your breath as much