Glorious Garlic

As I told a friend recently, the more I learn about garlic, the more amazed I am by its health-promoting properties.  Fortunately, I like the taste of garlic, so it's easy for me to use it often in my cooking.  And like everything else, eating it fresh is more beneficial than taking a capsule. (Especially eating it raw, but I'm not one who can do that!)

Of course, I can't eat garlic every day and I don't like having garlic breath, but I've learned that even taking one or two capsules of deodorized garlic when I feel an illness coming on (or am sick), can really help improve my health.

Here are some things I've learned lately about this little allium vegetable: (See complete article here for more information.)

• When using garlic in cooking, it is best to not only add it at the end (and thus reduce its cooking time), but to also allow it to sit for at least 5-15 minutes before cooking or adding anything to it.
• It may help improve iron metabolism--and iron is crucial in fending off viruses.
• It produces cardiovascular benefits by helping protect against oxidative stress and unwanted inflammation, which are two things that can lead to heart diseases, diabetes, and hypertension.
• It may be able to prevent blood clots.
• It lowers blood pressure.
• It is an excellent source of vitamins C and B6.
• It helps in controlling and preventing infection by bacteria, viruses, yeast/fungi, and worms.
• It is an "anti-cancer" food.
• Crushed garlic heals infections when it is applied topically to infections (see this article for a wealth of information).

Maybe the saying should be "Some garlic a day keeps the doctor away"!