Garlic Health Benefits
- How About Growing Garlic in the Garden?

Garlic health benefits are numerous.

Few plants have a longer history than garlic.

It was used by Egyptian pharaohs, ancient Greeks and Romans to strengthen the body and fight intestinal parasites. And still at the beginning of the 21st century, it is used as a mild antibiotic.

As new knowledge about its effectiveness continues to appear, the research on garlic health benefits is far from being over.

Garlic has antibiotic characteristics.

It enhances the secretion of bile, prevents the creation of blood clots, dilates the blood vessels and strengthens the immune system.

It is effective against general weakness, reduced work ability, nervousness and insomnia.

It goes well with all types of food.

In folk medicine it is still used in the treatment of respiratory tract problems (bronchitis, whooping cough) and against intestinal parasites.

Garlic Health Benefits

• Sulfur compounds in garlic block the mutagenic effects of some toxic compounds
  
  
• Neutralizes carcinogenic compounds preventing the occurrence of tumors of the liver, esophagus, oral cavity, stomach and colon. It also stops cancer growth by destroying cancer cells and stimulating the defense mechanism against tumors
  
  
• Helps in lowering triglycerides and prevents the creation of LDL cholesterol, while increasing the amount of desirable HDL cholesterol in the blood.
  
  
• Reduces the levels of free radicals and strengthens antioxidant defenses (protecting against harmful effects of nicotine)
  
  
• Reduces high blood pressure
  
  
• Prevents heart problems in diabetics
  
  
• Prevents atherosclerotic processes by reducing fat in the blood, deceasing high blood pressure, and reducing plaque on the inner walls of blood vessels
  
  
• It is excellent against bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites (its antibacterial effect remains even when it is cooked at 100° C for some time)
  
  
• Prevents clotting of blood cells, formation of plaque in blood vessels, and maintains the elasticity of the walls of the aorta
  
  
• Because of its favorable effects, some of its compounds could be used as drugs for neuro-degenerative diseases
  
  
• It does not cause any toxic or mutagenic effects.

How good is garlic for lowering cholesterol?

Try this easy traditional recipe and lower cholesterol naturally!

Planting Garlic

Because of many garlic health benefits, growing it in the garden is a great idea.

How to plant garlic?

Buy some garlic bulbs from a garden center (or from a seed merchant). Choose a variety that suits your soil and climate.

Simply break the bulbs up into individual cloves, plant the cloves in rows approximately 5 cm (or 2 in) below the soil surface (with free space of 10 cm (3-4 in) between the cloves and 30 cm (12 in) between the rows.

You can plant it in early spring or in autumn.

It grows better in light sandy soils.

Harvesting Garlic

When to harvest garlic?

When you see the leaves starting to wilt. The leaves will turn yellow when the bulbs are ready for lifting, usually in mid-summer.

However, the only way to be sure is to actually dig a few bulbs and slice them in half. If the cloves have swollen, they are ready.

Storing Garlic

The best way to store it is to tie the leaves together and hang the bulbs in a cool, frost-free area.

Garlic Health Benefits and Allicin

The main active ingredient in garlic is alin, a compound that is responsible for its bad smell. One of the main compounds produced from alin by the action of enzymes is allicin. The content of alin varies in garlic.

If you cannot bear the unpleasant smell of garlic, you can get garlic extract capsules. However, the allicin content of different supplements can vary hugely which is important since garlic health benefits depend on this compound.

So, since different products are manufactured with different allicin contents, when buying such products take careful note of how much of the active substance is included.

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