What are the health benefits of garlic?

What are the health benefits of garlic?

You know garlic – keeps vampires away, a staple ingredient in many dishes from cultures worldwide, and a label that goes with bad breath.

Is it a vegetable? Herb? Spice? Who cares. It is good stuff.

It gives excellent flavor and has many purported health benefits.

It is part of the allium family that includes chives, leeks, onions, scallions, and shallots. The compounds that give these plants their unique smell and taste are likely what also provides health benefits.

So what are some of these alleged benefits of garlic?

The purported benefits include curing a cold, heart health benefits including helping with healthy blood pressure and cholesterol and minimizing cognitive issues such as age-related dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. 

The challenge with studying garlic and its purported benefits is that it is challenging to do double-blind placebo-controlled trials – in which the study subjects and those performing the research don’t know who has the garlic and who doesn’t.

However, garlic announces itself very well, and it is challenging to mask its smell and flavor. Because it is evident if you have garlic or not, many studies look at overall diet patterns.

In an intervention study, people will know they are taking garlic. Why is this a problem? The widely known and genuine placebo effect. People who take something they think will make them better will get better even if there is no active ingredient that would help.

Still, people have studied the potential health effects of garlic, so here is a run-down of what those claims are and the results.

Does it help your immune system? 

The research isn’t conclusive, but if people keep their distance, they are less likely to get sick.

Does it help your heart? 

Probably. The phytochemicals (plant chemicals) and antioxidants in garlic will likely help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels (along with a healthy heart diet and lifestyle). It also appears to reduce inflammation, which can help minimize the risk of heart disease.

Garlic alone won’t “save” you, but it has benefits.

Does it help with cancer? 

Like with heart disease, the antioxidants in garlic may help reduce the risk of certain cancers. But, again, we must note that garlic alone won’t do this, but it is one of many factors that can contribute to reduced risk of certain cancers.

Is garlic a “miracle” substance?

Looking at all the research done on garlic, this is one of those “miracle” substances that I wouldn’t believe all the hype about if there wasn’t all this research.

The benefits of garlic include helping reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammation, bone disease, and metabolic disorders (including diabetes), and it has powerful antioxidants. 

While we always (usually) end a research paper with “further studies” needed to confirm or determine what contributes to the benefits, it is a good bet that garlic is good for you with minimal adverse effects.

What is the negative effect of garlic?  

Well, if you are a vampire – allegedly, this is a problem.

Bad breath?

But really, unless there is an allergy to allium foods, not a big deal overall.

And one bulb has multiple cloves of garlic. That one bulb will go a long way – since many recipes call for a certain number of garlic cloves. Don’t overbuy or overuse a single dish. No harm, but it probably won’t taste good.

Garlic is most beneficial when cut, diced, minced, or crushed.

Stick with garlic in the food and skip the supplements.

No matter how you like it, getting real garlic as opposed to supplements is best.

Reference: Ansary, J., Forbes-Hernández, T. Y., Gil, E., Cianciosi, D., Zhang, J., Elexpuru-Zabaleta, M., Simal-Gandara, J., Giampieri, F., & Battino, M. (2020). Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview. Antioxidants, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9070619