Garlic supplements have a number of health benefits, which is why they are popular among those who struggle with conditions such as heart disease. You eat cooked garlic every day, but did you know that raw garlic contains compounds that can improve your health and potentially lengthen your life? Garlic has been used as medicine in ancient times. It was even given to the original Olympic athletes in Greece who believed it improved their physical performance.
Garlic is an excellent way to add more flavor to your diet, and all you need is a clove or two of garlic added to your food. There is no need to eat raw garlic each day if it’s not your thing. You can instead go for a daily supplement for some of the benefits that garlic provides. There are different types of garlic supplements and they vary in effectiveness. In this article, we’ll explore the differences between them and the benefits they provide.
The health advantages of garlic are outlined below
1. Garlic is a natural antibiotic
Garlic was historically used in folk medicine for a wide range of ailments from intestinal worms to ear infections. It was also used as a natural antibiotic before modern antibiotics were invented. Studies have shown that garlic is able to kill antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, and it has been widely regarded as medicine since ancient times. It also kills fungus, fighting Candida overgrowth, treating yeast infections, and curing athlete’s foot. It is also effective at killing viruses that are linked to the cold virus, plantar’s wart, and the HPV virus.
2. Helps Prevent Aging
Garlic contains antioxidants that fight aging and disease by fighting off free radicals. When the body has been overwhelmed by too many free radicals, garlic can help neutralize them to prevent cellular damage.
3. Improves your immune system
Garlic is also beneficial for your immune system, boosting the number of white blood cells which fight off infections. In fact, it has been shown to lessen the length and severity of common colds. Garlic extract wards off neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia while protecting bone health as well.
4. Provides Key Nutrients
Garlic is rich in manganese, phosphorus, copper, calcium, magnesium, and other essential minerals. It also increases the absorption of iron and zinc by the body with its sulfur compounds.
5. Improves Athletic Performance
Garlic provides you with cardiovascular protection and aids in the thinning of your blood to increase oxygen flow and nutrients delivery to your muscles.
6. Protects Against Cancer
Garlic may be helpful in preventing cancer because it contains active compounds that show anti-cancer properties.
7. Lowers Your Heart Disease Risk
Garlic supports cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.
8. Helps with Weight Loss
Garlic supports healthy metabolism and suppresses appetite, which is helpful for weight loss.
9. Improves Liver Health
Garlic has multiple benefits for physical health, including its anti-fat deposit abilities in the liver. It is also a detoxifying agent shown to eliminate heavy metals from the body.
Garlic Benefits for Men
One study has shown that a higher intake of garlic in men is associated with better prostate health. Men who experience benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or prostate enlargement, as they get older are often advised to avoid spicy foods to control the problem. In this particular study, those who ate more garlic showed a 28% reduction in the prostate.
Garlic Benefits for Women
The American Cancer Society reports that one in eight women may develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Studies show that raw garlic contains anti-cancer properties — it can induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells. This means the compound simply kills them before full-blown cancer develops or spreads to other parts of the body. Regular consumption of raw garlic might help prevent breast cancer.
Garlic as a Natural Aphrodisiac
Garlic is a natural stimulant that increases circulation in the body, has been known to increase libido and improve sexual function. Garlic has been shown in studies to increase blood flow to the organs, which helps with circulation and activating your sexual desire. Interestingly, a recent study showed that women find the body odor of men who eat garlic more attractive than those who don’t.
How Garlic Can Help Your Skin
Garlic has antimicrobial properties that give it the ability to fight skin infections and acne. Eating garlic also allows you to take advantage of its benefits internally.
You can apply raw, fresh garlic oil directly on your face or cut open a clove of garlic and rub it gently over an infected lesion.
Eating raw garlic or taking a garlic supplement can neutralize free radicals, increasing skin cell turnover, and may help delay the onset of wrinkles. Eating garlic will also reduce stretch marks and scars and applying garlic oil to your skin can gradually fade existing marks.
Garlic for Better Hair Growth
There are many causes for hair loss; in addition to stress, free radicals, and poor diet, however, there is a long list of causes including hormone disruption, medication-related side effects, and vitamin deficiencies.
Eating raw garlic or supplementing your diet with a garlic pill can give you the nutrients that your hair needs to flourish.
Applying garlic oil to your hair or using a product with garlic in it is shown to reduce bald spots and promote hair growth. It increases the flow of blood through your scalp so that hair follicles can get the oxygen and nutrients they need.
Garlic has been shown to fight heat and UV damage from your hair. Applying garlic oil as a conditioner can help keep it healthy, shiny, and strong.
Garlic may also aid in the treatment of dandruff. Add garlic oil to your hair, coating it thoroughly from root to end. Let it sit for as long as you can before washing it out and shampooing.
Garlic for Weight Loss
You may want to consider taking a daily garlic supplement for weight loss if you’re experiencing difficulty cutting back on calories. Garlic helps with this both ways. It helps keep your weight in check by suppressing your appetite. In addition, your calorie burn will increase due to the increased metabolic rate and the fat-burning process.
The Best Garlic Supplement for High Blood Pressure
Garlic consumption has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure, which means that if you’re already taking medication for a high blood pressure condition, garlic supplements could in theory replace or lessen your need for medication. But of course, before making any drastic changes it is very important to talk with your doctor about the potential side effects. If you want to find the specific compound in garlic that is known for blood pressure normalization, allicin pills would be your best option.
Types of Garlic Supplements
When shopping for a vitamin supplement that uses garlic, you may feel overwhelmed by the range of supplements available. Not all supplements are made equal, so it’s important to make certain your choice is one of quality and effectiveness. Not only do garlic supplements come in a variety of formats, but they also differ depending on what you intend to use them for. Raw garlic is the most potent form of the supplement.
Avoid odorless supplements and make sure your chosen supplement contains a high-quality garlic extract providing at least 4 mg of allicin per dose.
Benefits of Garlic Pills
Fresh garlic has many health benefits, but eating a whole clove of raw garlic can be quite uncomfortable to those who are not used to the taste. It is most effective when it enters the small intestine, rather than being broken down in the stomach before entering the small intestines. When eaten raw, fresh garlic still produces allicin while in contact. You may want to purchase enteric-coated garlic pills as they allow the allicin (the healthful component of garlic) to break down more effectively in the stomach, allowing for better absorption.
Black Garlic Benefits
Black garlic has twice the antioxidant power of white and contains a higher overall concentration of vitamins and minerals. One pill of black garlic pills offers more health benefits than a single white garlic pill, so opting for them seems like the obvious solution.
Garlic Oil
Garlic oil is a great choice for both your hair and skin. You can also take it internally as a tincture. Be aware that garlic oil is not the same as an essential oil. Essential oils are much more concentrated than oils and don’t contain allicin, a key ingredient in natural remedies.
Garlic Powder
Garlic in powder form is made from dried raw garlic and you’ll find it on its own rather than as a pill supplement. Unfortunately, the stomach’s digestion process can prevent the allicin in this powder from being fully absorbed when not contained by an enteric-coated capsule.
Pickled Garlic
Although garlic in its raw form is known to have a strong and pungent taste, pickling can make it more enjoyable. While pickling garlic helps keep it raw, unfortunately, the allicin that gives garlic its spicy taste also leaches out into the vinegar during the process. However, many of garlic’s nutrients stay intact.
Fermented Garlic Benefits
The bioactive properties of some foods are enhanced by fermentation, which is true for garlic. The process makes the garlic’s nutrients more absorbable and over 10 times as powerful in antioxidants.
Fermentation of garlic can also greatly increase concentration levels of allicin, which is the compound that is most beneficial. To ferment garlic, fill a jar with peeled or unpeeled cloves and add in 1 tablespoon salt before filling the jar to within an inch from the top with water. Let it sit for at least 2-3 weeks.
Aged Garlic Benefits
Aged garlic is particularly effective for improving heart and immune functions. To produce aged garlic, you dissolve it in diluted alcohol without exposing it to heat, lets its nutrients and bioactive compounds increase.
Studies have shown that aged garlic extract eases high cholesterol, blood pressure, reducing your chances of atherosclerosis and heart disease.
Aged garlic has more of a detoxifying effect than freshly squeezed garlic because it gives the complex sulfur compounds time to develop. Aged garlic is also much more effective at releasing free radicals and fighting off aging.
Final Thoughts
While picking a garlic supplement, consider the amount of allicin, whether it has an enteric coating or is odorless. Garlic supplements should be third-party tested to ensure quality because their active ingredients are easily destroyed in an inferior manufacturing process.
Discuss garlic supplements with your doctor before you start taking them. Certain medicines may interact with allicin, such as blood thinners.