The Health Benefits of Black Garlic
Garlic has been used as a medicinal herb since medieval times right up to the modern era where its benefits have been observed and scientifically proven. Historical records indicate that garlic had been used as medicine as a diuretic, digestive aid, antibiotic, anti-parasitic, for colds, infections and a wide variety of other ailments.
If garlic did not work well for so many ailments, it would have fallen out of historical records but because of its multi-faceted health benefits, garlic has been extensively researched over the last two decades and is now truly cemented in medical and human history.
The benefits of garlic
Since the time of the Industrial Revolution, the search for medicinal compounds from plants began to appear. Notable examples include morphine from the opium poppy, aspirin from willow and quinine from the Cinchona bark. This is also the time when research was more intensely focussed on garlic. Scientists wanted to find out why garlic had an odour when cut or crushed, what were it constituents and why did it work for so many ailments.
Scientists found that each clove of garlic has an astonishing 400 plus beneficial compounds found within the oil. One of the key compounds is called allicin. Each bulb of garlic contains an enzyme called allinase which combines with allinin found in the garlic bulb to form the active compound allicin, which has health enhancing properties and gives garlic its distinctive odour even in some supplements. Odourless garlic supplements are generally considered to be inferior since most have low allicin content.
Some of the benefits of garlic:
Nutritionists have long believed that garlic is healthy for the heart working to reduce homocysteine levels in the bloodstream. Homocysteine is an amino acid which damages arterial walls and encourages the deposition of cholesterol onto the arteries.
Research indicates that garlic boosts circulation by increasing the production of hydrogen sulphide. Garlic contains numerous sulphur compounds that may be of benefit in maintaining healthy blood pressure levels and may also aid normal clotting. It is likened to taking low dose aspirin.
Garlic stimulates white blood cell activity required by the immune system for fighting infections including colds and fungal infections including candida. In fact, some studies indicate that garlic fights infections that are often resilient to some antibiotics. Garlic has potent antimicrobial properties and in the 1950’s was used to treat cholera and dysentery. During the First World War, garlic was used to treat battle wounds in the absence of antibiotics.
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