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Health Benefits of Raw Garlic

By Diane Hanson

One food that I absolutely love is grilled fettunta generously rubbed with raw garlic and then anointed with heart-healthy olive oil. But the biggest downside to eating this really garlicky grilled bread is it creates a strong odor on my breath and can make me somewhat of a social pariah.

However that didn’t stop me from enjoying and reaping the innumerable health benefits of raw garlic. The reason is simple. Garlic’s potent medicinal properties far outweigh the temporary unpleasant smell.

The use of garlic goes way back in history to the ancient Egypt, where warriors as well as athletes consumed chunks of garlic before battles and events for physical strength and courage. Garlic was also highly favored by the Chinese for a long time to cure respiratory problems including tuberculosis, persistent colds and asthma due to its “warming” effects. From TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) perspective, foods that are warm in nature can nourish and help maintain an ideal internal “yin” and “yang” balance in the body.

Today people are taking advantage of garlic’s research-proven health benefits to heal a wide variety of ailments such as reducing high blood pressure and LDL bad cholesterol levels, and suppressing tumor growth in many types of cancers.

The Mayo Clinic has released study results suggesting that unprocessed garlic may help lower the risk of stomach or colon cancers while the National Cancer Institute (NCI) recommends consuming two servings of garlic per week for colon cancer prevention, thanks to its antibacterial and potential anticancer properties.

Garlic also contains a myriad of antioxidants – Vitamin C, selenium, manganese, quercetin (a phytonutrient) – that can help inhibit LDL from oxidizing, thereby reducing atherosclerosis risk factors.

In addition, garlic has been shown in numerous studies to help with cataracts, gout attacks, and type II diabetes. People suffering from skin problems such as acne, boils, athlete’s foot, and staph infection will also greatly benefit from regular garlic intake since the sulfur compounds found in garlic are potent antibacterial agents.

Furthermore, the medicinal benefit of garlic is also thought to be helpful in the treatment of insomnia, trichomoniasis (a sexually transmitted infection), and yeast infection.

With all that said, did you know that raw garlic is relatively better nutritionally compared to cooked garlic?

When garlic is chopped or crushed, allicin sulfides and diallyl sulfides are released. These sulfides are responsible for all the remarkable health benefits of garlic.

While diallyl sulfides will survive the cooking process but its medicinal value is not as high as the allicin sulfides. Cooking will degrade allicin sulfides, and microwaving garlic will destroy it all together. To get the maximum health benefits from garlic, you should chop up and consume as soon as possible.

If there’s no way you can stomach raw garlic, here’s what you can do. Simply crush 1-2 cloves of raw garlic, let it sit for about 10 minutes and then add to your dishes towards the end of the cooking process. This allows some chemical reactions to take place and some beneficial compounds to form.

The thought of drinking raw garlic juice may sound disgustingly repulsive to many but this is really a great way to strengthen weak immunity. Try juicing a few cloves of organic raw garlic (start with a small amount to control the taste), mix it with carrot or orange juice to remove the pungent odor and make it a bit more palatable. Gulp it down bravely.

However, make sure to use organic garlic as it offers more nutrients and health-promoting compounds than non-organic garlic and of course, not to mention that they are pesticide-free. You might also want to consider black garlic, which has been fermented at high temperatures for several weeks. Interestingly enough, the fermentation process not only preserves nutrients but also takes away the unpleasant smell and taste.

Black garlic cloves can be found at some supermarkets and spice stores, and black garlic dietary supplements are also widely available online.

Keep in mind that eating too much raw garlic at once (more than a couple of cloves) can result in irritation or even damage the digestive tract so be extra careful and not to overload your body with high amounts of garlic. Also, don’t forget to freshen up with gum, or mints, or parsley after enjoying your favorite garlicky dishes, if you don’t want to lose your friends!

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