According to Lutzi, you can still get the health benefits of eating garlic if you swallow it whole. She recommends cutting the clove into four small pieces and swallowing it whole like a pill to avoid the pungent effect of chewing it.
The bottom line. Although raw garlic has a stronger flavor and more pungent smell than cooked garlic, it's safe to consume. Raw garlic also retains more allicin, which is the sulfur-containing compound responsible for many of garlic's beneficial health effects.
A research has revealed that chewing garlic can reduce cholesterol, triglyceride, MDA, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, regardless of the amount of fat you consume. But swallowing garlic has no significant effect on serum lipids (TG, Chol, LDL and HDL), diastolic blood pressure and cyclosporine serum levels.
Raw garlic contains a component called Allicin, which helps in thinning the blood and reduces the cholesterol levels. Thus, the best way to consume garlic is by eating raw garlic on an empty stomach as the fresh garlic contains Allicin and this component gets diluted during the process of cooking.
The main culprit in causing indigestion from garlic is the small sprout in the middle of each clove. Simply cutting the garlic clove in half lengthways and extracting the sprout before using will not only make it easier to digest but will also remove any traces of bitterness from the germ.
How long do you need to take garlic extract to start experiencing its benefits? Since some of the beneficial compounds in garlic extract are fat-soluble, it may take 1-2 weeks for this substance to deliver noticeable effects.
Garlic can be administered orally or topically. Oral tablets typically come in the form of allicin, but garlic can also be consumed raw or within your food to promote good bacteria and prevent the growth of Candida albicans yeast.
According to the book Healing Foods, garlic is universally recognised for its health-promoting benefits; aiding the circulatory and digestive systems, boosting the immune system, lowering blood pressure, and fighting heart disease. It even helps to eliminate toxins.
This reduces cholesterol levels and improves heart health. Regular consumption of garlic reduces the incidence of blood clots and thus helps prevent thromboembolism. Garlic also lowers blood pressure so is good for patients with hypertension. Read more on How to control high blood pressure.
Garlic, as many chagrined garlic-bread lovers have discovered, has surprising staying power. Twenty-four hours after eating the stuff, a pungent scent still lingers on the breath and even in the sweat.
You shouldn't add too much garlic to your diet, too quickly. "One to two cloves a day should be the maximum consumed by anyone," says Tracey Brigman, a food and nutrition expert at the University of Georgia. Eating more than that may cause upset stomach, diarrhea, bloating, or bad breath.
Helps combat atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
Because garlic may help lower high blood pressure, it may also help prevent the scarring and hardening associated with atherosclerosis. Some research has also shown that aged garlic extract can help reduce the amount of "soft plaque" in the arteries.
Because alliinase is inactivated by the acidic pH of the stomach, most powdered garlic tablets are enteric-coated to keep them from dissolving before they reach the neutral pH of the small intestine.
Some forms of garlic have serious toxic effects and, especially when taken in the large amounts purported to have health benefits, may cause medical problems like anemia, stomach ulcers, severe allergic reactions and suppression of testicular function.
Why Garlic is Good for Gut Health. Garlic is naturally high in inulin, a type of non-digestible carbohydrate or “functional fiber” that feeds the good bacteria in your digestive system. Basically, it acts as fuel for those bacteria to do their job better, which makes your gut function better overall.
Therefore, the present study suggests that garlic with high dose has the potential ability to induce liver damage and low doses (0.1 or 0.25 g / kg body weight/day) are safe doses of garlic.
Crush, chop or mince garlic and keep it away from heat for 10 minutes. During this time the maximum allicin is created and stays intact during cooking. You can then fry, saute, bake to your heart's content and still get all its medicine. THAT'S IT!
The ingestion of one to two cloves of raw garlic per day is considered safe in adults. The most common side effect of ingested garlic is breath and body odor.
When it comes to food that clean teeth naturally, garlic and onions eaten raw work wonders. Compounds called thiosulfonates and thiosulfinates reduce bacteria. This reduces plaque production and promotes healthy teeth. Teeth won't get stained as both onions and garlic are colourless.
Along with its benefits comes some adverse effects. The present case describes chemical burn of oral mucosa caused by crushed garlic. To relieve toothache, the patient placed crushed garlic cloves in the buccal vestibule overnight and developed garlic burn injury manifesting as slough and ulceration in that region.
Because garlic can make blood less likely to clot, you should stop eating it 7 to 10 days before any surgery you have planned. Avoid garlic if you're already taking an anticoagulant, such as Coumadin (warfarin) or Heparin, because the blood-thinning action of the medication may be increased.
Dr. Petersen says a healthy dose of garlic is two to three cloves a day cooked or a supplement of aged garlic at a dose of 600 to 1,200 milligrams.