It improves your body's natural defenses, leading to a stronger immune system and better overall health. The World Health Organization recommends eating about one clove of fresh garlic daily. If you have digestive problems, consume this spice along with other foods to prevent stomach upset.
Eating 4-5 garlic cloves in the morning can help to boost your immunity, which is essential now when we have entered the winter season. It contains compounds that help the immune system fight free radicals and disease-causing foreign pathogens.
It can cause side effects such as bad breath, heartburn, gas, and diarrhea. These side effects are often worse with raw garlic. Garlic might also increase the risk of bleeding and cause allergic reactions in some people.
It is safe to eat a clove of garlic as long as you are not allergic to it. However, you must be aware that it has a strong pungent smell that may give you garlicky breath. Also, having a large amount of garlic at once may give you a burning sensation inside the mouth, heartburn, gases, and loose bowel movements.
While we all use it as a food ingredient, it is also an effective medicine that helps in burning belly fat and detoxification. Research suggests that garlic can be effective in weight loss and is an inevitable part of a balanced diet.
Though raw garlic has antioxidant potential, excess intake can lead to liver toxicity (1). As per rat studies, garlic in high doses (0.5 grams per kg of body weight) may induce liver damage. However, low doses of garlic (0.1 grams to 0.25 grams per kg of body weight) on a daily basis are safe for the liver (2).
Ingestion of garlic by chewing (or crushed garlic) can reduce cholesterol, triglyceride, MDA, systolic and diastolic blood pressure even in the presence of increasing fat intake.
In traditional Chinese medicine, garlic is used to improve cardiovascular health and immunity as well as to treat cancer (2, 4). Garlic was used in daily Chinese diet since around 2000 B.C. or earlier where it was consumed especially with raw meat (2).
So to retain maximum nutrition, gobbling down raw garlic with the glass of water is the best remedy to improve heart health and also manage diabetes.
Garlic Helps Boost Your Body's Immune System
Eating raw garlic can protect against cough, fever, and cold illnesses. Eating two chopped garlic cloves every day is the best way to benefit.
Garlic promotes proper functioning of kidney due to its diuretic properties. It is an antioxidant powerhouse that reduces inflammation, fights infection and lowers cholesterol. It can be used in a wide variety of dishes and garlic is a great substitute for salt.
Garlic is a natural blood thinner, so we shouldn't consume large quantities of garlic along with blood-thinning medicines like warfarin, aspirin etc. This is because the combined effect of blood thinning medication and garlic is dangerous, and it may increase the risk of internal bleeding.
Garlic is a staple in many diets, and it may provide benefits for people with fatty liver disease. A 2016 study in Advanced Biomedical Research found that garlic powder supplements appeared to help reduce body weight and body fat mass in people with NAFLD.
Garlic is rich in sulfuric acid, which is good for the scalp and hair, as it kills bacteria that causes dandruff and other scalp issues. It also stimulates blood circulation around the head, which promotes hair growth.
Studies have shown that garlic if eaten on an empty stomach acts as a powerful antibiotic. It is more effective when you eat it before breakfast because bacteria is exposed and cannot defend itself from succumbing to its power.
Can garlic help you sleep? Amongst its other valuable nutrients, garlic contains zinc and high concentrations of sulfurous compounds like allicin, which naturally promote relaxation, helping you fall asleep faster.
Side effects include breath and body odor, heartburn, and upset stomach. These side effects can be more noticeable with raw garlic. Some people have allergic reactions to garlic. Taking garlic supplements may increase the risk of bleeding.
Dosages generally recommended in the literature for adults are 4 g (one to two cloves) of raw garlic per day, one 300-mg dried garlic powder tablet (standardized to 1.3 percent alliin or 0.6 percent allicin yield) two to three times per day, or 7.2 g of aged garlic extract per day.
Garlic has long been associated with health benefits – from curing a cold to lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Garlic contains vitamins C and B6, manganese and selenium, but it's a chemical called allicin, a type of antioxidant, which is thought to be responsible for its positive effects.
Currently, garlic is widely used for several conditions linked to the blood system and heart, including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high cholesterol, heart attack, coronary heart disease, and hypertension.
Garlic contains organo-sulfur compounds (OSCs) which make it the perfect detoxification supplement—these compounds boost the number of detoxification enzymes while also increasing levels of glutathione and sulfur so the enzymes have plenty of tools to work with.
Garlic: Raw garlic is a great source of anti-inflammatory compounds that can help your lungs fight off lung cancer. Consuming raw garlic daily may decrease your risk of lung cancer by up to 8%, according to studies.
An intake of the half to one clove of garlic per day lowers cholesterol levels approximately 10%. [23,24] Mechanisms that explain the observed effects of garlic include a decrease in cholesterol absorption, cholesterol, and fatty acid synthesis.
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.