Garlic is delicious. It’s a staple of cuisines around the world for a reason. In the health food world, it’s a lifesaver – garlic is how we make bland but beneficial superfoods like broccoli taste amazing enough to eat willingly (and regularly). Even the pickiest kid would be hard-pressed to turn down yummy garlic bread.

Even though we’ve all had garlic, we’re not all convinced of its amazing health benefits. It not only spices up veggies and wards off vampires: garlic has been shown to possess antibacterial, antiviral, and even anti-cancer properties. These come with a host of specific health benefits, qualifying it for “SUPERFOOD” status, that should no longer remain secret.

 

What is Garlic?

We all know what garlic looks and tastes like, but what is it, exactly? If you ask a chef, they’ll call it an herb because it’s used for flavoring. But a biologist will tell you that it’s a vegetable in the same vein as onions and leeks. They’re part of the “allium” family.

This gives them that strong sulfuric odor. Garlic contains a compound called allicin that makes it stink but also gives it its health benefits. Here are 5 that you should know about.

 

1. Fighting Invaders

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our bodies get invaded by all kinds of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. With cold and flu season coming up, our bodies need any additional defenses they can get. Eating garlic is like putting an entire army on the frontlines of your body’s immune system.

It provides antifungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antiparasitic properties. It can even boost your immune system. By covering all the bases, garlic should be any parent’s secret weapon against the coming cold season.

 

2. Heart Health

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garlic has blood-thinning properties, which can make it as effective for that purpose as some prescription drugs. Garlic supplements should be taken only at the advice of a doctor for someone already on blood thinners, but for most people, the effect will simply improve the overall functioning of their cardiovascular system.

The allicin and sulfur compounds in garlic prevent blood platelets from clotting and hardening, which makes your heart’s job easier and your arteries less at risk for serious complications. Managing heart disease (or reducing the risk of getting it) is a big reason nutritionists are turning people towards garlic as a new superfood.

 

3. Improving Circulation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blood circulation is your body’s defense against plaque building up in your arteries and leading to heart complications. Garlic improves circulation, which has a directly beneficial effect on your cardiovascular function and cholesterol levels.

 

4. Nutrients

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garlic is packed with nutrients and vitamins, including calcium, phosphorous, selenium, manganese, and Vitamin B6. It contains antioxidants that help your body fight cell damage.

 

5. Cancer Prevention

 

 

 

 

 

 

Studies have shown that garlic’s nutrients and its ability to reduce oxidative stress can prevent or slow 14 types of cancers.

 

Am I Eating Enough Garlic?

Thankfully, garlic is easy to integrate into a ton of different meals. The issue that I have with it is that it’s hard to get a lot of it. It makes a delicious seasoning, but that’s hardly going to give you the health benefits listed above.

This is why garlic pills or powdered supplements are preferable for those that want to reap these benefits. Adding whole cloves to meat and veggie recipes will still provide healthy and delicious benefits, but garlic loses a lot of its effects when you cook it because the allicin reacts to the heat.

If you do cook with garlic, let it stand on the cutting board for 10 minutes after you chop it. That will help it retain at least some of its healing effects.

 

The Takeaway

I know we all hoped that eating garlic bread every day would give us a healthy heart, but garlic’s amazing benefits will only be noticeable if you take it as a supplement. Cooking with it is still healthy, though, and even makes other superfoods more enticing.

Just remember that to get the antiviral, circulatory, and cancer-fighting benefits of the “ALRIGHT SUPERFOOD,” garlic, you need to take enough for it to be effective. Add a supplement to your daily routine at the same time you add it to your cooking so you can get in on one of healthy cooking’s best-kept secrets.