Food is medicine. How many times have you heard that from Dr. Oz, your yoga teacher, and your know-it-all fitness friend?
Yeah, it’s cliché, but it’s true. What you eat directly impacts your appearance, performance, sleeping habits, mood, and much more. One of the best ways to support your overall health is with scientifically proven superfoods such as garlic.
Aside from being used to make godly dinner dishes and ward off vampires, garlic has also been shown to improve your health with its anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties. Let’s look at some of the other health benefits of garlic.
Garlic Benefits Your Body and Fights Illness
Raw garlic is a super nutrient to be feared…if you’re a harmful microorganism. Within garlic, there is a compound called allicin. Like an Irishman in a bar fight, this powerful compound has been shown to exhibit some fisticuffs against many types of harmful bacteria and fungi.
Garlic Boosts Your Immune System
Let’s take this garlic-as-illness-fighter idea a step further: When taken regularly, raw garlic is an easy, inexpensive, and effective way to support your body’s natural immune response.
I’d suggest eating garlic regularly in order to boost your body’s natural response to foreign invaders and hopefully keep you from getting sick. You can also use it when you get sick as a way to support your immune system until you can get treated by a good doctor.
Garlic Helps You Detox
Sure, your liver and kidneys handle the workload of detoxification, but who is going to turn down free help from willing subjects? Garlic is that willing subject.
Garlic contains many liver-supporting enzymes, sulfur compounds, and selenium. All of these nutrients contribute to the health benefits of garlic, which includes supporting a healthy detoxification of everyday waste.
Garlic can also be useful for supporting detoxification during a hangover. When treating a hangover, be sure to drink plenty of water and sports drinks with electrolytes, and eat a light diet.
Garlic is a Natural Anti-Inflammatory
Inflammation can take many forms: soreness after a workout, stress headache, and cramped neck muscles.
When met with inflammation of this kind, most people skip the ice packs and reach right into their medicine cabinets. You can’t skip a day of work or travel just because of some low-level inflammation. What if there was a better way to combat inflammation?
The G-Man (Garlic and I are on a nickname basis at this point) has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties. While it might not pack the same relief as a mega dose of acetaminophen and ibuprofen, garlic can help to alleviate inflammation and reduce dull pain. What’s more, unlike acetaminophen and ibuprofen, another great health benefit of garlic is that it doesn’t harm your liver.
Eating Garlic Without Getting Garlic Breath
You might be thinking about how you love the health benefits of garlic but you’d rather not risk missing out on getting up close and personal with your significant other (or Tinder date). Hey, I get it, and that’s why I want you to use my special prep method to get all of the benefits of garlic without the dragon’s breath that comes along with it.
Cut a garlic clove into pill-sized shapes and swallow them whole with orange juice. Do this twice a day: once in the morning and once in the evening. If you’re sick, I’d suggest a third serving during the afternoon.
What Do You Think of the Health Benefits of Garlic?
Have you ever tried using garlic for its health benefits? What was your experience? Has garlic come to the rescue during illness or cold season? Tell me all about it in the comments below!