7 Reasons You Should Eat Garlic Every Day

Devils, werewolves, and vampires beware! We present seven shocking, interesting and marvelous facts about garlic – the one substance that makes your lives miserable. On the other hand, if you are just a human, garlic may just turn you into a super (healthy) powerhouse.

Every culture that has had access to garlic has realized the superpowers hidden in the humble blub of cloves.

In fact, cultures that did not have historic contact use garlic for almost exactly the same medicinal and cooking purposes.

Read on to discover the miraculous healing powers of garlic. You’ll be amazed by the curative powers and as a side effect, you’ll stave off attacks by the undead!

1. Garlic Built the Pyramids

Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks fed garlic to workers, Olympic athletes, soldiers, and sailors. It was thought to be a performance enhancer (especially for men) and increase work capacity.

Modern science is looking into this. Turns out garlic improves exercise performance in rodents. Studies on athletic performance are mixed, but garlic seems to improve exercise-induced fatigue.

The biggest positive effects were shown in people with heart disease. A six-week course of garlic oil reduced peak heart rate and increased exercise capacity.

2. Garlic Fights for You!

Turns out viruses, bacteria, and parasites don’t like garlic! Garlic can help you fight off or reduce the number of colds you get by 63%. Garlic also shortens the length of a cold from seven days to one and a half days.

Ancient uses of garlic include treating parasites and pulmonary complaints. The actual reason that garlic works is not known, but garlic is rich in nutrients that may boost your immune system.  If you get colds, add garlic to your regimen.

3. Garlic Hates Heavy Metal

The heavy metal isn’t music, but the real thing. Heavy metals like lead and mercury cause organ and brain damage and even cause death. If you work around heavy metals or live in an old house, consider adding garlic to your diet. Be careful about adding too much to an infant’s diet –talk to your pediatrician.

Car battery plant workers reduced lead levels by 19% and reduced side effects like headaches. It was so effective that it outperformed the usual manufactured drug treatment.

4. Garlic Busts Fat

Maybe vampires are actually after cholesterol and not blood! Garlic has been shown to affect blood fats. If you have problems with cholesterol, try garlic. Regular garlic supplements can lower total and LDL (the really bad stuff) cholesterols by 10-15%. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an effect on raising the “good” HDL or on lowering triglycerides.

Ancient physicians recommended garlic to “cleanse the arteries” long before the actual purpose of arteries was discovered. Turns out the ancients were correct!

5. Garlic Tames an Angry Heart

If you are worried about heart disease, heart attacks and stroke, garlic is your new best friend. Garlic lowers blood pressure as effectively as prescription drugs. You need about 4 cloves a day, so it is a big dose. Build up to that amount or you may get an upset stomach.

Garlic’s effectiveness is the same whether you use raw garlic, powdered supplement, or an aged supplement. The biggest benefit to aged garlic is that you won’t be breathing and sweating garlic.

6. Garlic Stops Dementia

Dementias like Alzheimer’s disease are caused by free radicals and their oxidative action.  Garlic is full of antioxidants that remove free radicals. When you combine the antioxidant properties with “cleansing the arteries” and lowering blood pressure, your risk of common brain diseases including dementias is decreased.

Antioxidants have additional health properties through limiting cell damage, possibly even slow or stopping cancers. You can’t go wrong adding garlic to your diet. Once again, it doesn’t matter if it is raw, powered, or aged.

7. Garlic – Too Much of a Good Thing?

WebMD is known for extreme caution. And they have cautions about using garlic. If you have concerns about these conditions, talk to your doctor. Garlic is known to lower blood sugar. If you are diabetic, taking garlic might just lower your blood sugar too much.

If you have low blood pressure, garlic’s blood pressure lowing effects might lower your BP too much. There is also a possibility of bleeding, especially during surgery. If you regularly take garlic, stop two weeks before scheduled surgeries.

Conclusion

Garlic gives food a zing and nothing smells better than garlic and onions sautéing in a pan.  Garlic is also a super important weapon in your medicinal food arsenal. It’s been used for thousands of years for everything from a cleanse to a tumor fighter. Modern science is able to validate many of the claims.

Interestingly, garlic was considered by upper classes to be a food for peasants, possibly because it was traditionally fed to workers. Maybe in this instance, the peasants were more fortunate than the ruling classes.

If you don’t like the garlicy smell on your hands, feet, sweat and breath, try aged garlic. You still get all the good with none of the odor.