Health benefits of garlic date back to more than a few thousand years ago. As children, many of us dislike the pungent smell of fresh garlic and we weren’t any the wiser. Some of us still look in utter amazement when we see people eat raw, grated garlic with some olive oil on the bread. However, by examining its health benefits we could start to befriend garlic gingerly and it is simply very healthy. In general, garlic is a great source of selenium, manganese, vitamin C and vitamin B6. It also contains a wide variety of minerals, such as copper, iron, potassium, calcium and phosphorus. Allicin is a sulphur-based compound in garlic and it is believed as the most important active ingredient in garlic. Garlic is believed for its benefits to reduce the risk of high cholesterol levels, cancer and heart diseases. Researches also show that garlic can reduce heart attacks and blood clots. When we eat garlic, the blood pressure is lowered and blood vessels widen. Garlic is known for its long history as infection fighter and it could help us fight bacteria, virus and fungi.
Garlic can help us fight insect bites and cure warts, because it is a powerful anti-oxidant. Garlic is also known as Russian penicillin, because doctors in Russia prescribed it for fighting infections. Unfortunately, cooked garlic has much less medicinal benefits. Many Mediterranean dishes use fresh garlic and we could also sprinkle it over any cold dish. It is recommended to consume at least one clove of fresh garlic each day to gain the medicinal benefits. It should be noted that diarrhea, intestinal gas and indigestion may result from eating too much fresh garlic. Clearly, we should do ourselves a favour and try to be adventurous by eating more garlic. Salads should work well with fresh garlic and grated garlic could really spice up our salad. We can reduce the smell of fresh garlic with chopped parsley leaves. It is also possible to use anis, fennel and cardamom to cover the scent of garlic. It is actually a bad idea to save half unused clove, because it will have very short shelf life. Fresh garlic should feel hard and we could keep it in a dark, cool place, preferable in open container.
Garlic could stay fresh for weeks in room temperature and away from excess heat and sunlight. Depending on the time it was harvested, the whole garlic bulb could stay fresh between two weeks and two months. There are many ways we could make garlic stands out, without making it feels overpowering. As an example, it should be easy to make garlic toast bread and it is something that the whole family will enjoy. However, instead of using butter, we could use olive oil and a bit of garlic to keep the snack healthy. We may also add some basil on the bread to enhance the taste. We could bake it in the oven until golden and it should be a good snack when accompanied with some tea.