Relevant

Garlic Health: Is Garlic a Villain or Benefactor?

Many of my patients and audience members at lectures have asked me the above-titled question using different verbiages on different occasions. Why ask about garlic, the food we love to spice our meals with so often, despite the attendant aroma?

Recently, a well-known raw-food advocate with perfectly good intentions summarily dismissed garlic as a food of benefit. In fact, he stated that garlic should not be eaten, period. He based his opinion entirely on his personal experience with the "irritation" he has felt when eating raw garlic, causing him various mucous membrane reactions such as burning, itching, and profuse secretions. He also mentioned other people who had similar experiences with garlic, and reached the logical conclusion that garlic is not "designed" to be eaten. Unfortunately, this raw-food educator, who is widely respected for his directness, common-sense, and non-commercial approach, is not familiarized with the philosophy of science and with basic sciences, and therefore may occasionally steer people in the wrong direction using limited empirical or subjective evidence without sufficient prior examination of all the aspects and implications of his advice.

Garlic, a member of the allium family of vegetables (including onions, shallots, leeks, chives, etc.), has been cultivated for 5000 years, and its wild ancestors (from Central Asia, mostly), have been around for millions of years. Its healing powers were recognized for thousands of years. People used to eat the green blades as well as the bulbs, which may have been much milder to the taste buds then today's highly hybridized varieties that are designed to meet culinary expectations and convenience with concentrated flavor. Freshly picked garlic bulbs are a lot milder than aged, cured, or stored garlic cloves. Some varieties, depending on the soil, latitude, and other factors, are mild enough to eat with  bites almost as generous as the ones associated with eating a crunchy apple! It's likely that tropical and heirloom varieties are milder than their Northern counterparts, tasting similar to water chestnuts. This would explain some people's revulsion to the stronger cultivated "cooking" varieties- the more you cook the garlic, the less flavorful it gets, and therefore the farmers must select the strongest tasting types for the next growing season, assuring themselves increased sales in comparison with weaker varieties. Are today's powerful garlic cloves too strong for humans to eat in their natural (raw) state?

Perhaps for some sensitive individuals, especially those with allergic reactions to garlic. Such individuals usually know how to avoid their allergens, or they may undergo a blood test for food sensitivities (such as the ALCAT Test, which I highly recommend - a future article on this topic is
pending) and find out about all the foods they should avoid, at least temporarily, in order to allow their immune reactions to subside. But most people are not thus sensitive to garlic any more than they are to other natural foods that are frequently ingested. Obviously, if some garlic is hybridized to have a taste too strong for direct consumption in its raw state, it can be easily diluted to a "normal concentration" and a more comfortable eating experience, as is the case with modern food preparation - using a Vitamix, a processor, a juicer, or a dehydrator in a raw food setting to crush and mix the garlic with healthy oils or foods allows the strongest raw garlic to be eaten with joy (call Ecopolitan for information about these and other kitchen appliances)! Of course, if you find the more ancient or tropical varieties, or if you are fortunate enough to grow your own mild garlic, eating it fresh from the ground may be a pleasurable experience even without dilution!

What are the natural properties of garlic (and other allium plants) that made them so desirable medicinally? Garlic contains unique organo-sulfur compounds within its 0.4% volatile oil: Allylsulfides increase the production of "Phase 2 Detoxification Enzymes," such as Glutathione Transferase, speeding the excretion of many cancer-causing agents, helping with important intra-cellular anti-oxidant activity, and eliminating potent toxins such as mercury and other heavy metals.

The juice of garlic possesses antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activity. Allicin (the source of raw garlic's pungent odor) has antimicrobial properties as well. Other garlic compounds appear to limit
tumor cell growth. Studies with humans and animals showed that garlic lowers blood pressure, inhibits platelet clumping (reducing blood clotting), reduces inflammation by inhibiting pro-inflammatory messengers, and inhibits pain-causing agents. Some of its sulfur compounds relax the air passages in
the lung, alleviating respiratory challenges. Garlic also lowers cardiovascular risk by lowering undesirable LDL cholesterol as well as fat in the serum of humans and animals. Components of garlic reduce the risk for stomach cancer, prevent dietary nitrites from forming carcinogenic nitrosamines or blocking their actions, and boost the immune system by increasing the number and activities of essential Natural Killer Cells and other phagocytic white blood cell.

Does a healthy person eating wholesome, natural, unprocessed foods in their raw state, and having "the right types and variety" of such foods really need all the aforementioned benefits? Well, this question can apply to all wholesome foods- including broccoli, kale, collards, coconuts, and pineapples. If they are all natural and good to eat, why should garlic be any different (especially when diluted to accommodate the sensitive palate)?