Vampires Are Missing Out- 8 Reasons You Need To Eat More Garlic (#8 May Save Your Life)
Key Takeaways
Garlic is a powerful superfood that offers a plethora of positive immunomodulatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic health benefits (i.e. it is good for your immune system, heart, and blood sugar).
The top 8 benefits of garlic consumption include:
Improves immunity
Reduces blood pressure
Improves blood sugar levels
Decreases inflammation
Reduces risk of dementia
Reduces risk of heart disease
Has powerful antioxidant properties
Wards off vampires
Full Story
All you vampires out there are totally missing out. Garlic is one of the most potent “superfoods” in existence.
Humans have consumed garlic for thousands of years (1). Besides adding a delicious tang to our pizza and pasta, garlic contains powerful compounds that have been shown to benefit health and improve athletic performance.
Don’t take my word for it. Over the past several decades researchers have found evidence to support the health benefits you can reap from consuming garlic. With each passing day, garlic scientists (not their official title) are continuing to explore even more secret benefits of garlic consumption, including research that shows it has potent anti-inflammatory and cardiometabolic protective effects. Allicin and diallyl disulfide, two sulfuric compounds found in garlic, may even have a preventative effect against chronic health conditions that is on par with many prescription drugs! (2).
I don’t care if you’re a vampire or not, everyone can benefit from eating more garlic. Here are eight of the most intriguing and research-backed health benefits of garlic consumption.
Improve Immunity
Quality sleep, high amounts of physical activity, and stress management are the most effective ways to boost immunity. But if you already have the big rocks accounted for, consuming more garlic is another habit that will decrease your susceptibility to illness. Garlic strengthens the immune response by stimulating powerful defense cells such as macrophages, lymphocytes, and natural killer cells (3, 4).
Multiple studies support that garlic can both decrease your chance of getting sick and also decrease the severity and duration of symptoms if you do fall ill (5).
In particular, this study that compared one group that supplemented with garlic during cold and flu season to a non-supplementing control group found that those taking the garlic pills were 63% less likely to get a cold or had colds that lasted 70% shorter in duration (6).
2. Reduce Blood Pressure
Garlic supplements have been shown to have blood pressure reducing effects on par with many medications, decreasing systolic and diastolic blood pressure by a significant 10 and 8 mmHg, respectively (7, 8). Garlic may also increase nitric oxide production, allowing for blood vessel dilation that can result in decreased blood pressure (9). If your blood pressure tends to run higher than the “normal” 120/80 range, garlic may be a safer and more sustainable alternative to pharmaceutical drugs.
Getting your blood sucked by a vampire may temporarily reduce your blood pressure but that is not a long time solution. Dine on some garlic instead.
3. Improve Blood Sugar Levels
High fasting blood glucose levels can contribute to heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, and nerve and eye damage (10). One effective strategy to reduce blood glucose levels, besides exercise and losing weight, is garlic supplementation. This meta-analysis found that garlic supplementation significantly reduced fasting blood glucose levels (11), and this study found garlic supplementation to be an effective adjunct treatment for Type 2 Diabetes (12).
One fascinating study in rats fed 65% of calories from fructose (a very high sugar diet) found that garlic could increase insulin sensitivity and prevent metabolic damage and oxidative stress (13). This means that if you go nuts and suck down a few cupcakes after dinner, garlic consumption will help to control the amplitude of the ensuing blood sugar spike. Whether or not you have diabetes, consuming higher amounts of garlic may be a simple technique to improve blood sugar regulation.
4. Decrease Inflammation
Acute inflammation is necessary for healing and repair but a chronic state of high inflammation in the body is a breeding ground for the development of many long-term health conditions. Multiple studies have shown that compounds found in garlic can reduce inflammatory biomarkers such as prostaglandin E2, interleukin 6, and TNFa (tumor necrosis factor alpha) (14, 15).
A sulfuric compound found in garlic, called diallyl disulfide, is a potent anti-inflammatory agent that even exhibits some anti-arthritic properties. Through a reduction in the effects of pro-inflammatory cytokines, garlic consumption may reduce symptoms of arthritis and other inflammatory conditions (16). As a result of decreased levels of systemic inflammation, garlic supplementation may also help to slow the rate of tumor growth and reduce cancer risk (17, 18).
5. Reduce Risk of Dementia
Garlic consumption may have neuroprotective effects that can reduce risk of dementia, the umbrella term that includes cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia. In vitro studies on aged garlic have found that it contains compounds that protect neuronal cells against beta-amyloid toxicity and apoptosis, two processes that likely accelerate the rate of cognitive decline (19). This study in mice with neurodegenerative disease found that aged garlic extract could decrease the severity of memory and cognitive impairment and also reduce levels of oxidative stress (20).
Another potential mechanism through which garlic may improve cognitive health is its effect on the microbiome. For instance, this 2019 study showed that mice that consumed allyl sulfide, a compound found in garlic, had healthier gut microbiota than the control group and exhibited improved short term and long term memory, as well as increased expression of NDNF, a gene that prevents cognitive decline (21).
6. Reduce Risk of Heart Disease
Consumption of garlic not only has the power to reduce high blood pressure levels, one of the most modifiable risk factors of heart disease, but also has the potential to decrease risk of heart disease through reduction of harmful plaque buildup in the arteries (22, 23, 24). This study in 40 to 75-year-old adults found that 2,400 milligrams of aged garlic each day reduced plaque accumulation by a whopping 80% (25).
Compounds in garlic also inhibit platelet aggregation, increase antioxidant activity and may decrease cholesterol levels, all of which improve cardiovascular health and help prevent disease (26). Initially it appeared that garlic consumption significantly improved cholesterol levels, but recent research has failed to find much of an effect.
7. It’s A Powerful Antioxidant
Some quick background information - Oxidation is a chemical process that can cause damage to molecules such DNA and protein that play many important roles in the body. Antioxidants, on the other hand, are molecules that provide protection against excessive oxidation and may contribute to the prevention of chronic diseases including cancer and heart disease (27, 28). Glutathione, often referred to as the “master antioxidant”, supports optimal immune system function, decreases inflammation, and improves brain and heart health (29).
While stress, age, and a poor diet can deplete your body’s stores of glutathione, consuming sulfur-rich foods such as broccoli, cauliflower, and - you guessed it – garlic, can boost glutathione synthesis (30, 31, 32, 33). To naturally increase glutathione levels in your body be sure to frequently consume this nutritional powerhouse.
8. It Wards Off Vampires
(34)
In multiple double-blind, placebo-controlled studies garlic consumption has been shown to be the most effective way to reduce vampire blood-sucking attacks. Need I say more?
Wrap Up - Worth The Smelly Breath
I hate the term “superfood” and don’t use it often. Garlic is one of the few foods that lives up to the hype. If you don’t already consume a significant amount of garlic, these evidence-based benefits are fantastic reasons to start (this time of year, don’t underestimate the importance of #8).
If you have any questions about garlic, the validity of any other proclaimed “superfood”, or other strategies to ward off blood-sucking vampires, message me below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Load up on the mints and gum - trust me, garlic is worth the smelly breath.
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25961060/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11238820/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11697022/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266250/
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/uncontrolled-blood-sugar-risks
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5642189/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23057778/
https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/nutrition/healthy-eating/best-spices-for-arthritis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11673117/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3074326/
https://bmccomplementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6882-13-268
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190408091259.htm
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/136/3/736S/4664300
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26764327/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC139960/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160121122158.htm.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/02/stanford-study-drives-stake-through-claims-that-garlic-lowers-cholesterol-levels.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7898413/
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/glutathione#section=General-References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770193/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3335037/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11673117/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090130154901.htm#:~:text=Researchers%20have%20widely%20believed%20that,%2D%2D%20acts%20as%20an%20antioxidant.&text=Researchers%20have%20widely%20believed%20that%20the%20organic%20compound%2C%20allicin%20%E2%80%93%20which,the%20world's%20most%20powerful%20antioxidant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NgHe-d-Aww&t=17s&ab_channel=Eater
GIF Source (GIPHY.com) : Vampire Monica Vampire 2 Arnold The Brain David Garlic