6 Proven Health Benefits of Garlic

Garlic has been used since ancient times to treat a variety of medical conditions. And modern science has recently confirmed many of these beneficial effects. So in this video, I'm looking at six health benefits of garlic. Number one, the active compounds in garlic can reduce blood pressure. Cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes are the world's biggest killers. High blood pressure or hypertension is one of the most important drivers of these diseases. Now many human studies have found garlic supplementation to have a significant impact on reducing blood pressure In this study, aged garlic extract at doses of 600 to 1,500 milligrams was just as effective as the drug atenolol at reducing blood pressure over a 24-week period. But it seems supplement doses must be fairly high to have these desired effects. The amount of allicin needed to have this effect, which is the active ingredient in garlic that gives it that distinct smell, is equivalent to about four cloves of garlic per day. Number two, garlic can combat sickness, including the common cold. Garlic supplementation is known to boost the function of the immune system. One large 12-week study found that a daily garlic supplement reduced the number of colds by 63% compared with placebo. The average length of cold symptoms was also reduced by 70% from five days in placebo to just one and a half days in the garlic group. Another study found that a high dose of garlic extract, 2.56 grams per day, can reduce the number of days sick with cold or flu by 61%. So it seems in those who take garlic supplements daily, it can reduce the rate of getting the common cold by 60 to 70%. But if you do happen to get sick, supplementation doesn't appear to reduce the length or severity of your sickness. Number three, garlic improves cholesterol levels, which may lower the risk of heart disease. Garlic can lower a total and LDL bad cholesterol. For those with high cholesterol, garlic supplementation appears to reduce total and or LDL cholesterol by about 10 to 15%. Looking at LDL, the so-called bad, and HDL, the so-called good cholesterol specifically, garlic appears to lower LDL and reliably increase HDL, which is of course a good thing. Number four, garlic contains antioxidants that may help prevent Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Oxidative damage from free radicals contributes to the aging process. Garlic contains antioxidants that support the body's protective mechanisms against oxidative damage. High doses of garlic supplements have been shown to increase antioxidant enzymes in humans, as well as significantly reduce oxidative stress in those with high blood pressure. So the combined effects of reducing cholesterol and high blood pressure and its antioxidant properties may help with preventing brain diseases like Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. Number five, eating garlic can help detoxify heavy metals in the body. So I thought this one was interesting. It seems that high doses of the sulfur compounds in garlic can help prevent against organ damage from heavy metal toxicity. A four-week study in employees of a car battery plant with excessive exposure to lead found that garlic reduced lead levels in the blood by 19%. It also reduced many clinical signs of toxicity, including headaches and blood pressure. Three doses of garlic each day even outperformed the drug D-penicillamine in symptom reduction. Number six, garlic is easy to include in your diet and tastes absolutely delicious. Okay, this last one is not a health benefit, but I wanted to highlight that it's very easy and delicious to include garlic in your current diet. You don't have to rely on garlic supplements to get a good dose of it. That said, the minimum effective dose for therapeutic effects is one clove eaten with meals at least two times a day. However, just keep in mind that there are some downsides to garlic. The most obvious one is bad breath. Also, if you have FODMAP sensitivities or allergies, then garlic is obviously not a good choice. Thanks for watching. Make sure to give this video a thumbs up if you found it informative. And don't forget to subscribe to Healthline's Authority Nutrition YouTube channel by clicking the red subscribe button below this video.