The Wonders of Garlic
This is just a concise overview showing how powerul this food is.

Garlic was so highly-prized, it was even used as currency. Garlic is also used to prevent certain types of cancer, including stomach and colon cancers. Garlic cloves can be eaten raw or cooked. Garlic can thin the blood (reduce the ability of blood to clot) in a manner similar to aspirin. Garlic's numerous beneficial cardiovascular effects are due to not only its sulfur compounds, but also to its vitamin C, vitamin B6, selenium and manganese.

Garlic is a very good source of vitamin C, the body's primary antioxidant defender in all aqueous (water-soluble) areas, such as the bloodstream, where it protects LDL cholesterol from oxidation. Garlic's vitamin B6 helps prevent heart disease via another mechanism: lowering levels of homocysteine. Garlic is rich not only in selenium, but also in another trace mineral, manganese, which also functions as a cofactor in a number of other important antioxidant defense enzymes, for example, superoxide dismutase.

The selenium in garlic not only helps prevent heart disease, but also provides protection against cancer and heavy metal toxicity.

Garlic also has a long reputation in folk medicine and mythology for its health givingproperties. Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health.

And let us not forget to mention the alleged aphrodisiacal powers of garlic which have been extolled through the ages. Surprisingly, garlic was frowned upon by foodie snobs in the United States until the first quarter of the twentieth century, being found almost exclusively in ethnic dishes in working-class neighborhoods. But, by 1940, America had embraced garlic, finally recognizing its value as not only a minor seasoning, but as a major ingredient in recipes. Some studies suggest consuming garlic as a regular part of the diet may lower the risk of certain cancers.

Winds of Health