Garlic: A Reliable Herb for Centuries
July 26, 2011 by Bob Livingston
I can’t remember how many years I have been taking garlic, but I have long understood it has healthful qualities. Kerry Bone, a very knowledgeable researcher, wrote in the April 2010 issue of Nutrition and Healing to explain exactly how garlic works its miracles.
Just think heart when you think garlic. Bone writes that garlic may act as “an herbal polypill that can lower the risk of arterial disease by an impressive combination of different benefits.”
Until very recently, most of the attention has been focused on two particular gaseous molecules that figure prominently in cardiovascular function — nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). They’re both synthesized inside the body, and extensive research has shown that boosting their levels protects the brain and heart against cardiovascular disease.
But researchers found that garlic also helps generate a third gaseous signaling molecule that could be just as important for circulation function as NO and CO.
Garlic has major health benefits, specifically on cardiovascular disease. It relaxes blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in garlic may also help improve erectile function without risk and at a much lower cost than those blue pills.
Sulfonic acid, one of the primary phytochemicals found in garlic (allicin), is probably the most potent known biological agent for trapping free radicals.
I like freshly-crushed garlic, but I take allicin-releasing garlic powder tablets by MediHerb, two 5,000 mg tablets every morning.
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