The fact that garlic has been with us for a very long time, can be testified with the fact that it has been found in the pyramids of Egypt and even referenced in the Bible. The garlic is more than a food, it is most certainly a legend. Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, prescribed it regularly to his patients, and it was given to the first Olympic athletes in Ancient Greece to enhance performance.
Garlic is more powerful than you think!
In a modern research recently was confirmed that the garlic is a potent weapon in the battle against many diseases, which is the the thing that the ancient herbalists and healers intuitively knew. In a study conducted in 1999 D. Mirelman and S. Ankri confirmed that the compound called allicin,contained in garlic is responsible for garlic’s antiparasitic, antiviral and antimicrobial activity. It has been also confirmed to potentially battle some superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics and combat drug resistant strains of Escherichia coli.
The enzyme allinase and allicin are not actually contained in the garlic, they are part of the cells in the garlic clove. They are kept separate, but when the cell walls are ruptured, they link together and form the all – powerful and mighty allicin.
So remember when cooking at home to rupture those cell walls in the garlic cloves using your own method, and don’t just throw the diced allium sativum into your hot pan or pot, because heat destroys and neutralizes the healthy benefits of allicin.
K. Song and J.A. Milner conducted a study in 2001 in which they confirmed that heating, microwaving or boiling crushed garlic destroys and neutralizes all of the activity of the enzyme alliinase. Anyway, most of the dishes require cooked garlic rather than raw.
Many scientists suggest dicing or mincingyour garlic, if you want to preserve some of allicin’s healing properties, and then leaving it to stay for about 10 minutes, enough time for the alliinase to do its magic and create as much allicin as possible before it gets destroyed and neutralized by the heat. So, remember next time you’re cooking, while you’re done getting the rest of your ingredients ready, be sure to first dice your garlic, and then let it stand for about 10 minutes to create as much allicin as possible.
Source : organichealth.co
