Health Benefits of Garlic and Garlic Herbal Remedies

The health benefits of garlic have been know for over 5000 years being used widely in India and garlic herbal remedies were well known to the Chinese. It has long been recognized for it's anti bacterial powers and was even used in World War I to fight off infections in wounds.

Garlic health benefits extend well beyond it's anti bacterial and infection fighting properties. It's also been found to help lower cholesterol and blood pressure as well as help protect against heart disease and stroke.

And the benefits of garlic don't stop there. A recent study has shown that taking a garlic supplement once a day can reduce the risk of getting a cold by 50% and help you gain a speedy recovery if you do happen to catch one.

Some garlic herbal remedies include remedies for: colds, infections, athletes foot, worms, respiratory ailments, some cancers of the stomach, colic, ear aches, bladder problems and high blood pressure.

And garlic can also add to your overall health as it is loaded with vitamins and minerals including Vitamin A, B and C, selenium, potassium, calcium, zinc and magnesium.

What causes the health benefits of garlic? Researcher say it is the allicin that is released when garlic is crushed. If you are trying to serve yourself a garlic herbal remedy by adding garlic to your foods then make sure you crush it a bit ahead of time and don't add until the final 5 minutes of cooking. This will give the allicin enough time to develop and will insure you don't cook all the garlic health out of it.

Cooked garlic will not have as much benefit as raw and whole garlic cloves have little benefit at all. Another way to incorporate garlic into your meals without cooking is to make a garlic bread where you crush the gloves into a paste and toast bread - butter the toasted bread and spread the garlic on it - Yum!

Garlic can have an affect on blood clotting, so don't start taking supplements unless you discuss it with your physician first especially if you are on blood thinning medication or due to have surgery in the near future.

Don't like the smell? You can have the health benefits of garlic without the odor. There are many odorless supplements on the market that work just as good as raw garlic but without the mess and the smell.

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