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Everything you need to know about the garlic properties and garlic benefits and how they can better your health. Keep reading to find out!
What is garlic and where does it come from?
Garlic (Allium Sativum L.), is a bulb from central Asia and a species belonging to the lily family Liliaceae. With time, garlic has become a popular product worldwide. It’s farming tradition goes back a lot in time, when it was first discovered in China around 4.000 B.C. In the lower Mediterranean countries garlic was known by the latin name alium, a word of celtic origin that means “burning”.
The garlic plant needs awarm climate, although it also requires a certain amount of exposure to cold temperatures during the fall-winter season to boost the plant during its most adavanced growing stages. However, when it comes to the bulbs, during the spring time, garlic plants need higher temperatures, around 18ºC – 21ºC. Only under these conditions will the garlic bulbs attain their ideal growth. Towards the end of the process of the bulbs’ growing stage the plant will once again need a warmer climate so it can properly ripen and so the color, the cloves and the head have can have an optimal growth.
Crops should be rotated,which means that crops belonging to the same family of plants should not grow togteher until at least three years have passed between them.
China, India, South Korea and Spain are currently the world’s main garlic producer.
Garlic benefits and nutrition facts
Garlic benefits contains iodine, phospherus, potassium and vitamins such as B6 and C. Garlic properties mainly come from its sulfurated components (allicin, allyl/dyallil disulfide).
Many benficial and healty properties have been attributed to garlic:
- antiseptic affects
- anti-inflammatory effects
- bactericide properties
- antiviral properties
- antifungal properties
- intestinal anti-parasitic properties.
Many studies have shown that garlic extract in small quantities is a strong inhibitor of the Helicobacter Pylori, a bacteria involved in the development of gastric and duodenal ulcers. Garlic can strongly prevent cardiovascular diseases, reducing blood’s lipid levels. It also helps reduce cholesterol, blood pressure, also helps with diabetes…In short, if you want to live longer, just have some garlic!
