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Enjoy The Health Benefits Of Garlic

Garlic is a world famous member of the onion family of plants. Renowned for its taste and its wide use in cooking, there are also various health benefits for this magnificent plant.

The health benefits of garlic have been known since the early days of its usage. It is thought that garlic has been part of human consumption for around 7,000 years.

There are varieties of garlic supplements available in different forms today. You can add garlic into your diet not only by using the fresh garlic you can buy from supermarkets, but also by using garlic extracts, powders and pills. Pills and capsules are especially good to use if you don’t like the taste and smell of garlic.

The antimicrobial qualities of garlic are one of the biggest health benefits garlic offers. Harmful microbes are less likely to evolve resistance to garlic’s natural antibiotic properties. This makes garlic a good cold remedy and using it will give you better resistance to common colds and flu. A British study of 146 people found that two thirds of them were less likely to catch a cold when using garlic supplements.

This antibiotic part of garlic is due to the chemical allicin, which also gives it the unique smell. Allicin can also have the effect of thinning blood, so it is advised not to use garlic too much if you are undergoing an operation.

Garlic also has low levels of a chemical called germanium. It is currently being studied what effect germanium has on preventing certain cancer cells from occurring or growing. Garlic is also a great source of selenium, which is another important anti-cancer compound.

What are other health benefits of garlic?

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