Garlic = Healthy

Food of the Week: Garlic

Oh, marvelous garlic! Could anything make a dish so tasty so quickly? I think not.

In addition to being yum yum yummy, garlic provides a host of health benefits:

* It’s high in manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and selenium and packs quite an antioxidant wallop. Regular consumption of garlic makes a significant dent in the free radicals present in blood.Garlic over a white background

* Garlic also wields HUGE cardiovascular benefits. It reduces blood pressure, inhibits the growth of atherosclerotic plaque, reduces cholesterol, and prevents damage to blood vessel walls.

* Garlic acts as an anti-inflammatory, helping to alleviate both asthma and arthritis symptoms.

* Garlic also works as an antibacterial and antiviral agent. Garlic can not only reduce the damage caused by infections, but it also serves as a powerful weapon against the common cold.

* And, as an added bonus, the selenium in garlic helps prevent cancer and protects the body against heavy metal toxicity.

* (And, of course, we mustn’t forget garlic’s well-known vampire-repelling properties.)

If raw garlic is a bit too strong for you, then you’re in luck. Studies suggest the health benefits of garlic are activated by chopping or crushing, which stimulates the conversion of one of garlic’s beneficial phytonutrients to a form used by the body. Overcooking will inhibit most phytonutrient activity…but lightly cooked (not microwaved) crushed garlic is still super-healthy.

There are plenty of ways to add garlic into your diet, since a lot of dishes taste better with a hint of garlic. One great way is to use garlic in your salad dressings, as in the recipe below (borrowed from Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen). This is, bar none, the best salad dressing ever.

French Dressing

¼ cup flax oil

2 t apple cider vinegar

1 clove garlic

¼ t ground yellow mustard seed

¼ t paprika

¼ t pepper

½ t sea salt

Blend ingredients and serve. This doesn’t make a lot, so feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe as needed.