HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHEWING RAW GARLIC

HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHEWING RAW GARLIC

You might not make a lot of new friends if you chew on garlic, a plant used for centuries as both a pungent flavoring and a medicine. A member of the onion family, garlic contains a powerful sulfur compound called allicin, which also lends it a distinctive – and to many people, unpleasant – smell.Garlic not only makes food delicious, it may also have a number of health benefits. The allicin in garlic exhibits strong antioxidant activity – the ability to fight harmful free radicals in the body – which has led scientists to study its health-promoting properties.

OFFERS AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT 

If you suffer from an inflammatory condition, it may help to consume raw garlic. A study published in "Food and Chemical Toxicology" in August 2013 found that garlic had an anti-inflammatory effect, with raw garlic exhibiting a stronger effect than garlic that had been 

heated. The levels of a compound called allicin were greater in the raw garlic, which is most likely the reason for its greater benefits.

LOWERS CHOLESTEROL 

Medical students who consumed 10 grams of raw garlic each day for two months significantly lowered their cholesterol levels, according to a study published in the "Journal of Postgraduate Medicine" in 1991. Another study, published in the "Pakistan Journal of 

Pharmaceutical Sciences" in October 2006, found that raw garlic consumption increased beneficial HDL cholesterol levels, while decreasing total cholesterol, although the difference wasn't large enough to recommend using garlic as the only method for lowering cholesterol.

IT MAY LOWER CANCER RISK 

People who consumed raw garlic at least twice a week experienced lower rates of lung cancer than those who consumed raw garlic less often, according to a seven-year study published in "Cancer Prevention Research" in July 2013. Garlic may also be beneficial for preventing or treating colon and pancreatic cancer, according to the University of Maryland 

Medical Center -- although research is still preliminary.