Garlic
Garlic (Allium sativum) is used for medical and culinary purposes as well. Its bulb can be consumed and has a characteristic pungent, spicy flavour when cut. It is very popular in the whole world as a seasoning.
Garlic is grown and used globally. It is native to central and south Asia. Garlic was mentioned already in the oldest written materials. Certain ancient peoples attributed magic power to it. Ancient Egyptians worshipped it as a holy plant, and the builders of the Egyptian pyramids were given garlic, onion and radish to prevent infectious diseases. Garlic was also used in the menu of Roman soldiers. It was recommended for the healing of 61 different diseases already in ancient times. In the Middle Ages, medical and purifying power was attributed to it and its clove was suspended around the neck as amulet. The beak of the plague doctor’s bird mask – through which the doctor breathed in the air – was filled with garlic among other aromatic things. Garlic has been used in folk medicine for long, especially against high blood pressure and obesity and as a rejuvenator.
Garlic, this long-known herb with healing power, has several positive effects on our body. It normalises the rapid pulse, relaxes the spasm of the coronary artery, improving the blood supply of cardiac muscle. It enhances the performance of heart. We know from a study published in American Heart Journal, the professional journal of American cardiologists, that garlic extract prevents thrombosis even in the corona artery. Experiences have shown that garlic is one of the most effective medicines for the prevention and healing of arteriosclerosis. It reduces the level of harmful cholesterol (LDL) and increases the proportion of “good” cholesterol (HDL) in blood, preventing arteriosclerosis this way as well. Its vasodilating and blood-pressure-reducing effect has also been proven (methyl allyl trisulfide). The vasodilating effect of garlic asserts itself especially well in the peripheral places far from the heart, e.g. in the constricted veins of the brain, the eyes and the legs. This is why it can be used effectively against a certain type of headache. It can also be beneficial in the case of infections of the gastrointestinal tract (diarrhoea, enteritis). It improves the functions of the heart and the circulatory system, promotes the functions of the bile and the liver, eases digestion and provides protection against carcinogens.
Active ingredients
Garlic contains more than 200 biologically active ingredients – such as vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes. The more than 70 sulphur-containing compounds are the most active substances biochemically. The main active ingredient of garlic is allicin that exhibits strong antibacterial properties. It is formed during digestion by the action of the enzyme alliinase on alliin, an ingredient of garlic. Its characteristic odour comes from ajoene, a sulphur-containing substance.