Garlic Benefits

By lowering the level of triglycerides in your blood, garlic indirectly lowers the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) and increases the level of good cholesterol (HDL). By preventing the bad cholesterol from accumulating in blood vessels, garlic helps in avoiding serious cardiovascular conditions such as angina (chest pain caused by lack of oxygen in the heart), atherosclerosis (condition in which there already is a cholesterol lining in blood vessels) and the worst one - heart attack .

Garlic is a powerful weapon against microbes, due to its anti-parasitic and anti-septic properties. It's also often referred to as a natural antibiotic. For example, it's the oldest trick in the book for treating diarrhea, as it effectively kills the virus that causes it and helps you get better much sooner than by being on some strict diets. Another good example is flue infection. Did you know that people who often consume garlic, rarely (or never) have flue?

Active substance responsible for such efficiency is allicin - chemical compound found only in a raw garlic. In other words, allicin is destroyed by cooking. So, to benefit from allicin, slice or squeeze fresh garlic and ad it to salads, or simply sprinkle it over some meet or fish right before serving it.

If you use garlic regularly and keep your both cholesterol's levels under control, your blood pressure will benefit as well. In other words, the lower the fat level in your blood vessels, the lower the risk of high blood pressure. This is how garlic impacts your blood pressure indirectly, by managing your cholesterol first.

At the same time, there's a direct impact as well and it comes down to the very essence of garlic as a herb. You see, there's this great substance called garlic sulphides which (by causing specific chemical reactions) relaxes blood vessels and therefore directly improve the blood circulation. How about that for garlic benefits?!

Warning: Garlic will hopefully become a part of the so called conventional medicine some day. Until it does however, it can not be the substitute for the medical therapy of chronic hypertension patients, but only a valuable assistant.

My sister had a beautiful big dog, a mongrel lot like Rottweiler. His name was Nero. He was bitten by a tick twice, in spite of his tick collar. First time his vet helped him, although the therapy was long. Second time Nero wasn't that lucky. Today my sister wishes she knew about the trick with garlic back then. It's rather simple: peel the garlic, mash it (of slice it thin) and ad it into the dog's meal. Besides keeping ticks away from your dog, due to its anti-parasitic properties garlic will keep your dog's digestion system healthy too.

Note: As with other alternative medicine issues, this one is taken differently by vets, so you better check with your vet rather than doing anything on your own. Daily dosage of garlic for an adult dog varies from one clove of fresh garlic per 10 to 30 pounds of dog's weight.