“So it’s true?”
We have all heard that garlic is good for your health and that you should eat it.
Yes but now, some don’t like it at all, others think it smells very bad, and finally others have smirks when you tell them that you love it and that you are happy to eat it. There you will have to explain to me why because if it is for bad breath, I find that compared to the virtues of garlic, bad breath is rather incidental.
Contents
1. Garlic : an age-old remedy
For more than 5,000 years, garlic has been found everywhere in ancient literature.
Originally from Central Asia, it was widely used in the Mediterranean and especially in Egypt and Greece. The Hebrews in particular regretted it after leaving their slave status in Egypt.
Garlic is a traditional remedy that was used as a natural antibiotic long before the invention of chemical antibiotics because of of allicin, an antibiotic molecule..
The ancients used garlic to cure many diseases considered serious, such as tuberculosis and typhoid.
A powerful natural antiseptic, garlic was used during times of war to treat infections due to wounds in particular.
2. The amazing health benefits of garlic
It is by discovering the virtues of garlic that we realize that it is worth making an effort.
Garlic contains vitamins and minerals and other active ingredients that make it a very powerful and effective product.
Vitamins
- Vitamin of the group and in particular B6
- Vitamin C – beta-carotene (provitamin A)
- Vitamin K
- Antioxidant vitamin E (tocopherols)
Minerals
- Calcium
- Phosphorus
- Iron
- Selenium
- Suffers
Garlic has active ingredients that act on the body such as:
- a tonic
- a powerful antioxidant : flavonoids and polyphenols
- An antifungal
- An antibacterial
- An antibiotic
- A disinfectant
- A vermifuge
Not to mention the boost you can feel after consuming it.
So obviously, we wonder why not everyone eats it !
But we must recognize that it is very strong and very pungent and that it can be difficult to eat.
3. The different types and varieties of garlic
White garlic and purple garlic are winter garlic.
Pink garlic comes from the Mediterranean, it is smaller, and can be stored longer.
White garlic grows mainly north of the Loire. White or purple garlic will keep for about six months.
The different varieties of garlic
Depend on the terroir where they are grown and their specific color.
They can also sometimes have a label:
- White garlic from Lomagne (Midi-Pyrénées)
- Garlic from Auvergne
- Garlic from Cherrueix (Brittany)
- Drôme garlic
- Garlic from Provence
- Smoked garlic from Arleux (Nord-Pas-de-Calais)
- Pink garlic from Lautrec (Midi-Pyrénées)
- Var pink garlic
- Purple garlic from Cadours (Midi-Pyrénées)
4. Should we consume it every day ?
Not necessarily, but it is rather recommended to always have some in your kitchen and to integrate it into your diet as often as possible.
Eating 2 or 3 cloves a day can be a good habit to keep throughout your life.
After that it depends on the needs and as we have rather good instincts, your body will tell you if it needs it or if it’s too much. You have to learn to listen to yourself.
Consuming too much could give some people heartburn.
I used to eat a lot of it every day and then I stopped for a few months. That’s when I had the covid19 by chance!
I knew I had to eat it again quickly. But during the first week of coughing, for me it was just impossible. It just didn’t work! I had to wait a bit.
5. How to consume garlic ?
In general, it is consumed in the kitchen in many different dishes:
- Soups
- Dishes in sauce
- Sauces
- Mash potatoes
- Vegetable dish etc…
But some only use it when they are sick, and therefore consume it in broths with aromatic herbs such as thyme for example.
In any case, it must be consumed raw to take full advantage of its active ingredients and its benefits.
Indeed, raw garlic would be 1.5 times more powerful than the powdered version.
You can let it rest before eating it, or let it soak in boiling water for a few minutes so that it is easier to eat mashed for example.
6. Traditional garlic recipes
The mayonnaise
We don’t even realize it anymore, but the traditional recipe for mayonnaise includes garlic.
The aioli
This traditional sauce that accompanies many dishes is, as its name suggests, made from garlic.
Candied garlic
This recipe consists of cooking the garlic cloves with their envelope in a saucepan in olive oil.
It is therefore cooked garlic and very fragrant with olive oil to which we have added aromatic herbs.
7. Plant and grow garlic at home
After reviewing the virtues of garlic, we know that you should always have some in your kitchen and even plant and grow it yourself in your garden or balcony.
Garlic is very easy to grow. Just let the pods sprout and plant them in the ground.
Who has never found cloves of garlic that had already started to germinate and even grow in their kitchen!
Easy to grow, it does not require special care. Little water and little fertilizer.
It is planted in autumn or spring
Harvesting garlic can be done when the leaves are still green or when they are yellow and two-thirds dry when you want its conservation to be as long as possible.
