Garlic (lat.Allium sativum) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the onion family, a vegetable crop also used as a seasoning due to its pungent taste and specific smell. It is cultivated almost all over the world, due to its unpretentiousness.
It is difficult to overestimate the health benefits of garlic. An excellent seasoning, it enriches our diet with a mass of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Garlic has a great variety of useful and medicinal properties and is actively used in traditional and alternative medicine to cure many diseases.
Garlic composition
The chemical composition of garlic is very rich and, in general, it is an extremely useful vegetable on our table. It contains nitrogenous substances, fiber, carbohydrates, proteins, water, sodium, potassium and calcium, sulfuric and phosphoric acids, sulfurous substances, phytosterols, bioflavonoids, extractives, phytoncides.
Of the vitamins in the composition of garlic, it is especially worth noting ascorbic acid, vitamins of group B. It also contains valuable essential oils. In total, garlic contains about fifty different components, many of which are valuable antioxidants. The main antioxidant substance is selenium. The most valuable medicinal property of garlic is antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial action. No wonder doctors advise eating garlic in spring and autumn – when the body is weakened and it is more difficult for it to resist seasonal diseases and infections.
How useful is ha garland for a person?
Garlic is useful for its ability to resist dysbiosis, fungal skin lesions, intestinal infections, helminthic invasions, to cleanse the body and increase its immunity. It is an excellent firming and immunomodulating agent. It is believed that garlic can inhibit the development of malignant tumors and prevent the appearance of cancer due to its ability to kill pathogenic flora and microorganisms.
Garlic thins the blood, normalizes blood pressure, stimulates the production of gastric juice and the outflow of bile, facilitates digestion and significantly reduces blood cholesterol levels. Regular consumption of garlic significantly reduces the amount of mucus in the human body. Many medicines are prepared from it.
Use in traditional medicine and cooking
Garlic is also used in folk medicine for the preparation of therapeutic inhalations, or as an external agent – as compresses and rubbing. It is used to cleanse the skin, reduce warts and fight age spots. Garlic can help with severe toothache.
Due to its sharp specific taste and aroma, garlic is used as a seasoning for many dishes. The preservation of vegetables and cold snacks cannot be done without it – it has long been a natural preservative. In pickled cucumbers or tomatoes, garlic is always included as an essential component. Without it, it is impossible to imagine Greek or Mediterranean cuisine, they are very fond of in the East too. A popular appetizer is pickled green arrows of garlic, called wild garlic.
