Garlic has been used as a health enhancer for thousands of years. Knowing how to eat raw garlic is the key to gaining its benefits. Its hidden compounds were sometimes kept secret, and its properties can be a cure for many different types of ailments. And because of its long shelf life, having cloves of garlic nearby is easily accomplished. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. With your friend garlic close by, you’ll be able to practice this adage every day.
What Are Some Tips On How To Eat Raw Garlic?
So what are the ways that you can safely and comfortably ingest this valuable substance? With a variety of ways to consume this elixir, you’re sure to be able to pick the one that’s right for you without suffering any of what could be common side effects. Ultimately, you’ll want to ingest garlic’s chief compound: allicin. This is what maintains all the healing properties that we’ll discuss here. How to eat raw garlic is easier than you think.
1
Set Your Dosage Right
Before you go ingesting this beneficial substance it helps to know what dosage level is right for you. This means going on some ‘trial runs’ where you choose to take in a smaller set amount, and working your way up to see what your body can handle. According to nutritionists, 1-3 medium sized cloves is considered a standard dose. So feel free to pick within this range and see how this level of garlic affects you.
You can always take less once you’ve reached your comfortable limit. But remember there is definitely such a thing as too much! Also please note the difference between a bulb and a clove. Garlic is generally bought in bulbs (which is a grouping of cloves). The dosage level we’re suggesting is in fact in cloves and not in bulbs. Confusing these two types of measurement can lead to disastrous results, and our goal here is to help you improve your health.
2
Slice and Crush or Crush and Slice
Preparing your garlic is the next piece of the puzzle. How you choose to is ultimately up to you, but we’d recommend slicing up your garlic and then crushing it to release its essence or the other way around. It may actually be easier to crush the whole clove and then do the slicing, but some of the inner juice might be lost this way. Alternatively, if you’re going hardcore and simply biting and chewing the clove whole, kudos to you; but for most this option is too intense (it burns).
3
Preparing Your Delivery Substance
Your delivery substance can be as simple as a favorite topping that you then shoot like a spoonful of gazpacho or as complex as adding the raw garlic bits to an overall meal. Whichever you choose, know that the less other food the garlic comes in contact with in your stomach, the more its health effects will be maximized. Alternatively, with not enough other substance in your stomach, the raw garlic could potentially cause stomach aches and pains. Balance is key!
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4
Making Sure You Set The Timing Right
After crushing and slicing your garlic, wait approximately a minute for the juices to fully release and be activated. Then add the garlic to a spoonful of salsa, or hummus, or sauce, or whatever else you’ll want your delivery substance to be. Then once it’s ready and fully covered by the substance, you’re ready to ingest it properly. This aspect of how to eat raw garlic will have a big impact on how strongly you’ll feel its positive effects.
5
Down The Hatch
Now you’re ready to actually ingest the garlic. The key here is to take in what you’ve prepared quickly and swallow it even quicker. It’s important to make sure you have enough of your delivery substance around the garlic here if you’re shooting it because if any of the raw garlic comes into contact with your mouth, there’s a higher risk of garlic breath later.
6
Slight After Effect
Once you’ve swallowed the garlic, there’s a chance a slight aftertaste might kick in. This is normal and usually passes in a matter of minutes. Also, there may be some temporary stomach discomfort; but again, this is temporary. If the discomfort keeps up, it may be a good idea to try some Alka-seltzer or blend up some ginger and drink this. Some even add ginger to their delivery substance in order to keep the stomach ails at bay from the beginning.
7
Brush and Gargle after Ingesting and Keep Breath Spray Close By
The biggest complaint people have after taking garlic is the foul odor that can appear on their breath shortly after. Ensuring that you brush your teeth and use a mouthwash is essential for keeping this unfortunate side effect away. Also, for any excessive belching that may occur after ingesting the garlic, be sure to take out mints/breath spray just in case. This can keep the chief complaint against garlic consumers away and is really key in how to eat raw garlic.
8
Supplements When Time Is Short
Garlic supplements are thought to be less effective when looking for ways to receive the benefits that raw garlic provides but may be good in a pinch. This is because in its raw form, garlic’s native compound allicin is more active. And in terms of how to consume raw garlic, you want to be investing as much activated allicin as possible.
How Does Garlic Help Circulation And Stamina?
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One of garlic’s best benefits is its ability to increase blood circulation. It in fact purifies the blood from what can be harmful toxins that build up in the bloodstream. This allows more oxygen to reach your cells and vital organs, which in turn causes them to function more effectively. There are not many other compounds out there that increase effective blood flow and oxygenation quite like garlic does, so this makes it an effective pre-workout solution as well.
What Are Some Other Benefits Of Eating Raw Garlic?
Garlic was consumed by the famed warrior civilization of Sparta back in ancient times. This was a pre-battle ritual thought to give them power. It in fact probably did give them more stamina because of garlic’s energizing effects. But what other benefits do eating raw garlic give you? Well, finding out how to eat raw garlic and then incorporating the practice into your daily life can provide a whole host of benefits, which we’ll go into now.
Benefits Of Eating Raw Garlic
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Benefit 1 – Reduced Cancer Risk
Garlic actively clears away what the body does not need, and this includes cancer cells. As a preventative, it’s most effective against brain and lung cancer but has been shown effective against other cancers as well, such as prostate.
Benefit 2 – Potent Antibacterial
Garlic has the added benefit of fighting off harmful bacteria in the body. And because it does not harm us, humans, the garlic compounds pass through us taking the pesky dead bacteria cells with them. The result? A body that has more energy that’s not being diverted toward fighting off infection! Answering “how to eat raw garlic?” also involves answering how to keep nasty germs out of your system, which brings us to the third benefit.
Benefit 3 – Immunity Booster
Eating garlic boosts the immune system. This is good for preventing an infection from becoming a full-blown infection and can also be helpful if you’re already sick with something. Plus, if you’re really knocked out with sickness, there’s a good chance you don’t want to be around people anyway, right? In this case, the potential unpleasant side effects of eating garlic won’t be at play, because you’ll be by yourself!
Benefit 4 – Positive Effects for People with High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol
Studies show that consumption of garlic improves the blood lipid profile in your blood. This basically means that it alters the size/quality of the fats that are present in your bloodstream. It also helps your blood’s antioxidant potential, which also helps to lower blood pressure. So the next time you think to eat those other heart-healthy foods, remember to include some raw garlic.
Benefit 5 – Positive Effects on Libido
Yes, this is for both men and women and is thought to be true because of the overall optimization of the circulatory system. More blood flow to the body overall means more blood flow to the organs that excite our desires. In this way, garlic consumption has not only been thought to be the first-ever performance-enhancing substance but also as a potent aphrodisiac.
Benefit 6 – Helps Your Liver Heal From The Effects Of Alcohol
Yes, this is why garlic has been touted as a hangover cure. Researchers discovered that garlic can not only help out with short term liver issues but also long term stress from consuming too much alcohol. In their words, it provided protection against ‘ethanol-induced oxidative stress.’
Benefit 7 – The Common Cold?
Well, sort of Studies found that although garlic didn’t necessarily help cut short the common cold once a person had it, it was found that adults that consumed more garlic came down with fewer colds in the first place. Getting fewer colds means an overall fuller life and connection to your personal wellness.
Benefit 8 – Helps with Hip Osteoarthritis
An interesting fact is that there was a study detailing women with a statistically significant lower chance of developing osteoarthritis in the hip the higher their garlic intake was throughout their lives. This benefit is once again linked to garlic’s key compound allicin.
Conclusion
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So with all of these benefits, how could you not be interested in how to eat raw garlic? The substance was even used in the first-ever Olympics back in ancient Greece. Players were thought to eat garlic whole before competing, as this improved their ability to perform at their best. The record of people eating garlic goes back further than this however, with logs as old as five thousand years old when the Great Pyramids were being built.
And even in places like Nepal, garlic was and still is used today to treat things like bronchitis, hypertension, TB, liver disorders, dysentery, colic, intestinal parasites, rheumatism, and as a fever reducer. Of course more research must be done to be able to confirm some of these claims. Even so much of that research is underway right now. So be on the lookout for even more compelling reasons to learn how to eat raw garlic.
Once you’ve fully incorporated this wonder substance into your life, there’s a good chance that you’ll feel better, look better, and have an even better grasp on your overall health. And don’t forget, there’s an international garlic festival (the Gilroy Garlic Festival) that happens in Gilroy, CA every year. If you want to immerse yourself in garlic culture, be sure to attend!
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