Garlic: Shopping Tips For The Best Garlic Supplement
Updated Mar. 21st, 2024 | Read Time: 4 Minutes | What You Will Learn:
- Key Medicinal Compounds Found In Garlic
- The Best Garlic Supplement Offers Key Health Benefits
- Cardiovascular Benefits
- Blood Sugar Regulation
- Antimicrobial Properties Found In The Best Garlic Supplements
- Tips For Finding The Best Garlic Supplement
- Do The Best Garlic Supplements Cause Stinky Breath?
Garlic is a popular herb in the kitchen and medicine cabinet. It has been used medicinally for thousands of years in many different cultures. The herb that's used is the bulb of the flowering plant in the Allium genus. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. While consuming garlic through your diet can provide some benefits, you'd have to eat a lot of it to get any kind of therapeutic benefit. Let's explore what to look for when shopping for the best garlic supplement.
Key Medicinal Compounds Found In Garlic
The cloves of the bulb contain active sulphur compounds called alliin, allicin, and S-allyl cysteine. These constituents have been well-studied for their various health benefits. Due to these active components, garlic can support the following health concerns:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Cholesterol Regulation
- Blood Pressure Lowering
- Improved Circulation
It also helps to regulate blood sugar levels and acts as a potent antimicrobial agent.
Medicinal Food
Garlic is a medicinal food because these active ingredients are present in the cloves in sufficient quantities to have some medicinal effects. To reap the best medicinal benefits from the garlic clove, it is best to eat raw garlic because the active sulphur compounds are sensitive to heat and can be destroyed by cooking.
The Best Garlic Supplement Offers Key Health Benefits
Cardiovascular Benefits
Garlic intake is shown to decrease levels of LDL cholesterol, which is the "bad" cholesterol responsible for cholesterol plaques and the storage of fat and triglycerides. Garlic also increases levels of HDL cholesterol, which is the "good" cholesterol responsible for moving stored and deposited fat to the liver for processing and removal from the body. HDL cholesterol protects against plaque formation. Garlic preparations have also been found to lower blood pressure and improve blood circulation. Thus, garlic can be used to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack. Aged garlic extract is the form that has been studied for its cardiovascular benefits.
Blood Sugar Regulation
Garlic has beneficial effects on balancing blood sugar as well. The pancreas releases insulin in response to sugar intake. It acts to promote the intake of glucose by all the cells of the body to use as a fuel source. Without proper insulin levels, any sugar absorbed stays in the blood, causing high blood sugar, while the body cells become starved for energy. Eventually, the pancreas becomes worn out and does not produce as much insulin or the body's cells become less sensitive after years of high insulin levels. This is what happens in diabetes. Garlic can increase the release of insulin and help the body's cells become more sensitive to the insulin present.
Antimicrobial Properties Found In The Best Garlic Supplements
For thousands of years, garlic has been used as an antimicrobial and anti-parasitic herb. It has been used topically for infections of the skin, wound care and even acne. It is commonly used for bacterial and fungal infections both inside and outside the body as well.
Oral supplementation or eating garlic can help fight systemic infections like parasites, bronchitis, and digestive infections. Research has shown that garlic can be taken as a prophylactic during cold and flu season to help protect against infection.
Tips For Finding The Best Garlic Supplement
Garlic supplements are found as encapsulated herbs, tablets and aged extracts (oils). These products should be standardized as an assurance of the amount of sulphur compounds they contain.
There are many types of garlic supplements, choose the best one according to your preferences and consider combination products that target your particular needs. Garlic can be found in combination products for immune boosting, cholesterol control, blood pressure regulation, and heart health.
Do The Best Garlic Supplements Cause Stinky Breath?
Although eating large amounts of garlic and supplementing with some forms of garlic can cause halitosis and a garlicky body odour, this doesn't have to be the case. Garlic naturally contains allyl methyl sulfide (AMS), which is the compound responsible for halitosis, but the best garlic supplements come in an odourless form to help prevent this nasty side effect.
Keep in mind that for respiratory infections, these supplements do not contain the AMS that naturally travels to the lungs and may not work as quickly. Also, some people say that the body odour and breath side effects decrease when garlic is used regularly.
I think that pretty much everybody knows how good is garlic for health. It's an old knowing of our great grand-parents. There is also many ways to use garlic aside from putting some in our recipes, especially for flu and viruses. Though, with this article I did learned that it woks with other supplements, such as echinacea and vitamin C. I always thought that garlic was a working alone supplement. The only downside to garlic is it's influence on blood pressure that can be problematic for those having a low one.
Hello Jace,
We are glad you enjoyed this article and learned something new! Pairing multiple immune boosting supplements provide great protection and work together to combat many ailments. Be sure to check out our other articles to keep learning; after all, knowledge is health.
I've always used garlic in foods and just by orally taking garlic pills. I find it helps to prevent colds and when I have a cold, it helps reduce the down time.
Hello Lorraine,
Garlic is an excellent supplement for cold & flu season. It's a great immune booster to keep your response strong and staying healthy during those months. Another great supplement is oil of oregano, albeit it has a more intense flavour.
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/oregano/
Have a healthy day
I love that some foods contain such valuable benefits. And yes, it does seem to have a strong odour at times, but like you said in the article, you can use supplements that are odourless or at least have less odour. When my husband’s doctor wanted him to go on meds for high blood pressure we opted to use something natural…kyolic garlic….very effective….within months we saw a big difference….besides the fact that it has other benefits…lowering cholesterol, etc. Thank you for this good article.
Hello Elizabeth,
Thank you for sharing, indeed, garlic has many benefits outside the kitchen too. Supplements are an easy and effective way to reap the benefits without that garlic smell we all know, love & hate. Glad it was an effective remedy for your husband.
Have a healthy day!
I love garlic and always say that when a recipe calls for garlic I just measure with my heart and not with the actual measurements! I don't mind the extra garlic, that is for sure, so it is great to know all about the added health benefits. It is great that this article mentioned not to take it with blood-thinners and I know before surgery you must discontinue taking garlic for a few weeks prior to prevent bleeding, so it is great that that was included here. Other than that, I love the taste and find it so easy to add to any dish and great health benefits! But of course, you do not want to over-do it so everything in moderation is safest!
Hello,
Garlic is such a tasty spice and can really add flavour to most dishes. We enjoy it in a vegetable medley, pasta, sauces, chilli, pretty much anything! Here's a new delicious recipe that calls for garlic, and since it's an Italian dish, you can definitely add extra :)
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/healthy-recipes/spaghetti-pizza-bake-with-basil-tomato-sauce/
I am a believer in the benefits of garlic. I use the powdered garlic and the real raw garlic bulbs. Garlic is used by me in most of my cooking.
Hello, Sharon,
Thank you for sharing. Garlic has numerous benefits for your health as you've discovered from reading this article. If you'd like to find more healthy recipes to use garlic in, check out our recipe page: https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/healthy-recipes/