GARLIC

ALLIUM SATIVUM

PROPERTIES

Garlic, ALLIUM SATIVUM is a plant appreciated for its bulb since ancient times. Native to the plains of Central Asia, it was already present in the Mediterranean five thousand years ago. The ancient Egyptians believed it conferred strength and endurance and included it in rations prepared for slave laborers, while the Greeks considered it essential in the diet of athletes.

Approximately ten grams of garlic provides 15 kcal. Protein is no more than one gram, while carbohydrates are just over 3 grams. It contains vitamin B6, vitamin C and vitamin B1; it is high in magnesium, less so in calcium, selenium, copper and phosphorus.

Contains bioactive substances including querecetin, apigenin, myricetin, kaempferol, several lignans, glutathione, saponins, caffeic acid.

Garlic has always been used as a food of longevity, as a thaumaturgic treatment for cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and cure in certain forms of cancer, as well as a cure against parasites, infections in general. One of the most common uses of garlic is for the treatment of hypertension. Studies have also shown that extracts of garlic can lead to a reduction in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, but not in triglycerides.

The organic sulfur compounds present in garlic are able to interfere with the processes of growth, migration and invasion of cancer cells, as well as to reduce the formation of vessels that aid in the proliferation of cancer cells.

Mature garlic can induce the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes and promote the reduction of proinflammatory substances produced by adipose tissue.

(extract from I CIBI DELLA LONGEVITA’ – Maurizio Tommasini )