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GARLIC
We normally use this at home for most of our foods and some even put it in water to drink but don’t know is an herb. Garlic is part of the herb group. This wonderful herbal plant, grown for its underground root or bulb, contains numerous health promoting phytonutrients that has proven benefits against coronary artery diseases, infections, and cancers. The methods applied for its cultivation are similar to those of growing onions. Several cultivar varieties exist from extra-large elephant garlic to small sized solo garlic. You can add garlic to your food for extra flavor. Like onions and leeks, it is a plant that belongs to the Allium family. It contains allicin, which is a compound with numerous health benefits including antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. That does not even count the vitamins and minerals found in the nutritious seasoning. You can find garlic in cloves, paste, powders, supplements, extracts, and oils. However, to reap full health benefits of garlic, you should consume it in its most natural, raw state.
The more you cook it, the more it loses the medicinal qualities. Try eating one clove with each of your three meals every single day. All you have to do is crush or cleave the garlic glove when it is still raw. If you have to cook the garlic, you can at least break it ahead of time and leave it out for a while before adding it to the recipe. Adding a small amount of salt or olive oil to garlic can help with the taste.
Health benefits of Garlic
• Strong flavored, garlic cloves contain many unique phytonutrients, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants that have proven health benefits.
• Boosts the Immune System: If you get sick a lot, including the common cold or flu, you should add more garlic to your diet. A 12-week study revealed that people who took 2.56 grams of garlic per day (or related supplements) not only got sick fewer times but the length and severity of their the cold or flu was improved.
• Its bulbs contain organic thiosulfate compounds such as diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide and allyl propyl disulfide. Upon disruption of the bulb (while crushing, cutting, etc.), these compounds convert into allicin through an enzymatic reaction.
• Laboratory studies show that allicin reduces cholesterol production by inhibiting the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme within the liver cells.
• Allicin decreases blood vessel stiffness through the facilitation of nitric oxide (NO) release. Nitric oxide relaxes blood vessels and thereby, bring a reduction in the total blood pressure. Further, it blocks platelet clot formation and has fibrinolytic action inside the blood vessels. This function of allicin helps decrease the overall risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), peripheral vascular diseases (PVD), and stroke.
• Research studies also suggest that consumption of garlic associated with a possible decrease in the incidence of stomach cancer.
• Allicin and other essential volatile compounds also found to have antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-fungal activities.
• Garlic is an excellent source of minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. The bulbs are one of the richest sources of potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and selenium. Selenium is a heart-healthy mineral and is an essential cofactor for antioxidant enzymes within the body. The human body uses manganese as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is essential for red blood cell formation.
• It contains many flavonoid antioxidants like β - carotene, zeaxanthin, and vitamins like vitamin-C. Vitamin-C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.


Garlic cloves have amazingly high levels of vitamins and minerals. Just 100 g provides (in % of recommended daily allowance):
95% of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine),
52% of vitamin C,
33% of copper,
21% of iron,
18% of calcium,
26% Selenium, and
73% of manganese
Medicinal uses
• Garlic herb has been in use for a long time in many traditional Indian and Chinese medicines as a remedy for cold, cough, bronchitis, etc.
• Garlic oil has been used as a local applicant for "ringworm" (fungal dermatitis) infection of the skin.
• In the modern medicine, this exotic herb advocated as health benefiting food for its anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and immune boosting and cholesterol-lowering properties.
Culinary uses
Both cloves, as well as tender green tops of the garlic plant, are used in a variety of recipes, especially as a seasoning/garnishing. In general, leaves are less pungent than the cloves and employed in recipes in a similar way like onion tops or scallions.

To prepare; its outer covers peeled away by hand, and cream-white color, smooth bulblet (clove) is either chopped using a paring knife or crushed using a garlic press just before adding into the recipes.
Garlic is one of the common ingredients employed to enhance the flavor of vegetable, meat, and seafood preparations.
Its cloves are added to give a spicy, pungent flavor to the preparations like bread, toast, and Bruschetta (grilled bread slices rubbed with garlic paste with toppings such as olive oil, pepper, tomato, cheese, meat).
The cloves have also been used in the preparation of seasonal soups, chutney, and sauces.
Tender garlic tops are used like vegetables just like scallions and chives along with vegetables, eggs in some recipe preparations in East Asian countries.