THE ROLE OF GARLIC IN HEALTH

Garlic is an important spice in the kitchen. It serves as food appetizer. Without it, the prepared menu lacked its original taste. The history of garlic was used as food and as medicine.

Garlic was composed mostly of water. Each clove has 1 gram of carbohydrates in starchy form contains sinistrin, protein, fiber and fat. It has 17 amino acids, 19 minerals and 5 vitamins, 6 nucleosides or nucleic acid.

The minerals in garlic are germanium, calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, potassium, selenium and zinc. The vitamins are vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, C, choline. The nucleic acids are adenosine, guanosine, uridine, thymidine, cytidine and isosine. The nucleosides was the building block of DNA and RNA.

Generally, is not odorous. It only give pungent smell if it is being crushed or bruised.The sulfur-rich amino acids called Alliin and the enzyme or catalyst called allinase were responsible for the smell as it dissolved in the cells of the garlic.

The two compounds alinase and alliin mixes together once the garlic is being crushed. They released a highly reactive pungent compound called diallyl thiosulfinate or allicin that gives protection to the body against harmful bacteria. As the allicin is being manufactured, it started to decay. This is the time that it unleash a barrage of many other compounds formed and participated in the complex sequence of chemical interaction and reaction.

Garlic aided and induced the capacity of the killer cells in the body to destroy tumor cells, virus-infected cells and other foreign invaders to protect them to establish colony to damage healthy cells.

It stimulates the activity of the macrophage, a phagocytes that has the ability to engulped foreign substances. It stimulates the function of the immune system influencing the T-lymphocytes to respond to lymphokines and mitogen.

It was found to lowers blood pressure by inhibiting the enzymes. The enzyme catalyzes the conversion of hormones for the purpose of regulating the blood pressure to normal level. A sulfur compound in garlic called ajoene is responsible to dissolve blood clots in the blood vessels by making interruption to the process where the platelets and fibrin are working together to form a clots to the circulatory system.

It has progressive nature to reverse and control atherosclerosis. It inhibits the enzymes to initiate cholesterol synthesis that will result to the reduction of the level of low-density lipoprotein and increase in high-density lipoprotein levels.

Garlic found to have anti-tumor property that inhibits the enzyme activity of the cancer cells putting them non-viable. It blocks carcinogens to damage and destroy tissues that may result to the formation of cancer. It then blocks a secondary carcinogen that will promotes the activity of primary carcinogen. The stimulation of the immune system was the reasons it can defend against tumor.

Garlic is very effective in the control of the disease-causing germs. Because of its anti-bacterial property it controls against gram-positive, gram-negative and acid-fast bacterial organisms. It becomes a germ fighter against viruses, protozoa and fungal infection and parasites.

If the immune system ability to defend is enhance, it work properly to its highest peak of shielding damaging micro-organisms and free radicals.

Liver is very sensitive and can easily reactive of any chemical substances and contaminants it can get in the environment. With garlic it can protect the liver from the damage due to hazards taken from outside sources. Ionizing radiation is very damaging to the cells but garlic has the ability to give full protection and preserve the healthy cells from being destroyed.

The pungency of garlic doesn't matter. The most important things is that it has many benefits we can use to solve, help and treat the disease that keep on bothering us.

Garlic is available anytime, anywhere even in our own kitchen. Using it in our food preparations as spices in one good points that our body is protected from the threats to maintain healthy life.