The garlic is not just a food, it is definitely a legend in his own right. It has been found in the pyramids of Egypt and is even referenced in the Bible.
Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, regularly prescribed it, and it was given to the first Olympians in ancient Greece to enhance performance. Cooking with garlic the right way can help you continue to have its benefits despite cooking.
Learn to cook with garlic and get its benefits.
When cooking with garlic, we must always keep in mind that the proper way to cook it will be one that does not diminish its benefits, as can be caused by the use of a microwave oven, since it can neutralize the medicinal properties of garlic in a significant way, making its nutrients remain lost.
Garlic has more powers than is known.
Modern research confirms what ancient healers and herbalists intuitively knew: that garlic is a powerful weapon in the battle against disease.
A 1999 study shows that a compound within garlic called allicin is responsible for the antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-parasitic activity of garlic.
It has also been shown to fight drug-resistant strains of E. coli, and could potentially fight some antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
The allicin is not actually in the garlic. A compound, alliin, and an enzyme, allinase are part of the cells in a garlic clove. These two are kept separate, yet when those cell walls break down, they come together and form the omnipotent and powerful allicin.
How to cook garlic to take better advantage of its nutrients?
So, when you are cooking at home, you want to be sure to break down those cell walls in the garlic cloves using whatever method you prefer. But don’t throw it in your pot or pan. It turns out that heat neutralizes the medicinal benefits of allicin.
A 2001 study showed that cooking garlic, either in a stove or microwave oven or in any way, destroys all the activity of the alliinase enzyme within it. However, most dishes call for cooked garlic rather than raw.
In order to preserve some of allicin’s healing properties, many scientists suggest chopping or dicing the garlic, then letting it sit for ten minutes to let the alliinase do its job and form as much of the allicin as possible before let it be neutralized by heat.
So, the next time you’re cooking, make sure to chop the garlic first, then let it rest. By the time you’re done getting the rest of the ingredients, these crushed teeth will have a lot of allicin moving into their cells.