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Garlic · Allium sativum
Photo: (c) Юрий Данилевский (Yuriy Danilevsky), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · via iNaturalist
Herbs & Plants
Garlic
Allium sativum
An Egyptian medical papyrus written three and a half thousand years ago already listed garlic as a treatment for twenty-two separate illnesses.
Benefits
Lowers high blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels.
Garlic lowers total cholesterol, and the harmful kind that builds up in the arteries.
Aged garlic extract raises the helpful strains.
It works gradually, and only where blood sugar is already raised.
What It Is Known For
Garlic is famous for this, but the trials behind it are few and weak, and nothing tests it against flu at all.
Crushed garlic kills bacteria in a dish, but almost none of the compound that does it survives digestion.
The compound that works on fungus has only been tested as a cream made in a lab, not as a clove or a soak.
Nothing has ever tested this in a person, and the idea has no measurable meaning.
Key Active Compounds
The sulfur compound that forms the moment a clove is crushed.
One of the sulfur compounds crushed garlic breaks down into.
Another breakdown product of crushed garlic.
Forms as garlic ages, and is what aged garlic is measured by.
Traditionally Used
Garlic is a popular home remedy for the common cold. Two cloves crushed, left ten minutes, then stirred into a spoonful of honey and lemon.
How to Take It / Use It
Take aged garlic extract, two capsules a day. That is the form and the amount behind the blood pressure result, and it is easier on the stomach than raw garlic.
Take aged garlic extract, two capsules a day, for twelve weeks before judging it.
Cautions
Raw garlic left on the skin can cause a chemical burn, so do not use it as a poultice or a soak.
Garlic makes the blood slower to clot, so keep to food amounts if you take blood-thinning medicine or have surgery coming up.
Where It Comes From
Garlic comes from the mountain foothills of south-central Asia, from the Black Sea through the Caucasus and Afghanistan into the Tien Shan range. Trade carried it into the Mediterranean and from there worldwide. China now grows most of the world's supply.
How We Choose It
We check every product so you don't have to. A garlic only makes our list if:
- Capsules, never tablets. A tablet needs binders and fillers, so it is not only garlic.
- The label states S-allyl cysteine. That's the compound aging produces — the one that does the work.
If no product meets these standards, we don't list one. No exceptions for affiliates.
See our picks
Sources8
- The Herb Society of America. Garlic, a really ancient herb. Article
- Meta-analysis of 21 randomised trials on garlic and blood lipids. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 2024. Meta-analysis
- Cleveland Clinic. Garlic benefits. Health essentials
- Cleveland Clinic. Does garlic lower blood pressure? Health essentials
- Healthline. Health benefits of garlic. Review
- American Heart Association. Sorting folklore from fact on garlic. News
- University of Wisconsin Horticulture. Garlic, Allium sativum. Extension
- wikiHow. How to consume garlic for health. Guide