Let’s talk about garlic and bacteria.
Many websites are good at bashing garlic, and saying that it indiscriminately kills good and bad bacteria. They suggest avoiding garlic in your diet. Some sites claim that garlic is too pungent and contains chemicals that have an overly powerful effect on the body. A lot of these websites are Ayurvedic websites that don’t like onions or garlic in the diet in general. But, there are generally no scientific links to support the negative opinions of garlic.
Instead, some studies demonstrate garlic having beneficial properties when it comes to GI health. Garlic has not been shown to destroy beneficial gut bacteria. It turns out that various strains of Lactobacillus are resistant to fresh, raw garlic. There is also evidence from studies that garlic is a prebiotic.
Further readings:
- The Effect Of Cooking Method On Gut Flora
- Antibiotic Resistance: A Consequence of Overuse
- Antibiotics In Children: My Perspective
- Improving Your Gut Health With CanXida Products
Of course, everything in moderation. If you eat a pound of raw garlic daily, you’re going to wipe everything out, including your relationships. No one is going to come near you. But, if you eat one or two cloves of garlic per day mixed into your food, you’ll be fine.
Garlic can help keep the blood thin, regulate blood pressure, and increase resistance to viruses in the blood. It’s a superb food but should be used carefully.
It’s not uncommon to read studies that completely contradict each other. When it comes to garlic, I think it helps to look at how it was used for hundreds of years by many different populations. It was used so extensively because of the benefits it generated. This is one of the reasons garlic is still around today.
In my opinion, science has validated garlic as a superfood in terms of its positive effects on the body. I put garlic in the same category as fresh salmon, avocados, blueberries, black currents, and 90% dark chocolate. Regularly consuming small amounts of these superfoods will have a profound effect on your health. Eaten in moderation, I have no concerns about garlic killing beneficial gut bacteria.
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