How To Reap the Health Benefits of Garlic

Garlic is a Superfood 

We all know garlic is a superfood, but are you using garlic the right way to reap its benefits? Surprisingly, it is not the quantity of garlic added to your food, but rather what you do with it that matters most. Although I love to add as much garlic as possible in my cooking, using it in the right way is more important. 

Allicin, a compound has been more widely studied and most heavily credited for its medicinal properties. 

A raw bulb of garlic contains next to no allicin whatsoever; it is produced only when the bulb suffers from damage (e.g. like mincing it with our Garlic Chop). At this point, the enzyme alliinase and the amino acid alliin react to form allicin. 

Should You Slice, Mince or Grate Your Garlic? 

Given that allicin only comes from damage to the garlic, to obtain the most allicin, you need to inflict the most damage. While finely chopping, crushing with the back of your knife or pulverising with a pestle and mortar are all effective means, the least-laborious method would be to mince or grate the garlic using a zester or our Garlic Chop. Within seconds the solid clove will dissolve into a potent paste and if you're using our Garlic Chop, you'll have no stinky fingers! 

Garlic Is Like Red Wine, Let It Breath 

Many of us then make the mistake of adding garlic straight into our dish. But, numerous studies have found that you can get the most goodness out of your allicin by leaving the prepared garlic for ten minutes – so just as you would let a good wine breath, leave your garlic to rest before adding it to the pan.

Heat And Garlic Don't Mix 

Another mistake we make is to cook our favourite herb. Garlic's medicinal compounds are heat sensitive. 99% of allicin is lost during frying or even microwave heating. Clearly eating garlic raw is best for medicinal purposes!

The Stinky Side of Garlic 

Obviously eating garlic raw does have some side effects - yes we're talking about garlic breath and its effect on your social life. To help with this after eating a garlic heavy meal, finish it off with a piece of raw parsley or even mint leaves which will neutralize your breath.

The Garlic Chop and Peel

Garlic lovers know how tedious it can be chopping and peeling garlic. Luckily, there are kitchen tools that are easy to use, clean, and reduce the amount of garlic that would be otherwise wasted when using a typical garlic press. We recommend The Garlic Chop and Peel for a quick garlic prep!