GARLIC - VAMPIRES AND ILLNESS BEWARE!

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The use of garlic for medicinal purposes dates back centuries. It is widely believed by many to help protect against heart disease and lower blood pressure. Some people also opt to take garlic supplements in order to help fight off colds.

Therapeutic uses for garlic have been recorded in ancient Indian writings, dating as far back as 5000 years and garlic has also been regularly used in Chinese medicine for more than 3000 years.

The famous French microbiologist Louis Pasteur (one of the pioneers of modern medicine and accredited with the discovery of penicillin) noted the anti-bacterial properties of garlic back in the mid 1800’s. In fact, during the first World War, surgeons would often use garlic juice to prevent wounds from becoming infected.

We’re all familiar with the strong smell that garlic cloves give off (especially when it’s been used in food and we struggle to remove the smell from our breath!), but this smell is caused by a sulphur-bearing compound within the garlic, called allicin. It is this compound that is thought to give garlic it medicinal health qualities.

The health benefits of Garlic
Much of the recent research conducted in garlic has been based around it’s ability to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure, thus protecting against heart disease and stroke. One particular study of garlic’s effects on cholesterol, conducted in 1993 by the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians, concluded that after just four weeks there was a significant reduction in cholesterol levels of the test volunteers who had taken garlic supplements, compared to those who had not.

Researchers have also discovered that garlic may play an important role in the prevention of blood clots. A recent study published in the Journal of Hypertension, showed that garlic tablets cut volunteers' blood pressure by up to five per cent. The conclusion was that taking a garlic supplement could reduce the chances of suffering a stroke by 30 to 40 per cent, as well as reduce the incidence of heart disease by 20 to 25 per cent.

As well as maintaining a healthy heart, garlic is also thought to boost the immune system and help the body fight off infection more effectively. A famous example of this was in the early part of the 19th century during an outbreak of an infectious fever in Europe. English priests became ill with the fever but their French counterparts, who ate garlic daily, remained unaffected (albeit with bad breath).

Luckily these days, you don’t have to put up the smell of garlic to benefit from its therapeutic properties since Just Vitamins offers an odourless garlic capsule as well as the more traditional ‘pure’ garlic tablets.

Garlic supplements available from Just Vitamins:
   - Odourless Garlic 2mg 
   - Odourless Garlic 2mg (Vegetarian)
   - Pure Garlic 1400mg