Garlic is good against cholesterol: heart-healthy benefits
What is garlic and why is it so good against cholesterol?
If there is a potent food, very beneficial to health, and tremendously valued for its qualities and properties, the Garlic stands out precisely for being one of them. And is that thanks to its benefits it becomes an indispensable food in the fight against high cholesterol.
In fact, there are those who advise consuming 1 raw garlic a day, in the same way that it is also recommended to take 1 apple per day. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that garlic becomes an extremely interesting food in the diet of all those people who have high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.
You know why? Fundamentally for its content in allicin and ajoene, two substances that help very positively in case of cholesterol and high triglycerides. This has been recommended by the Spanish Heart Foundation (FEC), who recommended the importance of include garlic in the daily diet, mainly because of its interesting qualities about cardiovascular health.
Not in vain, different scientific studies have verified and demonstrated the different effects that the regular consumption of garlic has on the high cholesterol levels. For example, a study published recently in the specialized journalJournal of the Science of Food and Agriculture(and carried out by researchers from the Toxicology Institute of Shandong University, in China), consume long-term raw garlic helps positively in people at risk of cardiovascular disease.
What are the benefits of garlic against cholesterol? Its allicin content
Same as him avocado, the Garlic can be really good against the cholesterol, because among other issues, and for its benefits and properties, garlic helps lower the high cholesterol. Why? These anti-cholesterol qualities we owe to the presence of Allicin in the composition of this wonderful food.
This substance consists of a sulfur component that helps positively when promoting a more adequate functioning of our cardiovascular health, thanks to the fact that it purifies the blood. But we find allicin in the garlic when we cut or split it, since we need a certain chemical process to be produced for it to appear.
This is easily explained in the following way: when we crush, split or crush the garlic, a sulfur compound known by the name of allicin is released, which is the final result of the conversion of the alliin. That is, allicin is produced when alliin comes into contact with air.
In addition, garlic not only contains alicia, but two other compounds with interesting benefits in case of cholesterol: ajoeno and adenosine. These two substances have an outstanding anticoagulant action, helping in turn to reduce LDL cholesterol.
It is something that we already discovered in the article The benefits of eating crushed or crushed garlic, when we commented that garlic precisely provides a greater amount of benefits when crushed, precisely because of the release of most of its sulfur compounds.
How to eat garlic to enjoy its benefits against cholesterol?
When it comes to enjoying the anti-cholesterol qualities that garlic gives us, the key is that allicin is released, the sulfur compound to which we owe its important benefits against cholesterol. And, to achieve this, it is necessary to crush or shred, and in addition consume it raw.
Therefore, we only need to peel one or two cloves of garlic, break it into pieces or crush it well with the help of a knife or mortar. Just eat one or two cloves of garlic a day.
However, since garlic is too spicy and fragrant, and if we cook it, it loses 90% of its important medicinal properties, the most advisable in anti-cholesterol treatments is to take it in the form of capsules, or try to consume it crushed and raw if we do not suffer from stomach problems (or sensitivity in the stomach).
Properties of garlic against cholesterol, in short
- It contains allicin, which helps lower high cholesterol and triglycerides.
- Prevents arteriosclerosis
- It increases the good cholesterol (HDL).
- It contains natural anticoagulants that prevent the formation of clots.
Why should we not see cholesterol as an enemy to our health?
We already commented on the article Cholesterol is NOT bad for your health, that in fact although it has been criticized tremendously and nowadays it is seen like an authentic enemy (by a wide variety of advertising promotions of products and foods with supposed qualities to help to lower it), Cholesterol is essential for our body.
It is a type of lipid that participates very actively in a wide variety of important functions in our body.For example, it is part of plasma membranes, is a precursor of sex hormones (testosterone, estrogen and progesterone), is a precursor of corticosteroidal hormones (cortisol and aldosterone), is a precursor of vitamin D, and aids in the digestion of fats to be a component of bile salts.
So, Cholesterol is fundamental and only becomes a problem when your blood levels are high. That is, when total cholesterol levels exceed 200 mg / dl .; or when the level of low density lipoproteins (LDL cholesterol) is greater than 130 mg / dl.
In turn, we must pay special attention to the values of high density lipoproteins (HDL cholesterol), since it is considered a risk to cardiovascular health if it is less than 35 mg / dl. in men and 40 mg / dl. in women. This article is published for informational purposes only. You can not and should not replace the consultation with a Nutritionist. We advise you to consult your trusted Nutritionist.
