Dear Olivers and Olivienes, I
told you from the last post that we shall look at other families of ginger, so
our next stop is Garlic.
Its central Asian origin has not
prevented this pungent smelling bulb from finding its way into the culinary and
medicinal cook book of Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean region.
Garlic has proven to be strong
and unique even with its close association with popular bulbs like Onions. It
is majorly used alongside onion and ginger. Various species of garlic exist
with one specie surviving better in temperate or almost temperate region and
the other type can be cultivated near the equator.
EXTRACTION
Garlic can be extracted by peeling
out the skin and eating fresh, by roasting, crushing or by cooking
STORAGE
Always buy fresh garlic. You can
discover how fresh the garlic you’re about to buy is by pressing it in between
your fingers. Make sure it is hard and not soft or damp.
Garlic can be stored at room
temperature in a cool dry place away from heat.
Some people would peel garlic and
freeze it but this is not necessary as garlic can remain fresh for as long as
one month.
BENEFIT
Garlic produces an active
chemical ingredient called allin and allicin that is effective is many
conditions like;
1. Garlic
has been found to have positive cardiovascular effect and it reduces
cholesterol collection in the body
2. Garlic
is also known to help regulate blood sugar including preventing complications
for patients with diabetes mellitus
3. It
has been found to have good antimicrobial activity (very effective as a mouth
wash)
4. It’s
also a very effective disinfectant
5. Garlic
is used to relieve chest pain, indigestion and fungus infection
6. Its helps in the absorption of thiamin hence
helps you not to have beriberi
7. It
has high Vitamin C content
8. It
has also been found to prevent scurvy
9. It
was successfully used to treat AIDS patients with Cryptosporidium in an
uncontrolled experiment in China
10. Garlic
supplements is effective in boosting testosterone
11. Garlic
has been found to be superior to placebo in treating uncontrolled hypertension
12. Its
juice can be used as glue and adhesive for glass and porcelain
13. It
is environmentally friendly herbicide and insecticide approved for use in
Europe
14. Mixed
with cinnamon, garlic can be used as food preservative in as high a temperature
as 120 degrees Celsius
15. It
is believed to help prevent food poisoning
16. It
is also believed to help reduce the chances of having cancer
17. Garlic
is known to help relieve and prevent harden of arteries; as we age, our
arteries tend to lose its elasticity garlic helps relieve / prevent this
condition
18. To
increase the health benefit of garlic let it sit a while (about 30seconds)
after chopping before changing the temperature or ph
19. It
aids the digestion of iron into the body
To cook garlic make sure you add it
to the food towards the end of your cooking so that you do not lose all the
healthy benefit lost over prolonged heating.
Garlic can be used to spice soups
and to stuff poultry or game
The leaves can be chopped and
used in frying eggs or garnishing dishes
RECIPE:
Fried eggs garnished with garlic
leaves
INGREDIENTS
Eggs: 4
Seasoning
Groundnut oil
Garlic leaves
Pepper
Onions
PREPARATION;
Break your eggs and beat till
even, add seasoning and leave then heat your oil and add pepper after frying a
bit pour your eggs and garlic leaves and onions with some seasoning to taste.
Leave to simmer and you can eat with bread, yam….
CAUTION;
1. Garlic
is known to cause bad breath and pungent sweat, so if you take garlic take it
along with milk. This has been found effective in reducing the smell than plain
water mushroom or anything else.
2. It
is preferable to cook your garlic before consuming because one of the side
effects of eating raw garlic especially the old mature bulb is that it could
cause inflammation in the spine area
3. Some
people may be allergic to garlic. Symptoms include diarrhea, ulceration, and
nausea. This class of people usually also are allergic to onions, ginger and
even banana
4. Don’t
use raw garlic to treat acne or other skin issues because it has been known for
causing burns. One way to test this is to apply a low concentration of garlic
to a small area of the skin to see how you react. Whichever way it turns don’t
apply raw garlic to body cavities
5. Patients
on insulin should not take medicinal dose of garlic unless prescribed by their
doctor because it usually interacts with medicines.
6. Garlic
is could lead to bleeding and blood loss at surgery (stop consuming garlic at
least two weeks before a schedule surgery) though cooked garlic is generally
safe
Till next time stay healthy
wealthy and wise.