More and more people are cottoning on to the healing powers of garlic, particularly for preventing ailments that strike in winter. There’s a long-established belief — the Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, even Vikings, swore by it — now supported by strong scientific evidence, that garlic can protect against heart disease by thinning the blood and helping to lower cholesterol. Allicin, one of its constituents, breaks

down into different sulphur- containing compounds, one of which is thought to have a strong anti-cancer effect. There’s also evidence to suggest that garlic can help to lower blood pressure.

Medical journals contain myriad new studies investigating its power to fight bacterial, fungal and viral infections as well as its potential benefits for those with diabetes and asthma. Studies also suggest that garlic helps to protect against the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the leading cause of stomach ulcers; that it has a strong repelling action on the superbug MRSA; that it can zap a virus such as the common cold; and that its antioxidant effects increase the production of anti-ageing chemicals.

Peter Josling, a scientific researcher and director of the Garlic Information Centre (www.garlic.mistral.co.uk), an independent organisation that promotes the plant’s benefits, believes garlic can help to alleviate many common ailments. “One of the most effective ways to get rid of a sore throat is to chew a fresh garlic clove,” he says.

For best results, you need to eat it as soon as possible after peeling as its potency fades the more it is exposed to light. Fresh young garlic bulbs, in season during the summer, have maximum health benefits. Sadly, although it still tastes great, cooking diminishes most of garlic’s healing powers.

While some of the medical world is not yet convinced, I think that old-fashioned remedies seem to work and can give us a powerful no-drug route to healing many winter ailments. Such remedies can also help to remove the smell of garlic on your breath, which may linger into the following day. Some people swear by chewing parsley; others on sucking mints.

Insect stings and bites: rub a cut clove on the bite or sting (after the sting is removed) to zap the heat.

If you can’t stand the taste and want to take garlic tablets, be wary of useless supplements. Many experts believe that the allicin in garlic cloves is so volatile that heating and deodorising it so that your breath doesn’t smell diminishes its potency.

According to Josling, the only really effective garlic supplements are those known as real allicin products, which capture the allicin from fresh garlic and stabilise it — brands such as Allimax (the recommended dose is about 180mg of allicin powder, usually one capsule a day) and Alliforce. These can be found in good healthfood stores. Garlic oil, aged garlic extract and garlic powders are inferior products, with few healing properties.

Jane Clarke answers your nutritional questions in T2 on Tuesdays. Send e-mails to jane.clarke@thetimes.co.uk
www.janeclarke.com
Jane cannot enter into personal correspondence

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