Garlic Health Benefits

Garlic for Diabetes

Garlic helps lower blood sugar and may be used (under a doctor’s supervision) by people with diabetes in addition to their regular regime of insulin and special diets.  Researchers have found that certain compounds in garlic such as allicin, allyl propyl disulfide and S-allyl cysteine sulfoxide work by increasing the amount of insulin in the blood by blocking the liver’s inactivation of insulin, making more insulin available to the body.

While more research is still needed to know the full extent of garlic’s effectiveness, diabetic patients may benefit by taking moderate amounts of garlic as a supplement: raw and cooked garlic or aged garlic extract not only can help regulate blood glucose, but also possibly prevent or lessen the effects of some of the complications of diabetes.  Among the complications of diabetes may include high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, arteriosclerosis, kidney disease and kidney failure (requiring dialysis or kidney transplant), nervous system damage, amputations and blindness. The following is a partial list of the health benefits of garlic or its constituents for diabetics:

Diabetes is on the rise around the world, not only as a result of an increased aging population, but also due to the rising prevalence of obesity.   According to the International Diabetes Federation more than 380 million people in the world could have the disease by 2025.   Currently, according to statistics from the American Diabetes Association, in the U.S. alone, over 25.8 million people are diabetic, with approximately 79 million calculated to be pre-diabetic.  In 2007 diabetes was the underlying or contributory cause of 231,404 deaths in the U.S.

Precaution:  Discuss with your doctor or medical professional the advisability of taking garlic for your type of diabetes and health conditions.  Although garlic is not considered toxic as a food by the American Food and Drug Administration, it may cause side effects for certain individuals and for anyone taking it in large quantities.   When taking medicinal amounts, a doctor’s supervision is essential for patients with brittle diabetes.


Keep your blood sugar in control naturally with garlic

Looking for a natural method to help control your blood sugar? Garlic might just be what you are looking for. A regular ingredient in a number of dishes, garlic packs much more of a punch than you can see. Touted as an antidote for various ailments and packed with innumerable health benefits, garlic is a 
Garlic for diabetesLooking for a natural method to help control your blood sugar? Garlic might just be what you are looking for. A regular ingredient in a number of dishes, garlic packs much more of a punch than you can see. Touted as an antidote for various ailments and packed with innumerable health benefits, garlic is a boon for your body. Here is how you can use it to keep diabetes in check. 
An elixir for your health

Garlic has a variety of potent sulphur-containing compounds which are the reason for its characteristic pungent odour. Allicin, the vital compound among them, is known to have great anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-oxidant properties. This allicin is released in abundance when a garlic pod is either finely chopped, minced or pureed and allowed to sit for some time. Allicin, along with other compounds like ajoene and alliin have a significant effect on your circulatory, digestive and immunological systems, which in turn helps lower blood pressure, detoxifies the body, helps in overall healing, lowers blood sugar levels and increases the amount of good cholesterol in the body.
Apart from all this garlic is also a reliable source of selenium. Selenium is essential to the body since it uses it to synthesize proteins known as selenoproteins. These proteins help in protecting your DNA from damage caused by free radicals, regulates the working of the thyroid gland and strengthens the immune system. 

How does it help with diabetes?

Garlic is known to increase the amount of insulin released and regulates blood sugar levels.  A study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food [1] found just that — garlic was highly effective in increasing one’s insulin content in the body and improved glucose tolerance. Apart from that another study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry [2] showed that garlic had the potential to protect your heart from diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy

Eat garlic for better blood sugar control

The best way to eat garlic is by crushing one or two pods and eating it raw. Just crush two medium size pods of garlic and eat this paste on an empty stomach, ideally first thing in the morning.  If you find it too pungent to eat just as it is, you could swallow it with a glass of warm water. If raw garlic is too pungent you could opt for garlic extract pills or simply add them to your daily meal.