Garlic is one of those unique foods that adds instant flavour to any meal and livens up any dish. However, garlic is so much more than just a flavour enhancer, as it provides numerous health benefits to your body to enable you to live life to the fullest. We provide you with a great info-graphic to help explain just how good this unique food is to your health.

What Vitamins Does Garlic Contain?

When you eat just a small portion of garlic you will absorb a stack of vitamins and minerals. It is fair to say it is a superfood in its own right. For every 100g you eat you will consume close to approximately 33 grams of carbs and 6 grams of protein. But it is with the wide array of vitamins that you see its full benefit. Garlic is loaded with Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6, folate, Vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, sodium and zinc.

In the Journal of Nutrition, Rchard S. Rivlin wrote that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed garlic for a wide range of conditions and illnesses. Hippocrates promoted the use of garlic for treating respiratory problems, parasites, poor digestion, and fatigue.

Garlic is also widely used for several conditions linked to the blood system and heart, including atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, heart attack, coronary heart disease, and hypertension.

However, before you start getting excited and looking for a heap of recipe ideas, make sure you are familiar with the population of people at risk from eating this food. While it does contain some amazing vitamins and nutrients, for some of people they need to avoid eating garlic as their body cannot digest it correctly.  Garlic is part of the onion family, and if you suffer from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and following the FODMAP Diet it should be eliminated from your diet as it will exacerbate digestive problems.

Garlic is also a natural blood thinner and should not be consumed in large quantities if you are taking blood-thinning medicines like warfarin, aspirin etc.

People with asthma should also be cautious of garlic as it may have side effects for them.

If you are not in any of these specific populations you should be fine adding this to your diet. Here is a great info-graphic with a great visual of the amazing benefits from this incredible food.

Nutrition Manual

And for tons more ideas about nutrition, stacks of recipes, and everything you need to know about eating healthy make sure you grab a copy of our special report shown below. Click here to find out more.

About The Author

Mel Jack is owner of No Regrets Personal Training and has over 15 years’ experience as a qualified Personal Trainer, Level 2 Rehabilitation trainer, CHEK practitioner, and Metabolic Typing Adviser. Based in Melbourne Australia she specialises in providing solutions to injury and health problems for people of all ages using the latest methods of assessing movement and corrective exercise.

References:

• Precision Nutrition 
• Nutrition & Physical Degeneration - By Weston A Price
• Big Fat Lies - By David Gillespie
• How To Eat, Move & Be Healthy by Paul Chek