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Charlesdonald01
Health Benefits Of Garlic
~5.2 mins read
Evidence Based
11 Proven Health Benefits of Garlic
Written by Joe Leech, MS on June 28, 2018
“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
Those are famous words from the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, often called the father of Western medicine.
He actually used to prescribe garlic to treat a variety of medical conditions.
Modern science has recently confirmed many of these beneficial health effects.
Here are 11 health benefits of garlic that are supported by human research.
1. Garlic Contains Compounds With Potent Medicinal Properties
Garlic is a plant in the Allium (onion) family.
It is closely related to onions, shallots and leeks. Each segment of a garlic bulb is called a clove. There are about 10–20 cloves in a single bulb, give or take.
Garlic grows in many parts of the world and is a popular ingredient in cooking due to its strong smell and delicious taste.
However, throughout ancient history, the main use of garlic was for its health and medicinal properties (1Trusted Source).
Its use was well documented by many major civilizations, including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and Chinese (2Trusted Source).
Scientists now know that most of its health benefits are caused by sulfur compounds formed when a garlic clove is chopped, crushed or chewed.
Perhaps the most famous of those is known as allicin. However, allicin is an unstable compound that is only briefly present in fresh garlic after it’s been cut or crushed (3Trusted Source).
Other compounds that may play a role in garlic’s health benefits include diallyl disulfide and s-allyl cysteine (4Trusted Source).
The sulfur compounds from garlic enter the body from the digestive tract and travel all over the body, where it exerts its potent biological effects.
SUMMARY
Garlic is a plant in the onion family that’s grown for its distinctive taste and health benefits. It contains sulfur compounds, which are believed to bring some of the health benefits.
2. Garlic Is Highly Nutritious But Has Very Few Calories.
Calorie for calorie, garlic is incredibly nutritious.
One clove (3 grams) of raw garlic contains (5Trusted Source):
Manganese: 2% of the Daily Value (DV)
Vitamin B6: 2% of the DV
Vitamin C: 1% of the DV
Selenium: 1% of the DV
Fiber: 0.06 grams
Decent amounts of calcium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B1
This comes with 4.5 calories, 0.2 grams of protein and 1 gram of carbs.
Garlic also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients. In fact, it contains a little bit of almost everything you need.
SUMMARY
Garlic is low in calories and rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6 and manganese. It also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients.
3. Garlic Can Combat Sickness, Including the Common Cold.
Garlic supplements are known to boost the function of the immune system.
One large, 12-week study found that a daily garlic supplement reduced the number of colds by 63% compared to a placebo (6Trusted Source).
The average length of cold symptoms was also reduced by 70%, from 5 days in the placebo group to just 1.5 days in the garlic group.
Another study found that a high dose of aged garlic extract (2.56 grams per day) reduced the number of days sick with cold or flu by 61% (7Trusted Source).
However, one review concluded that the evidence is insufficient and more research is needed (8Trusted Source).
Despite the lack of strong evidence, adding garlic to your diet may be worth trying if you often get colds.
SUMMARY
Garlic supplements help prevent and reduce the severity of common illnesses like the flu and common cold.
4. The Active Compounds in Garlic Can Reduce Blood Pressure
Cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes are the world’s biggest killers.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the most important drivers of these diseases.
Human studies have found garlic supplements to have a significant impact on reducing blood pressure in people with high blood pressure (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).
In one study, 600–1,500 mg of aged garlic extract was just as effective as the drug Atenolol at reducing blood pressure over a 24-week period (12Trusted Source).
Supplement doses must be fairly high to have the desired effects. The amount needed is equivalent to about four cloves of garlic per day.
SUMMARY
High doses of garlic appear to improve blood pressure for those with known high blood pressure (hypertension). In some instances, supplements may be as effective as regular medications.
5. Garlic Improves Cholesterol Levels, Which May Lower the Risk of Heart Disease
Garlic can lower total and LDL cholesterol.
For those with high cholesterol, garlic supplements appear to reduce total and/or LDL cholesterol by about 10–15% (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).
Looking at LDL (the “bad”) and HDL (the “good”) cholesterol specifically, garlic appears to lower LDL but has no reliable effect on HDL (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source).
High triglyceride levels are another known risk factor for heart disease, but garlic seems to have no significant effects on triglyceride levels (13Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).
SUMMARY
Garlic supplements seem to reduce total and LDL cholesterol, particularly in those who have high cholesterol. HDL cholesterol and triglycerides do not seem to be affected.
6. Garlic Contains Antioxidants That May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
Oxidative damage from free radicals contributes to the aging process.
Garlic contains antioxidants that support the body’s protective mechanisms against oxidative damage (19Trusted Source).
High doses of garlic supplements have been shown to increase antioxidant enzymes in humans, as well as significantly reduce oxidative stress in those with high blood pressure (7Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source).
The combined effects on reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as the antioxidant properties, may reduce the risk of common brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia (21Trusted Sources, 22Trusted Sources).
SUMMARY
Garlic contains antioxidants that protect against cell damage and aging. It may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
7. Garlic May Help You Live Longer
The potential effects of garlic on longevity are basically impossible to prove in humans.
But given the beneficial effects on important risk factors like blood pressure, it makes sense that garlic could help you live longer.
The fact that it can fight infectious disease is also an important factor, because these are common causes of death, especially in the elderly or people with dysfunctional immune systems.
SUMMARY
Garlic has known beneficial effects on common causes of chronic disease, so it makes sense that it could also help you live longer.
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Charlesdonald01
FG Replaces Stamp Duty With N50 Electronic Transfer Levy
~1.6 mins read
Consequent upon the outlawing of stamp duty on electronic bank transfer by the Court of Appeal, the Federal Government, through the Finance Act 2020, has introduced Electronic Money Transfer Levy.
Finance Act 2020, which was recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, has a commencement date of January 1, 2021 along with the 2021 Appropriation Act.
The new law stipulates payment of N50 levy on every electronic money transfer deposited in any bank or financial institution on any account on the sum of N10,000 or more.
Like Value-Added Tax (VAT), states will benefit more from the accruing revenue at a ratio of 85 per cent, while the Federal Government and Abuja will share the remaining 15 per cent.
The Act also reduces import duty on tractors from 35 to five per cent; mass transit vehicles for transport of more than 10 persons and trucks from 35 per cent to 10 per cent; and reduction of import levy on cars from 30 per cent to five per cent.
This development, according to experts, is to redirect traffic of these vehicles from other ports in West Africa to Nigeria.
Finance Act 2020 made the cost of donation made in cash or kind to any fund set up by the government in respect of any pandemic or natural disaster to be tax deductible subject to a maximum of 10 per cent of assessable profit after other allowable donations.
Overall, the act introduced over 80 amendments to 14 different laws.
Overall, the new law removed some tax burden on individual and small businesses while redefining others.
For instance, workers earning N30,000 minimum wage or less have been exempted from personal income tax, while commercial airline tickets will no longer attract VAT.
The Act states provides that: “Compensation for loss of office up to N10m exempted from capital gains tax. Tax due on excess above N10m is to be deducted by the payer and remitted within the time specified under the PAYE Regulations.
“Minimum tax for companies in respect of returns for years of assessments due between 1st Jan, 2020 and 31st Dec, 2021 has been reduced from 0.5% to 0.25% of gross turnover less franked investment income.â€
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