Garlic: magic or medicine?

If courage had a flavor, it would taste like garlic.

Is there any other stem you know of that wards off plagues, vampires and demons? Or any other frightening flower that has spurred warriors on the high seas, raised sand pyramids, entered the homes of slaves, kings and gods, followed pharaohs to their tombs, or transformed a giant bear into a woman in 100 days?

As hard as it may be to swallow, the truth is that garlic ( Allium sativum ) has been on the breath of those who have accomplished some of the most impressive feats in human history. Forget the superfood story, garlic is absolutely supernatural .

Like onions, leeks and chives, garlic is a perennial plant that grows from a bulb. Although it is native to Central and South Asia, it is now found in almost every environment and cuisine in the world. With a history of over 5,000 years of cultivation and consumption, it is the most widely used plant in history for gastronomic and medicinal purposes. And with good reason.

So what's the story?

Plants, their uses, and our perceptions of their role tend to change over time. However, it is one of the few foods that can demonstrate remarkable continuity between ancient and modern practices. There are few things in our lives whose importance is so powerful that it transcends, and even mitigates, cultural barriers. Garlic is one of them, and its benefits have been recorded since the third millennium BC.

At that time, garlic was widely used in China, Japan and Korea and was already an important part of the daily diet. It was used to aid digestion, breathing, fatigue and depression, and even found its way into ancient Korean shamanism as a powerful food that allegedly transformed a bear into a goddess.

In ancient India, garlic appears in some of the earliest written records as a key part of the Ayurvedic medical tradition. It was used to treat heart disease and arthritis, conditions that contemporary doctors agree can be alleviated by its use.

The ancient Egyptians were also big advocates of garlic. Not only was the plant a key ingredient in their daily diet, it was also deliberately given to the workers who built the pyramids as a means of increasing their physical strength and protecting them from sunstroke. In fact, when King Tutankhamun’s mummy was buried some 3,500 years ago, a few cloves of garlic also made their way into the pharaoh’s tomb, where they remained well preserved until it was excavated in 1922.

Similarly, evidence of the existence of this food has also been found in nearby temples in Ancient Greece. As with the Egyptians, it was recognized as a source of strength by the Greeks, who administered it to their Olympic athletes, sailors and warriors before competitions or battles. It can therefore be considered one of the first performance-enhancing drugs, but it was also used to treat medical conditions. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, advocated the use of garlic to treat lung diseases and Pliny the Elder noted its effectiveness against 61 diseases, from baldness to epilepsy.

The Romans, and later the Vikings, continued to use garlic for courage and strength at sea, but also as a medical aid. The belief that garlic could be used to “clean arteries”, treat gastrointestinal disorders and relieve joint pain was a strong belief in ancient Rome, and is still the subject of medical research today. Thanks to the Romans, garlic was then introduced to northern Europe, where it maintained its reputation as a healer throughout the Middle Ages, and was even used as a treatment for the Great Plagues. Across the Atlantic, Native Americans and early European settlers also used it in tonics and cold remedies.

As the world changed and distant cultures clashed, people’s taste for garlic remained. On the battlefields of World War I and II, garlic paste was used in the absence of penicillin. The idea that garlic could treat illness and instill strength was prevalent in isolated groups and was a major catalyst for much of the medical research that has taken place over the last century. The rejection of garlic by higher social castes is also a recurring theme, tracing links between Buddhist Brahmins, the ancient Greeks and the Victorian aristocracy. Even today, the stigma persists, and the fear of smelling garlic can create dilemmas at the dinner table. From adoration to contempt, it really has left a whole range of flavors in people’s mouths. Not bad for a vegetable.

The reason for your success

The reason behind garlic’s ambivalent reputation is allicin. Allicin is a sulfur compound that gives garlic its powerful flavor. It’s also allicin that gives it its irrefutable health benefits. Allicin is a pesticide, antibiotic, antifungal, and antiviral, meaning that garlic can suppress the growth of almost any microorganism. As a result, it’s often used to regulate imbalances in gut flora, and in fact, garlic has been considered a potential buffer against global warming, because when fed to cows, it cuts methane emissions by half!

Allicin is also an antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, slows aging, and increases the absorption of other nutrients like zinc and iron. From diabetes to asthma, allicin has proven to be a remarkably effective chemical. But its most reputed benefit is its effect on the circulatory system. Allicin lowers blood pressure and prevents platelets from clotting, meaning it thins the blood and destroys blood clots. It also acts on bad cholesterol and prevents it from accumulating in blood vessels, making it a great food for preventing atherosclerosis (a chronic vascular disease). Considering that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Portugal, these properties make garlic one of the most valuable foods there is.

More recent studies show that regular garlic consumption can even turn certain genes related to cell growth on or off, and it is believed that allicin's activity in our DNA may help prevent the development of cancer. It's no wonder that people used to put garlic under their pillows and around their necks.

But apart from allicin, garlic is relatively poor nutritionally, containing some vitamin C and vitamin B6, but mostly water and carbohydrates. That's why it's best to mix garlic with other ingredients, and luckily, that's easy to do . From tea to salad to roast chicken, garlic cloves can be added to just about anything, making it a true everyday remedy.

That’s why we’re so grateful to be working with Chico Das Cebolas , a fruit and vegetable vendor with a family business who has been supporting our fight against food waste since the early days of our project.

We hope that you too can now appreciate the phenomenal benefits of including garlic in your diet and support our goal of turning wasted food into healthy treasures.