Go garlic, go fresh!

You've probably heard garlic is great for your health. Yep! But does it matter if you consume garlic in the form of paste? Powder? Pill? Yes, it does.

A study by researchers at the University of Conneticut School of Medicine suggest that fresh-crushed garlic is best for cardiac benefits. Scientists prepared garlic slurries containing approximately 2 ounces of garlic (10-20 cloves) in about 12 ounces of water (1 1/2 cups). The first slurry contained fresh-crushed garlic while the other contained fresh-crushed which had been left out to dry for 2 days, allowing hydrogen sulfide and other volatile chemicals to dissipate [1].

The slurries were then fed to lab rats for 30 days. The rats were then sacrificed and their hearts were studied. The research (published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry) found that while both slurries did provide cardioprotective benefits, the hearts of the rats comsuming the fresh-crushed garlic has less damage and better recovery of blood flow.

So, with garlic...go fresh. And crush. Yummm!

[1]. Fountain, Henry. Garlic for a Healthy Heart? Go Fresh, Study Says. The New York Times. August 3, 2009.