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anomalies in major cities and organic pro- duce began to find its way into shoppers’ recyclable tote bags en masse. Books and pamphlets—many with funky cover art and titles like The Garlic Book: Nature’s Power- ful Healer —helped add a new dimension to a familiar food and encouraged the late 20th-century rise in consumers hungry to learn more about the connection between what we eat and how we feel. The curi- ous experimented with drinking garlic juice shots; garlic in pill form was introduced as a dietary supplement; and there was even— briefly—an entire fad diet centered around garlic and other superfoods known as the “Airola optimum diet.” But there’s no need to take an ingredient as delicious and fundamental to modern cui- sine as garlic and remove all the fun from it by ingesting a pill or treating it as a mealtime health requirement. While you’re perusing this head-to-toe list of ways—both current and ancient—garlic has been used as a pre- ventive measure or curative treatment, pat yourself on the back for every just-one-more garlic knot or extra clove in your barbecue shrimp. You were taking care of your health and didn’t even know it! (And, of course, if you’re thinking about adding garlic to your diet as a health aid, make sure to chat with your doctor first.) HEAD There’s no lack of recent studies about how good garlic is for you—between 1998 and 2008 alone, there were over 1,000—and many of them focus on the ways in which this odorous ingredient can help protect and support our brains. A 2018 study from scien- tists at the University of Louisville found that consuming raw garlic could slow the effects of age-related memory loss, particularly in elderly patients with Alzheimer’s or Parkin- son’s diseases. “Our findings suggest that dietary adminis- tration of garlic containing allyl sulfide could help maintain healthy gut microorganisms and improve cognitive health in the elderly,” writes co-lead researcher Dr. Jyotirmaya Behera. The organosulfur compounds found in garlic have been identified as effective in destroying glioblastomas, a type of deadly brain cancer. And on the mental health side of things, garlic has been considered a tool

such ailments. Many experts in the health food world swore by garlic’s ability to aid digestion and absorption of nutrients like calcium and magnesium. BONES, JOINTS & MUSCLES If your joints are prone to creaks and aches, garlic should be part of your natural remedy tool kit. Research from a 2018 trial shows that taking a garlic supplement for 12 weeks helped reduce pain severity for those with degenerative joint damage in their knees. And a recent study in mice (no human trial yet, alas) has proven that garlic can also increase estrogen in females, leading to greater bone strength and, potentially, reduced risk of osteoporosis. PREVENTIVE CARE Achoo no more! A recent lab study has shown that people who consume garlic from November through February have fewer instances of the common cold than people who don’t, thanks to the bulb’s immunity- boosting power. This makes scientific good on similar old wives’ tales from grannies across the Ozarks and Appalachian Mountains who have sworn by garlic as a winter-time remedy for centuries. And in the Greco-Roman era, garlic was always being doled out ahead of major events: before going into battle to preserve strength, as a way to stave off seasickness and even as an aphrodisiac for those in need on their wedding nights. Truly, is there anything garlic can’t do? Sarah Baird is the author of multiple books including New Orleans Cocktails and Flask , which was released in summer 2019. A 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, her work has been featured in The New York Times , Washington Post , Saveur , Eater , Food &Wine and The Guardian , among others. Previously, she served as restaurant critic for the New Orleans alt-weekly, Gambit Weekly , where she won Critic of the Year in 2015 for her dining reviews.

for assisting in the treatment of depression in China for thousands of years.

SKIN Snakebites are probably less of a problem for us than they were for the ancient Greeks, but in a pinch it might be useful to know that they swore by garlic as a curative for this extreme injury. (They also used garlic for ulcers and skin crusts, and the Chinese used it to treat leprosy.) More common to our modern era, many people consume garlic to fight off acne, thanks to its anti- inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, and the Farmers' Almanac even suggests using antifungal garlic skin to treat athlete’s foot. HEART The positive impact garlic has on the health of our tickers is—dare I say— heart ening. Garlic has been proven to be a key ingre- dient in preventing (or even reversing) high blood pressure, with one major study finding that garlic supplements lowered blood pres- sure and reduced the risk of heart disease by between 16 and 40 percent. What’s more, garlic has been shown to help reduce cho- lesterol in patients, with 44 percent of clini- cal trials since 1993 indicating a reduction in the ability of harmful platelets to aggregate and in the total cholesterol for garlic-eaters. STOMACH AND INTESTINE Most Americans aren’t dealing with intes- tinal parasites in the year 2021, but if we were, we could take the advice of Assyrians, who swear by garlic as a means of curing

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