Garlic: Strong Enough to Battle Heart Disease – Fighting Infection and Colon Cancer

When scientists in England entered the words “diet” and “anti-aging” into the search engine of a medical database, up popped studies on garlic—study after study after study.

“The accumulated knowledge over the last few years suggests that intake of garlic by humans may either prevent or decrease the incidence of major chronic diseases associated with old age, such as atherosclerosis, stroke, cancer, immune disorders, cerebral [brain] aging, arthritis, and cataract formation,” concluded the researchers.

That’s a powerful statement for a spice popularly called “the stinking rose.” But garlic works because it “stinks”—its explosive aroma is based on its most active ingredient, allicin, which transforms intoorganosulfurs, and those are the very compounds that minimize the oxidation, inflammation, and other cell-destroying processes underlying every one of the “major chronic diseases” on the researchers’ list. In addition, garlic is brimming with vitamins, minerals, and other powerful antioxidants that guard against heart disease and cancer.

In short, garlic is one of the world’s most potent natural medicines. The medical database of the National Institutes of Health contains more than 3,200 studies on the therapeutic power of garlic. Many of those studies are about preventing, slowing, and reversing cardiovascular disease—the heart attacks and strokes that kill more Americans than any other health problem.

Help for Your Heart

Back in 3000 BCE, Charak, the father of India’s Ayurvedic medicine, claimed that garlic “strengthens the heart and keeps blood fluid.”

Here in 2010, a team of medical researchers reviewed what they called the “vast scientific literature” about garlic and heart disease, and declared, “Garlic consumption has a significant protective effect against atherosclerosis.”

And when a team of researchers analyzed the garlic-rich Mediterranean diet—often equated with heart health—they figured out that if everybody ate one or two garlic cloves a day, the worldwide risk of heart disease would drop by 25 percent. (But you don’t have to eat fresh cloves to get an effect. Many studies show that dried or powdered garlic is more therapeutic than fresh.) Let’s look at all the ways garlic can help your heart.

Masking Garlic Breath

Garlic’s reputation for being a strong spice is well deserved. Even though it mellows when it is cooked, your garlic dinner can “hang around” for days. This is especially true if you eat it raw.

If you or others in your company are offended by the lingering smell of garlic, here are a few tried-and-true home remedies to diminish the odor:

• Drink red wine with your garlic meal.

• Add parsley to garlicky dishes.

• Chew on fresh parsley sprigs at the end of the meal.

• Chew a few roasted fennel, anise, or cardamom seeds.

To get the smell of garlic out of your hands after working with it:

• Wash your hands with water and lemon juice.

• Rub your hands with a stainless steel spoon, then wash both your hands and the spoon.

• Moisten your hands and rub baking soda between your palms.

Lower blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. In a recent “meta-analysis” of 11 studies on garlic supplements and high blood pressure, garlic lowered systolic blood pressure (the upper number in the reading) by an average of 8.4 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) by an average of 7.3 mm Hg—very significant decreases. “Garlic preparations are superior to placebo in reducing blood pressure in individuals with hypertension,” the researchers concluded in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders.

In a study from Poland, researchers found that garlic supplements not only lowered blood pressure, but also prevented DNA damage from oxidation. “These findings point out the beneficial effects of garlic supplementation in reducing blood pressure and counteracting oxidative stress, and thereby offering cardioprotection in hypertensives,” concluded the researchers in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.

Thinner blood. People take baby aspirin to help prevent heart attacks because it “thins” the blood, reducing the risk of artery-plugging blood clots. Specifically, aspirin reduces the stickiness of platelets, blood compounds that can clump together to form a clot, a process called platelet aggregation. Garlic can thin blood, too.

Researchers in England gave people daily supplements of aged garlic extract for 13 weeks, measuring their levels of platelet aggregation at the beginning and end of the study. The garlic supplements “significantly inhibited” the percentage of platelets that were aggregating and the speed at which they were aggregating. Aged garlic extract “may be beneficial in protecting against cardiovascular disease as a result of inhibiting platelet aggregation,” the researchers concluded in the Journal of Nutrition.

Lower total cholesterol. Okay, garlic doesn’t lower “bad” LDL cholesterol. At least that was the result of a recent and much-publicized six-month study conducted by researchers at Stanford Prevention Research Center, who gave nearly 200 people with high LDL a daily dose of either raw garlic, powdered garlic supplement, aged garlic extract, or a placebo. “None of the forms of garlic used in the study had clinically significant effects on LDL,” concluded the researchers in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

But when researchers at the University of Connecticut analyzed this and 28 other studies on garlic and cholesterol in a meta-analysis, they reached a more positive conclusion. Garlic, they found, significantly reduced total cholesterol and triglycerides (another heart-hurting blood fat), even though it had no effect on “bad” LDL or “good” HDL.

Less artery-clogging plaque. Year by year, plaque can build up inside arteries, narrowing the passageway—and a chunk of that plaque can break off, clog the artery, and trigger a heart attack or stroke. That plaque-accumulating process is called atherosclerosis—and garlic can stop, slow, or reverse it.

Research in the Division of Cardiology at UCLA gave 23 people with heart disease a daily supplement containing aged garlic extract. After one year, those taking the placebo had triple the rate of plaque progression as those taking garlic. In another year-long study by the same researchers, involving a supplement containing aged garlic extract, B-vitamins and an artery-nourishing amino acid, the progression of plaque was “significantly lower” in those taking garlic. Aged garlic extract therapy, with additional nutrients, “reduced progression of atherosclerosis,” the researchers concluded in Preventive Medicine.

DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, GARLIC WAS HUNG ON DOORS AT NIGHT TO REPEL EVIL SPIRITS.

And in a German study, 142 people took garlic powder tablets daily. After four years, they had 5 to 18 percent less plaque in their arteries. “Not only a preventive but possibly also a curative role in atherosclerosis therapy may be ascribed to garlic,” wrote the researchers in the medical journal Atherosclerosis.

Elephant Garlic: A Big Mistake

If you come across elephant garlic at the market, there’s no reason to think you’ve stumbled upon something special. You haven’t, if garlic is what you’re looking for. Elephant garlic onlylooks like garlic—huge garlic, weighing up to a pound. But it doesn’t have anything like the flavor of garlic, and cooks consider it inferior. In fact, elephant garlic is botanically related to a leek and should be used like a leek: braised or baked like a vegetable or sliced into a salad.

More flexible arteries. The lining of the artery is called the endothelium, and it generates a compound (nitric oxide) that relaxes and widens the blood vessel. Researchers in New Zealand gave 15 men with heart disease either a garlic supplement or a placebo. After two weeks, the “endothelium-dependent dilation” of the arteries of those taking garlic had increased by 44 percent. And those men were alreadytaking aspirin and a statin.

Lower risk of heart attack. Russian researchers gave either a garlic supplement or a placebo to 51 people with heart disease. A year later, they calculated the supplement had reduced the risk of a heart attack by an average of 40 percent.

Colon Cancer Is No Match for Garlic

There are more than 600 scientific studies—in cells, on animals, and in people—on the power of garlic to prevent and treat cancer. Some highlights:

Preventing colon cancer. In a meta-analysis of 18 studies by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, people with the highest consumption of garlic had a 41 percent lower risk of colon cancer, compared to those with the lowest intake.

Stopping the advance of early colon cancer. Japanese researchers studied 51 people with colorectal adenomas—pre-cancerous lesions of the colon. They divided them into two groups, giving one group aged garlic extract and one group placebos. After one year, those on the placebo had more adenomas, and garlic had “significantly suppressed both the size and number of colon adenomas,” wrote the researchers in the Journal of Nutrition.

Preventing stomach cancer. Researchers in China studied more than 5,000 people, giving half a high-dose garlic supplement and half a placebo. After five years, those taking garlic had a 47 percent lower rate of stomach cancer.

Preventing endometrial cancer. Researchers in Italy analyzed diet and health data from 454 women with endometrial cancer and 908 free of the disease—and found that those who ate the most garlic were 38 percent less likely to develop endometrial cancer than those who ate the least.

Preventing other cancers. Other studies show a link between increased intake of garlic and decreased risk for lung cancer (22 percent less), prostate cancer (36 percent less), and brain cancer (34 percent less).

How does garlic work to block cancer? Doctors from the International Agency for Research on Cancer say garlic can help:

• stop carcinogens from damaging DNA.

• boost the activity of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens.

• clean up free radicals—cell-damaging, cancer-causing molecules.

Fighting Infection

Garlic has a storied history as an infection-fighter. Louis Pasteur discovered its antibacterial activity. It was on the frontlines in World War I, helping prevent gangrene and blood poisoning. The Russians relied on it so heavily during World War II that it was dubbed “Russian penicillin.” And several recent studies confirm its power to fight bacteria and viruses.

Preventing airborne infection. Finnish researchers studied 52 airplane travelers, giving half a garlic-containing nasal spray (Nasaleze Travel) and half a placebo. Those taking the placebo had nearly three times more infections after traveling.

Preventing colds. Researchers in England studied 146 people from November to February, giving half a garlic supplement and half a placebo. In total, those taking the placebo had 65 colds, compared to 24 for those taking garlic.

And Russian researchers studied 600 children, aged 7 to 16, giving some a garlic supplement and some a placebo. Those taking the placebo had four times as many colds.

I recommend a clove of garlic a day to help reduce your risk of cold or flu—and for general good health.

Garlic Galore

There are many other possible benefits to a garlic-rich life:

Diabetes. Researchers in Russia studied 60 people with type 2 diabetes, dividing them into two groups—one received garlic supplements with timed-release garlic powder and the other a placebo. After one month, those taking garlic had a healthy drop in fasting blood sugar, from 138 mg/dL to 113 mg/dL.

There are white, pink, and purple varieties of garlic that come as hardneck (with a long thin stem) or softneck (no stem).

Prostate problems. Researchers in Italy studied more than 1,800 men and found that those who ate the most garlic were 28 percent less likely to develop benign prostatic hypertrophy—the enlarged prostate that causes urinary difficulties in older men.

Aging skin. German researchers found that taking garlic powder boosted blood flow to the skin—a must for a youthful, glowing complexion.

Oral candidiasis. Researchers in India found that garlic paste was just as effective as a conventional drug in clearing up oral candidiasis (thrush), a yeast infection of the mucous membranes of the mouth.

Sickle cell anemia. Researchers at the UCLA School of Medicine found that four weeks of supplementation with garlic extract decreased by 30 percent the number of damaged red blood cells that are characteristic of this disease.

Alopecia areata. In this disease of patchy hair loss, adding garlic gel to the standard treatment regimen improved results.

Getting to Know Garlic

As medicine and food, garlic goes way back. It was featured in ancient medical textbooks from Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. The ancient Egyptians fed it to the slaves who built the pyramids, and it was part of the diet of Olympic athletes in ancient Greece. During the Middle Ages, people put it on their door at night to repel evil spirits.

Today, garlic flavors virtually every cuisine in the world—and it’s the signature spice in the cuisines of Mexico, India, Asia, Greece, and Italy.

Garlic is synonymous with Italian cuisine and goes in just about every savory dish. Well-known Italian-based garlic sauces include pesto, which also features basil and olive oil, and gremolata, which also contains parsley, and is traditionally served with the famous slow-cooked veal shank called osso bucco.

Garlic may help prevent and/or treat:

Aging

Alopecia areata (generalized hair loss)

Benign prostatic

hypertrophy

Blood clots

Cancer

Cholesterol problems (high total cholesterol)

Colds

Diabetes, type 2

Flu

Heart disease

High blood pressure (hypertension)

Sickle cell disease

Stroke

Thrush (oral candida infection)

Triglycerides, high

Wrinkles and aging skin

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Garlic pairs well with virtually all spices, but particularly well with:

Ajowan

Basil

Caraway

Chile

Coriander

Cumin

Curry leaf

Kokam

Marjoram

Mint

Mustard seed

Oregano

Parsley

Rosemary

Sun-dried tomato

Thyme

and complements virtually all savory dishes, especially:

Marinades

Lamb

Soups

Spice blends

Stir-fries

The French aren’t known for garlicky food, but they have three famous garlic sauces: Aioli is a garlic mayonnaise used in enrich fish soups and flavor vegetables; pistou is the French version of pesto and goes in a vegetable soup by the same name; and rouille is a garlic, red pepper, and saffron-based mayonnaise that is stirred into bouillabaisse, bourrides, and other fish stews and soups. Persillade is a French-inspired garlic sauce used in Louisiana cooking.

The Greeks enjoy skordalia, a garlic sauce made from almonds, olive oil, and soaked bread that is served with salt cod or as a dip. In Serbia, people consume garlic as a snack with slivovitz, a strong plum brandy.

Garlic is also a key ingredient in the popular Middle Eastern side dish hummus, which also includes chickpeas, olive oil, and pine nuts. It is also an ingredient in Tunisia’s infamous fiery condiment harissa, and in the Moroccan meat marinade chermoula. Cacik is a Turkish garlic sauce based on yogurt and olive oil, and served as a side dish.

Thai cuisine is loaded with garlic—virtually no savory dish is made without it.

How to Buy Garlic

The taste of fresh garlic ranges from mild and sweet to strong and pungent, depending on the type of garlic and where it was cultivated. There are white, pink, and purple varieties that come as hardneck (with a long thin stem) or softneck (no stem). Hardneck is the most pungent.

Ninety percent of the garlic sold in the United States is softneck white, and comes from California. Its taste is strong and pungent. All garlic, however, mellows when cooked, turning mild to slightly sweet.

According to top chefs, the best garlic comes from France, with a taste and aroma very different from California garlic. If you come across French garlic, it’s well worth trying. You can recognize it by its pink-tinged skin. Other varieties of note include Prussian white and Spanish red (roja).

For the best flavor, buy fresh bulbs. They vary in size, containing anywhere from a few cloves to two dozen. When it comes to taste, however, size doesn’t matter—taste is determined by the freshness of the bulb. For maximum freshness, look for bulbs that are plump, dry, and don’t have broken skin. Buying bulbs with large cloves makes working with them in the kitchen easier.

You can also purchase fresh garlic in a jar preserved in liquid, crushed, sliced, minced, chopped, or in a tube.

Other recipes containing garlic:

Adobo

All-American Chili con Carne

Basic Barbecue Rub

Berbere

Boeuf Bourguignon

By-the-Bay Fisherman’s Chowder

Caribbean Curry Paste

Chicken Oreganata

Chimichurri Sauce

French Onion Soup

Garbanzo Beans with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds

Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce

Grilled Lamb Patty Pockets with Cucumber Mint Sauce

Grilled Pork Chile Adobo

Hungarian Goulash

Jamaican Jerk Marinade

Madras Beef Curry

Madras Curry Paste

Malaysian Curry Paste

Mediterranean Vinaigrette

Mussels with Thai Red Curry Sauce

Onion and Tomato Chutney

Penne and Sausage with Fennel Tomato Sauce

Pizza Spice Blend

Pomegranate Guacamole

Potato Cauliflower Curry

Prawns with Almond Hot Pepper Sauce

Shellfish in Saffron Broth

Sol Kadhi

Spaghettini with Basil-Tomato Sauce

Spicy Hash Brown Potatoes

Tabil

Tamarind Sauce

Thai Red Curry Paste

Yucatan Pickled Red Onions

Dried garlic comes powdered, granulated, flaked, ground, minced, or chopped. You can also find garlic salt and garlic juice.

You can find just about any type of garlic in most supermarkets.

Store fresh garlic uncovered, in a cool place away from heat and direct sunlight. It shouldn’t be refrigerated; it will sprout. You can also freeze fresh garlic, although that alters the taste and texture somewhat.

Untouched, fresh bulbs keep for about two weeks. Once you break open a bulb, you reduce its shelf life to about a week. Once it starts to sprout, throw it out, because sprouted garlic turns bitter when cooked.

Before they sprout, garlic cloves start to turn green. Always cut away any green (or any discoloration) on the cloves. For the best flavor, use only white flesh.

Store dried garlic, garlic powder, and garlic salt in an airtight container in a dark, cool place. Dried garlic should keep for about a year, and garlic salt will keep for several years. But when powder or salt start to clump, they’ve absorbed moisture; throw them away.

If you don’t get garlic regularly in your diet, consider taking garlic supplements, especially if you have one or more risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight, diabetes, or you’re over 65. The most-studied form is aged garlic extract. Follow the dosage recommendations on the label, or your doctor’s recommendation.

In the Kitchen with Garlic

Garlic is extremely versatile and goes with just about anything savory. It can be used raw, where you’ll experience its strong, lingering flavor. Garlic has little smell when whole, but it releases its notoriously strong aroma when crushed. When cooked, the aroma and flavor mellows, becoming slightly sweet.

To work with garlic, pull the cloves from the head. Unless you are preparing a dish in which the cloves are intended to be eaten whole, you need to remove the papery skin. This is an arduous task only if you try to peel it with a paring knife, as you would an apple or onion. Instead, do it as chefs do: set a clove flat on a cutting board and set the flat side of a chef’s knife on top, with the blade point away from you. Grip the handle securely with one hand and give the knife a good thump with the base of the palm of your other hand. The paper-like sheaths will come undone. Just pull them off and throw them away. Snip off any parts of the clove that are discolored or green, as they make garlic bitter. (Don’t use a wooden cutting board when working with garlic, as the oil will get in the wood and leave a lingering aroma.)

Roasted Garlic: Spice Heaven

If you can’t imagine eating an entire garlic bulb in one sitting, then you haven’t tasted roasted garlic—the ultimate proof that garlic can be mellow and sweet. Garlic lovers rave about roasted garlic and can’t get enough of it. They pop it clove by clove right from its skin into the mouth. Sometimes they smear it on bread. (A great idea for your next dinner party: serve roasted garlic with crusty bread as an appetizer, and let everyone join the flavorful fun.)

Making roasted garlic is simple. Keep the bulb intact, but remove the loose paper skins. Line one or more bulbs up on tinfoil large enough to completely enfold them. Sprinkle them with olive oil, fold tightly, and roast them on a cookie sheet in a 424°F oven for 30 minutes.

To dice, cut the cloves into thin slices, then into thin slivers.

Be careful when browning garlic—burning makes it bitter. When a recipe calls for browning onions or other vegetables and garlic, it’s best to start the onions first, then add the garlic when the other ingredients are already softened. Cook for just one minute.

Roast Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

This is a classic French dish that is special enough to serve at a dinner party. Encourage your guests to eat the garlic; it’s the most interesting part of the meal. Serve with a big green salad and crusty French bread. You can substitute chicken pieces for the whole chicken, but brown the chicken pieces before putting in the oven.

1 whole chicken, about 3 pounds

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon ground roasted fennel seed

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lemon, quartered

2–3 heads of garlic with large plump cloves (about 40)

1½ cups chicken stock

1 cup white wine

1. Rinse and dry the chicken. Combine the rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, fennel, salt, and ground pepper in a small bowl and add the oil. Rub the spice mixture into the flesh of the chicken. Place the lemon quarters in the cavity. Truss the chicken, if desired, and place in a casserole dish. Cover and refrigerate for four hours.

2. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Remove and separate the cloves of garlic but do not remove the skins. Scatter the cloves around the chicken. Combine the stock and wine and pour around the chicken. Place in a 425°F oven, covered, for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F, uncover, and cook, basting occasionally, for 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 175°F. Let the chicken sit for 30 minutes to let the juices settle before slicing. Serve with several bulbs of garlic on each plate.

Makes 4 servings.

Here are a few of the innumerable ways to add more garlic to your diet:

• To make garlic bread, blanch unpeeled garlic cloves in water for five minutes to soften them. Cool and remove the paper skins. Slice a loaf of crusty Italian bread lengthwise, brush the bread with olive oil, spread the cloves over top, sprinkle with dried rosemary and thyme, and bake on a cookie sheet in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes.

• Make tiny little pockets in red meat roasts with the tip of a chef’s knife. Slice a few garlic cloves and stuff a sliver in each “pocket.”

• Slice or press fresh garlic into extra-virgin olive oil to use in a marinade, salad dressing, or as a dipping sauce.

• Blanch garlic cloves as above for garlic bread and mash them into potatoes to make garlic mashed potatoes.

• Try this specialty from Trinidad: slice an eggplant into thick slices, stud the slices with garlic cloves, sprinkle with ground coriander and ground ginger, and grill until tender.

• Add a little extra spice to your salads by rubbing the bottom and sides of the salad bowl with garlic before adding the greens and dressing.

Oregano: Infection Protection – Fighting Intestinal Infection

You can’t find a pizza parlor or Italian restaurant anywhere in the US that doesn’t have canisters filled with the pungent dry leaves of oregano. The spice is synonymous with Italy and Italian food. Lasagna, pizza, and even garlic bread wouldn’t be considered Italian without it.

EVERY PIZZA PARLOR IN THE US HAS CANISTERS FILLED WITH THE PUNGENT DRY LEAVES OF OREGANO.

However, Oregano Nation #1 is not Italy. It’s Turkey, which annually exports 20 tons of oregano—with Turks using 1,000 tons a year themselves. And not just because they like the taste. The Turkish people are firm believers in the healing power of oregano.

Household kitchens are often equipped with distillation stills for making oregano water, which families drink to keep digestion running smoothly. The stills are constructed so they can sit safely on the stove, dispersing the vapors of oregano oil that are thought to relax nerves and maintain good health. Turks rub the condensed oil vapors of oregano on limbs when muscles ache or rheumatism sets in. And oregano is Turkey’s favorite tea.

Visit a scientific database, enter the keyword “oregano,” and you’ll find study after study supporting the Turkish tradition of using oregano as medicine.

Fighting Intestinal Infection

Modern gastrointestinal research points a finger at various bacteria, fungi, and parasites as common causes of intestinal troubles, from ulcers to irritable bowel syndrome. (In fact, microbial disturbances in the gut are now thought to cause or complicate many conditions, from allergies to arthritis.) The major components of oregano oil—carvacrol and thymol—are powerfully antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal—and anti-parasitic.

Putting parasites in their place. There are many different types of intestinal parasites, from one-celled organisms to full-grown worms. You can pick them up from food, water, a pet—or a passport (travelers to developing countries sometimes end up with a “souvenir” they wish they could have left behind).

Intestinal parasites can cause intestinal symptoms, of course. Chronic diarrhea is the most common, but bloating, gas, constipation, and bloody stools (as well as non-digestive symptoms such as fever and fatigue) are among other unpleasant possibilities.

Anti-parasitic medications are the best way to eradicate parasites, but they don’t always work. Doctors in the southwest US decided to try oregano oil on 34 people with persistent parasites. The treatment ended the reign of the invaders in most cases, and decreased the number of parasites in the rest.

Foiling food poisoning. Researchers have found that compounds in oregano can kill many of the bacteria that cause food poisoning, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and Shigella. In a study from the US Department of Agriculture, oregano outperformed garlic and allspice in stopping those four nasty germs from multiplying.

Healing ulcers. Researchers in the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts found that a combination of oregano and cranberry extracts could kill H. pylori bacteria, the cause of stomach ulcers.

Calming colitis. Slovakian researchers found that a combination or oregano and thyme reduced inflammation in the colons of animals with chemically induced colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease that strikes more than a million Americans.

Oregano may help prevent and/or treat:

Age spots

Alzheimer’s disease

Cancer

Candida infection (systemic fungal infection)

Cholesterol problems (high “bad” LDL cholesterol)

Colitis (inflammatory bowel disease)

Food poisoning

Heart disease

High blood pressure

Infection, parasitic

Insulin resistance (prediabetes)

Liver disease

Metabolic syndrome

Overweight

Staph infection

Thrush (oral candida infection)

Triglycerides, high

Ulcer

Vaginal yeast infection

More life for the liver. Several animal studies show that oregano oil can strengthen and heal the liver—good news for the tens of millions of Americans with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis C, cirrhosis, and other liver diseases.

Fighting Vaginal Infections, Too

Infections aren’t limited to the digestive tract, of course. A vaginal yeast infection—what doctors call vulvovaginal candiasis—bothers three out of four women at least once in their life. About 45 percent have a second infection, and 5 to 8 percent have recurrent infections, returning four to five times a year. These itchy, sometimes painful infections are almost always caused by the yeast-like fungus Candida albicans.

And some clinicians—led by William C. Crook, MD, author of The Yeast Connection, published in 1987—think whole-body infection with C. albicans is a common problem, causing a wide range of symptoms that include fatigue, headache, and digestive upsets.

When C. albicans is bothering you, call oregano.

Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center found that oregano oil could “completely inhibit” the growth of C. albicans in the test tube and killed 80 percent of the fungus in experimental animals. The oil stops the yeast from growing and also blunts the limb-like “filaments” it uses to burrow into tissue. They also note it works as well as powerful antifungal antibiotics such as nystatin. (When a team of Italian researchers tested oregano and nystatin together, they found the spice boosted the fungus-killing power of the drug.)

“It is interesting to note,” write the researchers in Molecular and Clinical Biochemistry, “that infections due to C. albicans in debilitated individuals such as those having diabetes and HIV infection may be prophylactically controlled by the daily intake of small amounts of oregano oil, either alone or added to a food.”

“Daily oral administration of origanum oil may be highly effective in the prevention and treatment of candidiasis,” they concluded.

Other researchers found that carvacrol and thymol could “significantly reduce” infection with oral candidiasis—a fungal infection of the tissues of the mouth—in animals.

More from Oregano

There is provocative research on oregano’s possible role in alleviating other diseases.

Metabolic syndrome. This condition is a combination of overweight, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides, a blood fat (lipid). Researchers in Italy found that oregano extracts worked in the same way as drugs used for metabolic syndrome. Their study, said the researchers, showed the extracts could help with “weight reduction” (overweight), “prevent atherosclerosis” (from high blood pressure), and “ameliorate the lipid profile” (high triglycerides).

Making Sense of “Mexican Oregano”

So-called “Mexican oregano” isn’t oregano. It’s not even in the same botanical family. When dried, however, it looks like oregano and tastes like oregano, except it’s stronger. And that makes a big difference when you add it to tacos or empanadas.

Like “real” oregano, it’s rich in carvacrol and thymol.

And like “real” oregano, it’s used in folk medicine throughout Mexico and South America for digestive and respiratory complaints, and research shows it’s a bacterial fighter, antioxidant, and anti-tumor agent.

“The results warrant further investigation of oregano extract for its potential to prevent and ameliorate metabolic syndrome and its complications,” concluded the researchers in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

High cholesterol. Turkish researchers studied 48 people with mildly elevated cholesterol, dividing them into two groups. One group took oregano extract after every meal, and one group didn’t. Three months later, the oregano group had greater decreases in “bad” LDL cholesterol and in C-reactive protein, a biomarker of artery-damaging inflammation. They also had greater increases in arterial blood flow. The findings were in the Journal of International Medical Research.

When researchers in Turkey tested spices in the laboratory for their ability to stop the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the key step in the formation of artery-clogging plaque) they found oregano had “the most pronounced effect.”

Researchers in Spain took the process a step further: they measured the ability of oregano extract to stop the process that occurs after oxidation of cholesterol—the activation of immune components calledcytokines that attack the oxidized cholesterol as if it were a foreign invader, sparking the inflammation that worsens heart disease. The extracts stopped the release of three of those cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6).

“These results may suggest an anti-inflammatory effect of oregano extracts . . . in a cellular model of atherosclerosis [heart disease],” concluded the researchers in Food and Chemical Toxicology.

Colon cancer. “Oregano spice is widely used in the Mediterranean diet, which is associated with a low risk for colon cancer,” said Italian researchers in the journal Nutrition and Cancer. When they mixed oregano extract in a test tube with colon cancer cells, the spice stopped cellular growth and killed the cells, an effect the researchers labeled “oregano-triggered death.”

“Our findings suggest that oregano in the amounts found in the Mediterranean diet” can kill cancer cells, said the researchers.

Additional test tube and animal research on carvacrol and other compounds in oregano show they can slow or kill cancers of the lung, colon, blood, and uterus.

Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers screened 139 spices for their ability to possibly boost the brain chemical acetylcholine, the same action as drugs that slow Alzheimer’s disease—and only an oregano extract was as “potent” as the drugs.

Age spots. Researchers in Taiwan found that a compound in oregano can reverse the “hyperpigmentation” that causes age spots (solar lentigos) and “may be useful in skin-whitening agents.” The findings were in Journal of Dermatological Science.

Staph infections. Infections with Staphylococcus aureus usually start in the hospital and are sometimes fatal. Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center found oregano oil was “the most potent” killer of S. aureus among several compounds tested. Giving it daily to animals injected with the bacteria quadrupled their expected lifespan. Oregano oil “may prove to be useful” for the “prevention and therapy” of Staphylococcus aureus infections, concluded the researchers.

Getting to Know Oregano

Hippocrates, the “father of medicine” from ancient Greece, knew about oregano’s antiseptic properties, and used it to treat digestive and respiratory diseases. The ancient Egyptians also used it as a healing disinfectant. The Romans favored it for stimulating hair growth. In Turkish folk medicine, oregano oil is used for pain relief from tooth decay, as an antiseptic for wounds, and as a remedy for inflammation of all kinds—psoriasis, tonsillitis, mouth ulcers, and inflamed gums, to name a few.

Oregano pairs well with these spices:

Ajowan

Basil

Bay

Chile

Cumin

Garlic

Marjoram

Onion

Pumpkin seed

Rosemary

Sage

Sun-dried

tomato

Thyme

and complements recipes featuring:

Black beans

Cheese

Chowders and soups

Eggplant

Game

Grilled meat

Ground beef

Mushrooms

Pastas

Pizza

Poultry

Provolone cheese

Rabbit

Salsa

Seafood

Tomato sauces and

dishes

___________________________________

Other recipes containing oregano:

Adobo

All-American Chili con Carne

By-the-Bay Fisherman’s Chowder

Chimichurri Sauce

Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce

Grilled Pork Chile Adobo

Pizza Spice Blend

Roasted Tomato Soup with Fennel and Mint

Yucatan Pickled Red Onions

is an easy-to-grow perennial that is cultivated in many areas of the world, including the United States.

Oregano oil is a popular dietary supplement in the US, used for digestive upset, yeast infections, and as preventive therapy during cold and flu season.

Oregano is just as popular in American kitchens as it is everywhere else. Aside from being a staple in American pizzerias and Italian restaurants, it is a popular spice in Tex-Mex and Southwest cuisines. It is also popular as a flavoring in Mexican restaurants in the United States, where it’s used in soups, chili blends, salsas, and refried beans.

In Mexico, however, “Mexican oregano” is used—it’s not botanically related to European oregano, but has a similar (though stronger) taste.

How to Buy Oregano

Oregano is an easy-to-grow perennial that is cultivated in many areas of the world, including the United States. Spice-lovers say the best oregano comes from Turkey. The US is a major importer of Turkish oregano, so chances are that when you buy oregano, this is the type you’re buying. But Greek oregano is also imported into the US. The only way to know for sure where your oregano originated is to purchase the spice from a specialty retailer, who will know the country of origin.

You can purchase oregano fresh, dried, or ground. The flavor of the dried oregano is more robust than fresh. (And dried is preferred over ground because it’s more flavorful.) Dried oregano keeps for about a year in a dark, dry place, in an airtight container.

The flavor of oregano is pungent and balsamic, and comes from carvacrol and thymol oils, which vary in strength depending on where the plant was grown. The strongest oregano is from Turkey. Oregano grown and dried in backyard herb gardens in the US is delicate in comparison.

Chicken Oreganata

The name says it’s Italian, but Turkey claims to have developed it first. Whatever its origin, this classic is enjoyed in many parts of the world.

2 boned chicken breasts, split

1 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

1. Wash and pat dry the chicken. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Put the mixture in a plastic ziplock bag, add the chicken, and seal. Shake the bag to make sure the chicken is evenly coated with the marinade. Refrigerate overnight.

2. Remove chicken from the marinade. Discard the marinade. Place the chicken in a shallow baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Bake the chicken in a 375°F oven for 30 minutes, turning once mid-way through.

Makes 4 servings.

Oregano is also referred to as wild marjoram, and is often mistaken for marjoram (which is also called sweet marjoram). Though they both come from the same botanical family, and are often used interchangeably in the kitchen, there is only a vague resemblance in taste.

In the Kitchen with Oregano

Chefs prefer dried oregano to fresh because its flavor is more intense. You can intensify the flavor of fresh oregano, however, by rubbing the leaves between your palms and letting it drop in the dish.

Oregano is an easy spice to work with because it goes with just about everything. When experimenting, keep in mind that oregano is strong and can overpower a dish; it marries best with stronger flavors. It’s typically used in garlic-based and tomato-based dishes, rich meat and game dishes, chilies and salsas, and pasta dishes.

A few ideas to put more oregano in your diet:

• Use it in marinades.

• Use it as a rub for grilled meat. Combine 1 teaspoon of oregano with ½ teaspoon each of red pepper flakes, salt, and freshly ground pepper, and rub the mixture into a thick steak before grilling.

• Put it in salad dressing.

• Add it to olive- and vinegar-based recipes.

Horseradish: Potent Infection Fighter – A Natural Antibiotic

Horseradish is to spices what apples are to pies—very American. An estimated 85 percent of the world’s horseradish is grown here and a lot of it stays here: Americans consume six million gallons of horseradish a year!

But horseradish isn’t an American original. Native to the Mediterranean, by the 15th century it was growing in Britain, where it was described as hoarse, meaning “of coarse and strong quality.”

Raw horseradish has no odor, but cut into its flesh and you’ll sniff a waft of heat that can open the sinuses even on the worst day of allergy season. No wonder it was used as a medicine long before it was used as a food. Ye Olde physicians employed its mucous-moving abilities to help treat colds, coughs, kidney stones, urinary tract infections—and hoarseness, of course.

What gives horseradish its healing kick? The volatile oil sinigrin, which breaks down into allyl isothiocyanate, a powerful natural antibiotic. Allyl isothiocyanate most likely accounts for the proven effectiveness of horseradish in treating upper respiratory problems. But it’s not the only healing component in the spice. Ounce for ounce, horseradish contains more medicinally active compounds than most other spices. And they are very active—they can clear congestion, thin mucous, reduce inflammation, squelch cell-damaging oxidants, fight bacteria and viruses, relax muscles, stimulate the immune system—and even battle cancer. That makes the humble horseradish one special spice. As noted botanist and spice expert Dr. James A. Duke put it, “Horseradish is about as useful in the medicine chest as it is in the spice rack.”

A Natural Antibiotic

Even though horseradish is loaded with healing phytonutrients, only a few scientific studies have been conducted to test its curative powers. However, the spice has been declared medically safe and effective for upper respiratory tract infections by the German Commission E Monographs, which helps guide physicians and other health professionals in Germany in the medical use of herbs.

One of that country’s most popular infection-fighting natural medicines is a preparation called Angocin Anti-Infekt N, which contains horseradish root and the herb nasturtium. Since the preparation hit the German market, several laboratory and human studies have found that it is as effective as antibiotics in treating:

• Bronchitis

• Ear infection

• Gastrointestinal illness caused by food contaminated with the E. coli bacteria

• Gastrointestinal illness caused by food contaminated by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus

• Haemophilus influenza, which typically strikes children under age five

• Pneumonia

• Sinusitis

• Strep throat and other serious illness cause by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes, such as cellulitis, impetigo, and scarlet fever

• Urinary tract infection

One of those studies, involving 858 children and teenagers in 65 German treatment centers, compared the effectiveness of Angocin Anti-Infekt N to an antibiotic in the treatment of bronchitis and urinary tract infection (UTI).

Effectiveness was measured by the degree of symptom relief and the speed at which infections cleared up—and the horseradish-containing medication was very effective! “The results prove that there is a rational basis for treatment of both UTIs and respiratory infections with this medicinal product,” commented the researchers.

Another German study compared the effectiveness of the horseradish preparation to antibiotics in 536 people with sinusitis, 634 people with bronchitis, and 479 people with UTI. Again, the natural medicine worked just as well as the antibiotic.

Horseradish is a coarse, colorless, odorless root.

The horseradish medication also has been shown to help prevent infection. In one study, researchers recruited 219 women and men ages 18 to 75 to test the effectiveness of the natural medicine in preventing recurrent UTI. All the patients were symptom-free at the beginning of the study. Half the participants took a daily dose of the horseradish-containing supplement and half took a placebo. After three months, the researchers found that the rate of recurrence was 50 percent lower in the people taking the horseradish remedy than in those taking the placebo. Another study involving children with recurrent urinary tract infections had similar results.

Better than Broccoli?

On the outside, horseradish isn’t much to look at. It is a coarse, colorless, odorless, gangly root with no taste-appeal whatsoever—the ugly duckling of an attractive family of colorful vegetables called the crucifers. These crucifers (broccoli, watercress, mustard greens, kale, cabbage, and brussels sprouts, to name a few) are well known for producing the plant kingdom’s largest supply of isothiocyanates(ITCs), compounds that have been found to protect against cancer.

But ITCs wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for another important compound: glucosinolates. When the flesh of a crucifer is broken—when it is torn, cut, or chewed—glucosinolates get into gear and produce ITCs. That’s why horseradish stands out as more than just a homely spice in a family of lovely greens. When researchers at the University of Illinois put horseradish under the microscope, they found it contained more glucosinolates than broccoli, the king of all crucifers.

“Horseradish contains more than 10-fold higher glucosinolates than broccoli, so you don’t need much horseradish to benefit,” commented Dr. Mosbah Kushad, the study’s lead researcher. “In fact, a little dab on your steak will go a long way to providing the same health benefits as broccoli.” (Good news for you broccoli-haters out there!)

In one study on the ITCs in horseradish, researchers at Michigan State University tested their ability to inhibit the activity of colon and lung cancer cells. As the dosage of ITCs increased, the disease-promoting activity of the cancer cells became weaker—30 to 68 percent weaker for colon cancer, and 30 to 71 percent weaker for lung cells.

ITCs aren’t the only cancer-fighting compound in horseradish—the spice contains more than two dozen anti-cancer compounds, and researchers in England are investigating one of them—horseradish peroxidase (HRP)—as a component in an anti-cancer medication. In one laboratory study, the experimental drug helped control the growth of breast and bladder cancer cells.

High Hopes for Low Cholesterol

The ITCs in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli in particular) promote heart health by helping control two major risk factors for heart disease: the blood fats cholesterol and triglycerides. A study reported in the journal Nutrition Research found that the ITCs in horseradish can do the same.

In the study, researchers fed mice a cholesterol-rich diet with and without horseradish. After three weeks, the mice eating the diet with cholesterol and horseradish had much lower cholesterol levels. The researchers theorize that horseradish blocks the production of cholesterol.

The Unique Crucifer

Not only does horseradish contain higher concentrations of ITCs than other crucifers—it also contains thiocyanate, a rare substance that sends a pungent rush into the nasal cavity when the flesh is cut or chewed. Thiocyanate is only found in two other spices, mustard seed and wasabi, both members of the crucifer clan.

Thiocyanate delivers its zing by a different route than capsaicin, the chemical that torches your tongue when you eat chiles. When horseradish meets moisture in the mouth, thiocyanates are released into the air and up the nasal passage, which is why a strong dose makes the nose run and the eyes water. The heat dissipates quickly, however, and you are left with the spice’s distinctive taste—a white radish with the heat of a jalapeño.

FIRST PRODUCED IN PITTSBURGH IN 1869, HEINZ HORSERADISH WAS AMERICA’S ORIGINAL MASS-MARKETED CONVENIENCE FOOD.

Pure horseradish, however, is not a familiar taste—it’s usually one ingredient in a sauce. That’s why we don’t recognize that the so-called “wasabi” served in sushi restaurants is pure horseradish, colored with spinach and spirulina. (To find out more about wasabi, please see Wasabi, Hot Ally Against Cancer.)

Getting to Know Horseradish

Horseradish first came to the United States in the 1600s with the original settlers, but it really took off as a coveted condiment in the mid-1800s when German and Polish immigrants brought their love for the spice and their recipes to America. It was so popular as a topping for cold meats and fish that in 1869 a young entrepreneur by the name of Henry J. Heinz mixed it with the preservative vinegar, packed it in small glass jars to “display its purity,” and peddled it in a hand basket in his hometown neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Heinz Horseradish went on to became America’s first mass-marketed convenience food, and local legend has it that Heinz grated so much horseradish in his parent’s home basement you could smell the potent vapors coming through the floorboards long after he moved the operation elsewhere.

Today, horseradish plays a leading culinary role in both the United States and Europe. We use it to turn ordinary ketchup into sinus-opening cocktail sauce, the ubiquitous dip traditionally served with boiled shrimp and raw shellfish. It’s a popular addition to the tomato-juice-and-vodka cocktail Bloody Mary, and it is often found sitting on the bar in taverns and seafood houses next to a bowl of oyster crackers. It’s the classic condiment found on tables in steakhouses and in the serving line at fast food places from coast to coast. Every June, Collinsville, Illinois, the self-proclaimed horseradish capital of the world, hosts the annual International Horseradish Festival, with every horseradish contest imaginable, including a Little Miss Horseradish beauty pageant.

But first prize for horseradish adoration goes to the Germans, who still follow the arduous custom of grating the tough, large root and serving it fresh. Germans are so fond of horseradish because its potent tang cuts the fatty flavor of sausages and the unusual cuts of meat that are the standard fare in their diet. German cuisine contains countless recipes for horseradish sauce. There’s vinegar horseradish sauce, lemon horseradish sauce, horseradish bread sauce, horseradish whipped cream sauce, beer horseradish sauce, and the most well known, apfelmeerrettich, which is made with sour green apples. It’s not unusual to find meerrettichkartoffeln—potatoes baked in horseradish cream—sitting on the table, too.

Horseradish may help prevent and/or treat:

Bronchitis

Cancer

Cholesterol problems (high total cholesterol)

Ear infection

Flu

Food poisoning

Pneumonia, bacterial

Sinusitis

Strep throat

Urinary tract infection

___________________________________

Horseradish pairs well with these spices:

Basil

Black pepper

Celery seed

Fennel seed

Mustard seed

Parsley

Rosemary

Sesame seed

Sun-dried tomato

and complements recipes featuring:

Apples

Baked beans

Beef roasts

Cheese

Cold cuts

Cured ham

Eggs

Fresh and smoked fish

Pork

Potatoes

Shellfish

Substitute: Since most wasabi sold in the US is really horseradish, you can use the two interchangeably. True wasabi is stronger, however, so if using it as a substitute for horseradish in a recipe, start with half as much and add more until you get to the desired taste and consistency.

Eastern Europeans and Scandinavians also have their horseradish traditions.

In Norway, the grated root is whipped with sweet-and-sour cream, sugar, and vinegar to create a sauce called pepperrotsaus that is served with cold salmon and other fish. The Danes freeze creamed horseradish and serve it like sherbet in a chilled sauceboat. The Poles grate beets into horseradish to make a purple-red condiment called chrzan that is served with spring ham. Horseradish soup is a Polish Christmas-day lunch tradition.

The French are not fond of fiery food, but horseradish is the exception. They feel the heavy red horseradish sauce preferred by Americans is too heavy for the delicate taste of raw oysters and instead serve a dipping sauce called mignonette, which combines the spice with vinegar and oil. In England, standing rib roast with horseradish cream sauce is a national tradition.

Horseradish is on the table at the Seder, the meal that celebrates the Jewish holiday of Passover—it’s one of the maror (bitter herbs) that symbolize the suffering the Israelites endured as slaves in Egypt.

In the Kitchen with Horseradish

You’ll get the most pungent horseradish by serving it the way the Germans prefer: freshly grated and undiluted. But grating horseradish is painstaking—even painful! The root is tough, coarse, and long (a foot or more), and grating it calls for strength and a sharp steel grating blade. The vapors hit your nostrils like a punch in the nose, so work outdoors if possible, or at least in a well-ventilated room by an open window. Also warn others to stay upwind from the fumes. And once grated, the flavor deteriorates quickly. All of which is why I highly recommend you take the easy route and purchase prepared horseradish preserved in vinegar, which is inexpensive and readily available. It won’t give you the zing of fresh horseradish, but it’s close, and its healing powers are the same.

You can find prepared horseradish in the dairy section of any supermarket, and it will last for months in the refrigerator at home. Just check the label to make sure you’re getting the minimum ingredients—horseradish, distilled white vinegar, and salt. When using it in recipes, make sure to squeeze the vinegar out with the back of the fork, so you get the pure taste of horseradish. You can also purchase the spice as granules and flakes, which must be rehydrated.

Generally horseradish relishes and sauces aren’t cooked—heat destroys the spice’s pungency, and cooked horseradish is quite mild. So, when you see a horseradish-potato crusted fish on the menu (quite popular these days), there’s no need to pass it up because you think the dish might be too hot.

Horseradish is versatile and easy to work with. Here are some of the many ways you can put more of the spice into your diet:

• Add a dollop of horseradish to potato salads, slaws, and dips.

• Use it to give applesauce a tasty zip.

• Add a tablespoon or two to spike barbecue sauce served with grilled meat.

• Mix a tablespoon of prepared horseradish with  cup of sour cream as a topping for smoked fish. Sprinkle it with chives.

• Mix horseradish with sour cream and whip it into mashed potatoes.

• To make a basic cocktail sauce, mix equal parts of ketchup and horseradish. Add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.

• Make a different dipping sauce for seafood by combining 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of sour cream, 1 tablespoon of prepared horseradish, and ¼ teaspoon each of mace and mint. Sprinkle with garlic salt.

• To make a traditional horseradish cream for roast beef, beat ½ cup of heavy cream until slightly stiff and fold in 2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish. Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Bavarian Apple and Horseradish Sauce

This popular German specialty makes a great accompaniment to pork tenderloin or chops and spicy sausages. You can also serve it as a spread on cold beef sandwiches on thick crusty bread.

½ cup prepared horseradish, drained

1 large sour green apple, peeled, cored, and diced

¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon dried parsley

In a medium mixing bowl mix the horseradish, apple, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Cover and let the mixture stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, sprinkle with parsley, and serve. Or refrigerate until ready to use, stir, and bring to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 1½ cups.

Horseradish: Potent Infection Fighter – A Natural Antibiotic

Horseradish is to spices what apples are to pies—very American. An estimated 85 percent of the world’s horseradish is grown here and a lot of it stays here: Americans consume six million gallons of horseradish a year!

But horseradish isn’t an American original. Native to the Mediterranean, by the 15th century it was growing in Britain, where it was described as hoarse, meaning “of coarse and strong quality.”

Raw horseradish has no odor, but cut into its flesh and you’ll sniff a waft of heat that can open the sinuses even on the worst day of allergy season. No wonder it was used as a medicine long before it was used as a food. Ye Olde physicians employed its mucous-moving abilities to help treat colds, coughs, kidney stones, urinary tract infections—and hoarseness, of course.

What gives horseradish its healing kick? The volatile oil sinigrin, which breaks down into allyl isothiocyanate, a powerful natural antibiotic. Allyl isothiocyanate most likely accounts for the proven effectiveness of horseradish in treating upper respiratory problems. But it’s not the only healing component in the spice. Ounce for ounce, horseradish contains more medicinally active compounds than most other spices. And they are very active—they can clear congestion, thin mucous, reduce inflammation, squelch cell-damaging oxidants, fight bacteria and viruses, relax muscles, stimulate the immune system—and even battle cancer. That makes the humble horseradish one special spice. As noted botanist and spice expert Dr. James A. Duke put it, “Horseradish is about as useful in the medicine chest as it is in the spice rack.”

A Natural Antibiotic

Even though horseradish is loaded with healing phytonutrients, only a few scientific studies have been conducted to test its curative powers. However, the spice has been declared medically safe and effective for upper respiratory tract infections by the German Commission E Monographs, which helps guide physicians and other health professionals in Germany in the medical use of herbs.

One of that country’s most popular infection-fighting natural medicines is a preparation called Angocin Anti-Infekt N, which contains horseradish root and the herb nasturtium. Since the preparation hit the German market, several laboratory and human studies have found that it is as effective as antibiotics in treating:

• Bronchitis

• Ear infection

• Gastrointestinal illness caused by food contaminated with the E. coli bacteria

• Gastrointestinal illness caused by food contaminated by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus

• Haemophilus influenza, which typically strikes children under age five

• Pneumonia

• Sinusitis

• Strep throat and other serious illness cause by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes, such as cellulitis, impetigo, and scarlet fever

• Urinary tract infection

One of those studies, involving 858 children and teenagers in 65 German treatment centers, compared the effectiveness of Angocin Anti-Infekt N to an antibiotic in the treatment of bronchitis and urinary tract infection (UTI).

Effectiveness was measured by the degree of symptom relief and the speed at which infections cleared up—and the horseradish-containing medication was very effective! “The results prove that there is a rational basis for treatment of both UTIs and respiratory infections with this medicinal product,” commented the researchers.

Another German study compared the effectiveness of the horseradish preparation to antibiotics in 536 people with sinusitis, 634 people with bronchitis, and 479 people with UTI. Again, the natural medicine worked just as well as the antibiotic.

Horseradish is a coarse, colorless, odorless root.

The horseradish medication also has been shown to help prevent infection. In one study, researchers recruited 219 women and men ages 18 to 75 to test the effectiveness of the natural medicine in preventing recurrent UTI. All the patients were symptom-free at the beginning of the study. Half the participants took a daily dose of the horseradish-containing supplement and half took a placebo. After three months, the researchers found that the rate of recurrence was 50 percent lower in the people taking the horseradish remedy than in those taking the placebo. Another study involving children with recurrent urinary tract infections had similar results.

Better than Broccoli?

On the outside, horseradish isn’t much to look at. It is a coarse, colorless, odorless, gangly root with no taste-appeal whatsoever—the ugly duckling of an attractive family of colorful vegetables called the crucifers. These crucifers (broccoli, watercress, mustard greens, kale, cabbage, and brussels sprouts, to name a few) are well known for producing the plant kingdom’s largest supply of isothiocyanates(ITCs), compounds that have been found to protect against cancer.

But ITCs wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for another important compound: glucosinolates. When the flesh of a crucifer is broken—when it is torn, cut, or chewed—glucosinolates get into gear and produce ITCs. That’s why horseradish stands out as more than just a homely spice in a family of lovely greens. When researchers at the University of Illinois put horseradish under the microscope, they found it contained more glucosinolates than broccoli, the king of all crucifers.

“Horseradish contains more than 10-fold higher glucosinolates than broccoli, so you don’t need much horseradish to benefit,” commented Dr. Mosbah Kushad, the study’s lead researcher. “In fact, a little dab on your steak will go a long way to providing the same health benefits as broccoli.” (Good news for you broccoli-haters out there!)

In one study on the ITCs in horseradish, researchers at Michigan State University tested their ability to inhibit the activity of colon and lung cancer cells. As the dosage of ITCs increased, the disease-promoting activity of the cancer cells became weaker—30 to 68 percent weaker for colon cancer, and 30 to 71 percent weaker for lung cells.

ITCs aren’t the only cancer-fighting compound in horseradish—the spice contains more than two dozen anti-cancer compounds, and researchers in England are investigating one of them—horseradish peroxidase (HRP)—as a component in an anti-cancer medication. In one laboratory study, the experimental drug helped control the growth of breast and bladder cancer cells.

High Hopes for Low Cholesterol

The ITCs in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli in particular) promote heart health by helping control two major risk factors for heart disease: the blood fats cholesterol and triglycerides. A study reported in the journal Nutrition Research found that the ITCs in horseradish can do the same.

In the study, researchers fed mice a cholesterol-rich diet with and without horseradish. After three weeks, the mice eating the diet with cholesterol and horseradish had much lower cholesterol levels. The researchers theorize that horseradish blocks the production of cholesterol.

The Unique Crucifer

Not only does horseradish contain higher concentrations of ITCs than other crucifers—it also contains thiocyanate, a rare substance that sends a pungent rush into the nasal cavity when the flesh is cut or chewed. Thiocyanate is only found in two other spices, mustard seed and wasabi, both members of the crucifer clan.

Thiocyanate delivers its zing by a different route than capsaicin, the chemical that torches your tongue when you eat chiles. When horseradish meets moisture in the mouth, thiocyanates are released into the air and up the nasal passage, which is why a strong dose makes the nose run and the eyes water. The heat dissipates quickly, however, and you are left with the spice’s distinctive taste—a white radish with the heat of a jalapeño.

FIRST PRODUCED IN PITTSBURGH IN 1869, HEINZ HORSERADISH WAS AMERICA’S ORIGINAL MASS-MARKETED CONVENIENCE FOOD.

Pure horseradish, however, is not a familiar taste—it’s usually one ingredient in a sauce. That’s why we don’t recognize that the so-called “wasabi” served in sushi restaurants is pure horseradish, colored with spinach and spirulina. (To find out more about wasabi, please see Wasabi, Hot Ally Against Cancer.)

Getting to Know Horseradish

Horseradish first came to the United States in the 1600s with the original settlers, but it really took off as a coveted condiment in the mid-1800s when German and Polish immigrants brought their love for the spice and their recipes to America. It was so popular as a topping for cold meats and fish that in 1869 a young entrepreneur by the name of Henry J. Heinz mixed it with the preservative vinegar, packed it in small glass jars to “display its purity,” and peddled it in a hand basket in his hometown neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Heinz Horseradish went on to became America’s first mass-marketed convenience food, and local legend has it that Heinz grated so much horseradish in his parent’s home basement you could smell the potent vapors coming through the floorboards long after he moved the operation elsewhere.

Today, horseradish plays a leading culinary role in both the United States and Europe. We use it to turn ordinary ketchup into sinus-opening cocktail sauce, the ubiquitous dip traditionally served with boiled shrimp and raw shellfish. It’s a popular addition to the tomato-juice-and-vodka cocktail Bloody Mary, and it is often found sitting on the bar in taverns and seafood houses next to a bowl of oyster crackers. It’s the classic condiment found on tables in steakhouses and in the serving line at fast food places from coast to coast. Every June, Collinsville, Illinois, the self-proclaimed horseradish capital of the world, hosts the annual International Horseradish Festival, with every horseradish contest imaginable, including a Little Miss Horseradish beauty pageant.

But first prize for horseradish adoration goes to the Germans, who still follow the arduous custom of grating the tough, large root and serving it fresh. Germans are so fond of horseradish because its potent tang cuts the fatty flavor of sausages and the unusual cuts of meat that are the standard fare in their diet. German cuisine contains countless recipes for horseradish sauce. There’s vinegar horseradish sauce, lemon horseradish sauce, horseradish bread sauce, horseradish whipped cream sauce, beer horseradish sauce, and the most well known, apfelmeerrettich, which is made with sour green apples. It’s not unusual to find meerrettichkartoffeln—potatoes baked in horseradish cream—sitting on the table, too.

Horseradish may help prevent and/or treat:

Bronchitis

Cancer

Cholesterol problems (high total cholesterol)

Ear infection

Flu

Food poisoning

Pneumonia, bacterial

Sinusitis

Strep throat

Urinary tract infection

___________________________________

Horseradish pairs well with these spices:

Basil

Black pepper

Celery seed

Fennel seed

Mustard seed

Parsley

Rosemary

Sesame seed

Sun-dried tomato

and complements recipes featuring:

Apples

Baked beans

Beef roasts

Cheese

Cold cuts

Cured ham

Eggs

Fresh and smoked fish

Pork

Potatoes

Shellfish

Substitute: Since most wasabi sold in the US is really horseradish, you can use the two interchangeably. True wasabi is stronger, however, so if using it as a substitute for horseradish in a recipe, start with half as much and add more until you get to the desired taste and consistency.

Eastern Europeans and Scandinavians also have their horseradish traditions.

In Norway, the grated root is whipped with sweet-and-sour cream, sugar, and vinegar to create a sauce called pepperrotsaus that is served with cold salmon and other fish. The Danes freeze creamed horseradish and serve it like sherbet in a chilled sauceboat. The Poles grate beets into horseradish to make a purple-red condiment called chrzan that is served with spring ham. Horseradish soup is a Polish Christmas-day lunch tradition.

The French are not fond of fiery food, but horseradish is the exception. They feel the heavy red horseradish sauce preferred by Americans is too heavy for the delicate taste of raw oysters and instead serve a dipping sauce called mignonette, which combines the spice with vinegar and oil. In England, standing rib roast with horseradish cream sauce is a national tradition.

Horseradish is on the table at the Seder, the meal that celebrates the Jewish holiday of Passover—it’s one of the maror (bitter herbs) that symbolize the suffering the Israelites endured as slaves in Egypt.

In the Kitchen with Horseradish

You’ll get the most pungent horseradish by serving it the way the Germans prefer: freshly grated and undiluted. But grating horseradish is painstaking—even painful! The root is tough, coarse, and long (a foot or more), and grating it calls for strength and a sharp steel grating blade. The vapors hit your nostrils like a punch in the nose, so work outdoors if possible, or at least in a well-ventilated room by an open window. Also warn others to stay upwind from the fumes. And once grated, the flavor deteriorates quickly. All of which is why I highly recommend you take the easy route and purchase prepared horseradish preserved in vinegar, which is inexpensive and readily available. It won’t give you the zing of fresh horseradish, but it’s close, and its healing powers are the same.

You can find prepared horseradish in the dairy section of any supermarket, and it will last for months in the refrigerator at home. Just check the label to make sure you’re getting the minimum ingredients—horseradish, distilled white vinegar, and salt. When using it in recipes, make sure to squeeze the vinegar out with the back of the fork, so you get the pure taste of horseradish. You can also purchase the spice as granules and flakes, which must be rehydrated.

Generally horseradish relishes and sauces aren’t cooked—heat destroys the spice’s pungency, and cooked horseradish is quite mild. So, when you see a horseradish-potato crusted fish on the menu (quite popular these days), there’s no need to pass it up because you think the dish might be too hot.

Horseradish is versatile and easy to work with. Here are some of the many ways you can put more of the spice into your diet:

• Add a dollop of horseradish to potato salads, slaws, and dips.

• Use it to give applesauce a tasty zip.

• Add a tablespoon or two to spike barbecue sauce served with grilled meat.

• Mix a tablespoon of prepared horseradish with  cup of sour cream as a topping for smoked fish. Sprinkle it with chives.

• Mix horseradish with sour cream and whip it into mashed potatoes.

• To make a basic cocktail sauce, mix equal parts of ketchup and horseradish. Add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.

• Make a different dipping sauce for seafood by combining 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of sour cream, 1 tablespoon of prepared horseradish, and ¼ teaspoon each of mace and mint. Sprinkle with garlic salt.

• To make a traditional horseradish cream for roast beef, beat ½ cup of heavy cream until slightly stiff and fold in 2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish. Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Bavarian Apple and Horseradish Sauce

This popular German specialty makes a great accompaniment to pork tenderloin or chops and spicy sausages. You can also serve it as a spread on cold beef sandwiches on thick crusty bread.

½ cup prepared horseradish, drained

1 large sour green apple, peeled, cored, and diced

¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon dried parsley

In a medium mixing bowl mix the horseradish, apple, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Cover and let the mixture stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, sprinkle with parsley, and serve. Or refrigerate until ready to use, stir, and bring to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 1½ cups.

Garlic: Strong Enough to Battle Heart Disease – Fighting Infection and Colon Cancer

When scientists in England entered the words “diet” and “anti-aging” into the search engine of a medical database, up popped studies on garlic—study after study after study.

“The accumulated knowledge over the last few years suggests that intake of garlic by humans may either prevent or decrease the incidence of major chronic diseases associated with old age, such as atherosclerosis, stroke, cancer, immune disorders, cerebral [brain] aging, arthritis, and cataract formation,” concluded the researchers.

That’s a powerful statement for a spice popularly called “the stinking rose.” But garlic works because it “stinks”—its explosive aroma is based on its most active ingredient, allicin, which transforms intoorganosulfurs, and those are the very compounds that minimize the oxidation, inflammation, and other cell-destroying processes underlying every one of the “major chronic diseases” on the researchers’ list. In addition, garlic is brimming with vitamins, minerals, and other powerful antioxidants that guard against heart disease and cancer.

In short, garlic is one of the world’s most potent natural medicines. The medical database of the National Institutes of Health contains more than 3,200 studies on the therapeutic power of garlic. Many of those studies are about preventing, slowing, and reversing cardiovascular disease—the heart attacks and strokes that kill more Americans than any other health problem.

Help for Your Heart

Back in 3000 BCE, Charak, the father of India’s Ayurvedic medicine, claimed that garlic “strengthens the heart and keeps blood fluid.”

Here in 2010, a team of medical researchers reviewed what they called the “vast scientific literature” about garlic and heart disease, and declared, “Garlic consumption has a significant protective effect against atherosclerosis.”

And when a team of researchers analyzed the garlic-rich Mediterranean diet—often equated with heart health—they figured out that if everybody ate one or two garlic cloves a day, the worldwide risk of heart disease would drop by 25 percent. (But you don’t have to eat fresh cloves to get an effect. Many studies show that dried or powdered garlic is more therapeutic than fresh.) Let’s look at all the ways garlic can help your heart.

Masking Garlic Breath

Garlic’s reputation for being a strong spice is well deserved. Even though it mellows when it is cooked, your garlic dinner can “hang around” for days. This is especially true if you eat it raw.

If you or others in your company are offended by the lingering smell of garlic, here are a few tried-and-true home remedies to diminish the odor:

• Drink red wine with your garlic meal.

• Add parsley to garlicky dishes.

• Chew on fresh parsley sprigs at the end of the meal.

• Chew a few roasted fennel, anise, or cardamom seeds.

To get the smell of garlic out of your hands after working with it:

• Wash your hands with water and lemon juice.

• Rub your hands with a stainless steel spoon, then wash both your hands and the spoon.

• Moisten your hands and rub baking soda between your palms.

Lower blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. In a recent “meta-analysis” of 11 studies on garlic supplements and high blood pressure, garlic lowered systolic blood pressure (the upper number in the reading) by an average of 8.4 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) by an average of 7.3 mm Hg—very significant decreases. “Garlic preparations are superior to placebo in reducing blood pressure in individuals with hypertension,” the researchers concluded in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders.

In a study from Poland, researchers found that garlic supplements not only lowered blood pressure, but also prevented DNA damage from oxidation. “These findings point out the beneficial effects of garlic supplementation in reducing blood pressure and counteracting oxidative stress, and thereby offering cardioprotection in hypertensives,” concluded the researchers in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.

Thinner blood. People take baby aspirin to help prevent heart attacks because it “thins” the blood, reducing the risk of artery-plugging blood clots. Specifically, aspirin reduces the stickiness of platelets, blood compounds that can clump together to form a clot, a process called platelet aggregation. Garlic can thin blood, too.

Researchers in England gave people daily supplements of aged garlic extract for 13 weeks, measuring their levels of platelet aggregation at the beginning and end of the study. The garlic supplements “significantly inhibited” the percentage of platelets that were aggregating and the speed at which they were aggregating. Aged garlic extract “may be beneficial in protecting against cardiovascular disease as a result of inhibiting platelet aggregation,” the researchers concluded in the Journal of Nutrition.

Lower total cholesterol. Okay, garlic doesn’t lower “bad” LDL cholesterol. At least that was the result of a recent and much-publicized six-month study conducted by researchers at Stanford Prevention Research Center, who gave nearly 200 people with high LDL a daily dose of either raw garlic, powdered garlic supplement, aged garlic extract, or a placebo. “None of the forms of garlic used in the study had clinically significant effects on LDL,” concluded the researchers in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

But when researchers at the University of Connecticut analyzed this and 28 other studies on garlic and cholesterol in a meta-analysis, they reached a more positive conclusion. Garlic, they found, significantly reduced total cholesterol and triglycerides (another heart-hurting blood fat), even though it had no effect on “bad” LDL or “good” HDL.

Less artery-clogging plaque. Year by year, plaque can build up inside arteries, narrowing the passageway—and a chunk of that plaque can break off, clog the artery, and trigger a heart attack or stroke. That plaque-accumulating process is called atherosclerosis—and garlic can stop, slow, or reverse it.

Research in the Division of Cardiology at UCLA gave 23 people with heart disease a daily supplement containing aged garlic extract. After one year, those taking the placebo had triple the rate of plaque progression as those taking garlic. In another year-long study by the same researchers, involving a supplement containing aged garlic extract, B-vitamins and an artery-nourishing amino acid, the progression of plaque was “significantly lower” in those taking garlic. Aged garlic extract therapy, with additional nutrients, “reduced progression of atherosclerosis,” the researchers concluded in Preventive Medicine.

DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, GARLIC WAS HUNG ON DOORS AT NIGHT TO REPEL EVIL SPIRITS.

And in a German study, 142 people took garlic powder tablets daily. After four years, they had 5 to 18 percent less plaque in their arteries. “Not only a preventive but possibly also a curative role in atherosclerosis therapy may be ascribed to garlic,” wrote the researchers in the medical journal Atherosclerosis.

Elephant Garlic: A Big Mistake

If you come across elephant garlic at the market, there’s no reason to think you’ve stumbled upon something special. You haven’t, if garlic is what you’re looking for. Elephant garlic onlylooks like garlic—huge garlic, weighing up to a pound. But it doesn’t have anything like the flavor of garlic, and cooks consider it inferior. In fact, elephant garlic is botanically related to a leek and should be used like a leek: braised or baked like a vegetable or sliced into a salad.

More flexible arteries. The lining of the artery is called the endothelium, and it generates a compound (nitric oxide) that relaxes and widens the blood vessel. Researchers in New Zealand gave 15 men with heart disease either a garlic supplement or a placebo. After two weeks, the “endothelium-dependent dilation” of the arteries of those taking garlic had increased by 44 percent. And those men were alreadytaking aspirin and a statin.

Lower risk of heart attack. Russian researchers gave either a garlic supplement or a placebo to 51 people with heart disease. A year later, they calculated the supplement had reduced the risk of a heart attack by an average of 40 percent.

Colon Cancer Is No Match for Garlic

There are more than 600 scientific studies—in cells, on animals, and in people—on the power of garlic to prevent and treat cancer. Some highlights:

Preventing colon cancer. In a meta-analysis of 18 studies by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, people with the highest consumption of garlic had a 41 percent lower risk of colon cancer, compared to those with the lowest intake.

Stopping the advance of early colon cancer. Japanese researchers studied 51 people with colorectal adenomas—pre-cancerous lesions of the colon. They divided them into two groups, giving one group aged garlic extract and one group placebos. After one year, those on the placebo had more adenomas, and garlic had “significantly suppressed both the size and number of colon adenomas,” wrote the researchers in the Journal of Nutrition.

Preventing stomach cancer. Researchers in China studied more than 5,000 people, giving half a high-dose garlic supplement and half a placebo. After five years, those taking garlic had a 47 percent lower rate of stomach cancer.

Preventing endometrial cancer. Researchers in Italy analyzed diet and health data from 454 women with endometrial cancer and 908 free of the disease—and found that those who ate the most garlic were 38 percent less likely to develop endometrial cancer than those who ate the least.

Preventing other cancers. Other studies show a link between increased intake of garlic and decreased risk for lung cancer (22 percent less), prostate cancer (36 percent less), and brain cancer (34 percent less).

How does garlic work to block cancer? Doctors from the International Agency for Research on Cancer say garlic can help:

• stop carcinogens from damaging DNA.

• boost the activity of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens.

• clean up free radicals—cell-damaging, cancer-causing molecules.

Fighting Infection

Garlic has a storied history as an infection-fighter. Louis Pasteur discovered its antibacterial activity. It was on the frontlines in World War I, helping prevent gangrene and blood poisoning. The Russians relied on it so heavily during World War II that it was dubbed “Russian penicillin.” And several recent studies confirm its power to fight bacteria and viruses.

Preventing airborne infection. Finnish researchers studied 52 airplane travelers, giving half a garlic-containing nasal spray (Nasaleze Travel) and half a placebo. Those taking the placebo had nearly three times more infections after traveling.

Preventing colds. Researchers in England studied 146 people from November to February, giving half a garlic supplement and half a placebo. In total, those taking the placebo had 65 colds, compared to 24 for those taking garlic.

And Russian researchers studied 600 children, aged 7 to 16, giving some a garlic supplement and some a placebo. Those taking the placebo had four times as many colds.

I recommend a clove of garlic a day to help reduce your risk of cold or flu—and for general good health.

Garlic Galore

There are many other possible benefits to a garlic-rich life:

Diabetes. Researchers in Russia studied 60 people with type 2 diabetes, dividing them into two groups—one received garlic supplements with timed-release garlic powder and the other a placebo. After one month, those taking garlic had a healthy drop in fasting blood sugar, from 138 mg/dL to 113 mg/dL.

There are white, pink, and purple varieties of garlic that come as hardneck (with a long thin stem) or softneck (no stem).

Prostate problems. Researchers in Italy studied more than 1,800 men and found that those who ate the most garlic were 28 percent less likely to develop benign prostatic hypertrophy—the enlarged prostate that causes urinary difficulties in older men.

Aging skin. German researchers found that taking garlic powder boosted blood flow to the skin—a must for a youthful, glowing complexion.

Oral candidiasis. Researchers in India found that garlic paste was just as effective as a conventional drug in clearing up oral candidiasis (thrush), a yeast infection of the mucous membranes of the mouth.

Sickle cell anemia. Researchers at the UCLA School of Medicine found that four weeks of supplementation with garlic extract decreased by 30 percent the number of damaged red blood cells that are characteristic of this disease.

Alopecia areata. In this disease of patchy hair loss, adding garlic gel to the standard treatment regimen improved results.

Getting to Know Garlic

As medicine and food, garlic goes way back. It was featured in ancient medical textbooks from Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. The ancient Egyptians fed it to the slaves who built the pyramids, and it was part of the diet of Olympic athletes in ancient Greece. During the Middle Ages, people put it on their door at night to repel evil spirits.

Today, garlic flavors virtually every cuisine in the world—and it’s the signature spice in the cuisines of Mexico, India, Asia, Greece, and Italy.

Garlic is synonymous with Italian cuisine and goes in just about every savory dish. Well-known Italian-based garlic sauces include pesto, which also features basil and olive oil, and gremolata, which also contains parsley, and is traditionally served with the famous slow-cooked veal shank called osso bucco.

Garlic may help prevent and/or treat:

Aging

Alopecia areata (generalized hair loss)

Benign prostatic

hypertrophy

Blood clots

Cancer

Cholesterol problems (high total cholesterol)

Colds

Diabetes, type 2

Flu

Heart disease

High blood pressure (hypertension)

Sickle cell disease

Stroke

Thrush (oral candida infection)

Triglycerides, high

Wrinkles and aging skin

___________________________________

Garlic pairs well with virtually all spices, but particularly well with:

Ajowan

Basil

Caraway

Chile

Coriander

Cumin

Curry leaf

Kokam

Marjoram

Mint

Mustard seed

Oregano

Parsley

Rosemary

Sun-dried tomato

Thyme

and complements virtually all savory dishes, especially:

Marinades

Lamb

Soups

Spice blends

Stir-fries

The French aren’t known for garlicky food, but they have three famous garlic sauces: Aioli is a garlic mayonnaise used in enrich fish soups and flavor vegetables; pistou is the French version of pesto and goes in a vegetable soup by the same name; and rouille is a garlic, red pepper, and saffron-based mayonnaise that is stirred into bouillabaisse, bourrides, and other fish stews and soups. Persillade is a French-inspired garlic sauce used in Louisiana cooking.

The Greeks enjoy skordalia, a garlic sauce made from almonds, olive oil, and soaked bread that is served with salt cod or as a dip. In Serbia, people consume garlic as a snack with slivovitz, a strong plum brandy.

Garlic is also a key ingredient in the popular Middle Eastern side dish hummus, which also includes chickpeas, olive oil, and pine nuts. It is also an ingredient in Tunisia’s infamous fiery condiment harissa, and in the Moroccan meat marinade chermoula. Cacik is a Turkish garlic sauce based on yogurt and olive oil, and served as a side dish.

Thai cuisine is loaded with garlic—virtually no savory dish is made without it.

How to Buy Garlic

The taste of fresh garlic ranges from mild and sweet to strong and pungent, depending on the type of garlic and where it was cultivated. There are white, pink, and purple varieties that come as hardneck (with a long thin stem) or softneck (no stem). Hardneck is the most pungent.

Ninety percent of the garlic sold in the United States is softneck white, and comes from California. Its taste is strong and pungent. All garlic, however, mellows when cooked, turning mild to slightly sweet.

According to top chefs, the best garlic comes from France, with a taste and aroma very different from California garlic. If you come across French garlic, it’s well worth trying. You can recognize it by its pink-tinged skin. Other varieties of note include Prussian white and Spanish red (roja).

For the best flavor, buy fresh bulbs. They vary in size, containing anywhere from a few cloves to two dozen. When it comes to taste, however, size doesn’t matter—taste is determined by the freshness of the bulb. For maximum freshness, look for bulbs that are plump, dry, and don’t have broken skin. Buying bulbs with large cloves makes working with them in the kitchen easier.

You can also purchase fresh garlic in a jar preserved in liquid, crushed, sliced, minced, chopped, or in a tube.

Other recipes containing garlic:

Adobo

All-American Chili con Carne

Basic Barbecue Rub

Berbere

Boeuf Bourguignon

By-the-Bay Fisherman’s Chowder

Caribbean Curry Paste

Chicken Oreganata

Chimichurri Sauce

French Onion Soup

Garbanzo Beans with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds

Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce

Grilled Lamb Patty Pockets with Cucumber Mint Sauce

Grilled Pork Chile Adobo

Hungarian Goulash

Jamaican Jerk Marinade

Madras Beef Curry

Madras Curry Paste

Malaysian Curry Paste

Mediterranean Vinaigrette

Mussels with Thai Red Curry Sauce

Onion and Tomato Chutney

Penne and Sausage with Fennel Tomato Sauce

Pizza Spice Blend

Pomegranate Guacamole

Potato Cauliflower Curry

Prawns with Almond Hot Pepper Sauce

Shellfish in Saffron Broth

Sol Kadhi

Spaghettini with Basil-Tomato Sauce

Spicy Hash Brown Potatoes

Tabil

Tamarind Sauce

Thai Red Curry Paste

Yucatan Pickled Red Onions

Dried garlic comes powdered, granulated, flaked, ground, minced, or chopped. You can also find garlic salt and garlic juice.

You can find just about any type of garlic in most supermarkets.

Store fresh garlic uncovered, in a cool place away from heat and direct sunlight. It shouldn’t be refrigerated; it will sprout. You can also freeze fresh garlic, although that alters the taste and texture somewhat.

Untouched, fresh bulbs keep for about two weeks. Once you break open a bulb, you reduce its shelf life to about a week. Once it starts to sprout, throw it out, because sprouted garlic turns bitter when cooked.

Before they sprout, garlic cloves start to turn green. Always cut away any green (or any discoloration) on the cloves. For the best flavor, use only white flesh.

Store dried garlic, garlic powder, and garlic salt in an airtight container in a dark, cool place. Dried garlic should keep for about a year, and garlic salt will keep for several years. But when powder or salt start to clump, they’ve absorbed moisture; throw them away.

If you don’t get garlic regularly in your diet, consider taking garlic supplements, especially if you have one or more risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight, diabetes, or you’re over 65. The most-studied form is aged garlic extract. Follow the dosage recommendations on the label, or your doctor’s recommendation.

In the Kitchen with Garlic

Garlic is extremely versatile and goes with just about anything savory. It can be used raw, where you’ll experience its strong, lingering flavor. Garlic has little smell when whole, but it releases its notoriously strong aroma when crushed. When cooked, the aroma and flavor mellows, becoming slightly sweet.

To work with garlic, pull the cloves from the head. Unless you are preparing a dish in which the cloves are intended to be eaten whole, you need to remove the papery skin. This is an arduous task only if you try to peel it with a paring knife, as you would an apple or onion. Instead, do it as chefs do: set a clove flat on a cutting board and set the flat side of a chef’s knife on top, with the blade point away from you. Grip the handle securely with one hand and give the knife a good thump with the base of the palm of your other hand. The paper-like sheaths will come undone. Just pull them off and throw them away. Snip off any parts of the clove that are discolored or green, as they make garlic bitter. (Don’t use a wooden cutting board when working with garlic, as the oil will get in the wood and leave a lingering aroma.)

Roasted Garlic: Spice Heaven

If you can’t imagine eating an entire garlic bulb in one sitting, then you haven’t tasted roasted garlic—the ultimate proof that garlic can be mellow and sweet. Garlic lovers rave about roasted garlic and can’t get enough of it. They pop it clove by clove right from its skin into the mouth. Sometimes they smear it on bread. (A great idea for your next dinner party: serve roasted garlic with crusty bread as an appetizer, and let everyone join the flavorful fun.)

Making roasted garlic is simple. Keep the bulb intact, but remove the loose paper skins. Line one or more bulbs up on tinfoil large enough to completely enfold them. Sprinkle them with olive oil, fold tightly, and roast them on a cookie sheet in a 424°F oven for 30 minutes.

To dice, cut the cloves into thin slices, then into thin slivers.

Be careful when browning garlic—burning makes it bitter. When a recipe calls for browning onions or other vegetables and garlic, it’s best to start the onions first, then add the garlic when the other ingredients are already softened. Cook for just one minute.

Roast Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

This is a classic French dish that is special enough to serve at a dinner party. Encourage your guests to eat the garlic; it’s the most interesting part of the meal. Serve with a big green salad and crusty French bread. You can substitute chicken pieces for the whole chicken, but brown the chicken pieces before putting in the oven.

1 whole chicken, about 3 pounds

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon ground roasted fennel seed

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lemon, quartered

2–3 heads of garlic with large plump cloves (about 40)

1½ cups chicken stock

1 cup white wine

1. Rinse and dry the chicken. Combine the rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, fennel, salt, and ground pepper in a small bowl and add the oil. Rub the spice mixture into the flesh of the chicken. Place the lemon quarters in the cavity. Truss the chicken, if desired, and place in a casserole dish. Cover and refrigerate for four hours.

2. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Remove and separate the cloves of garlic but do not remove the skins. Scatter the cloves around the chicken. Combine the stock and wine and pour around the chicken. Place in a 425°F oven, covered, for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F, uncover, and cook, basting occasionally, for 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 175°F. Let the chicken sit for 30 minutes to let the juices settle before slicing. Serve with several bulbs of garlic on each plate.

Makes 4 servings.

Here are a few of the innumerable ways to add more garlic to your diet:

• To make garlic bread, blanch unpeeled garlic cloves in water for five minutes to soften them. Cool and remove the paper skins. Slice a loaf of crusty Italian bread lengthwise, brush the bread with olive oil, spread the cloves over top, sprinkle with dried rosemary and thyme, and bake on a cookie sheet in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes.

• Make tiny little pockets in red meat roasts with the tip of a chef’s knife. Slice a few garlic cloves and stuff a sliver in each “pocket.”

• Slice or press fresh garlic into extra-virgin olive oil to use in a marinade, salad dressing, or as a dipping sauce.

• Blanch garlic cloves as above for garlic bread and mash them into potatoes to make garlic mashed potatoes.

• Try this specialty from Trinidad: slice an eggplant into thick slices, stud the slices with garlic cloves, sprinkle with ground coriander and ground ginger, and grill until tender.

• Add a little extra spice to your salads by rubbing the bottom and sides of the salad bowl with garlic before adding the greens and dressing.