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In addition to the exquisite flavor that garlic adds to meals, it also has many beneficial properties for our health. In this post I will also share these properties together with tips on how to peel garlic cloves quickly and easily as well as how to process this vegetable.
Garlic is one of the most important ingredients in Dominican seasoning and in many Kitchens throughout the world. To me, cooking without garlic is like cooking a tasteless dish and is the reason why garlic is the vegetable I use the most in my cooking and it deserves to have a place in my blog's recipes index.
I always like to use fresh garlic for cooking, but to peel and mash it daily can be time consuming and tedious. A trick I learned from a TV show a few years ago is to crush the garlic cloves with a broad knife by making pressure on it with the palm of the hand. The clove will be peeled in a fraction of a second. This will avoid your hands from getting impregnated with garlic odor. If you do get stuck with some garlic aroma do not rub your hands together, just rinse with cold water or with coffee dregs.
If you are going to make a large batch of processed garlic use a blender or food processor. Mix garlic cloves with a little oil and vinegar by pouring the last two by the teaspoon until a paste is formed. The final product should be stored in an airtight container and in the refrigerator. Preparing the garlic this way saves us time and makes cooking a lot easier because you have the garlic ready to be used whenever you need it by the spoonfuls.
Below you can find a list I have compiled a of the properties and benefits of garlic, but I would like to state that I share this information only for the purpose of informing how beneficial garlic is for our health, but in no circumstance it is for you to replace medications or doctor visits. Like everything related to health, you should always consult with a physician before trying anything else.
Properties:
- Garlic is a great friend of the circulatory system.
- It is an antihypertensive (lowers blood pressure): In high doses garlic causes a decrease in blood pressure both the systolic and the diastolic. Has vasodilator effect, it is appropriate especially hypertensive, and heart patients (angina or heart attack).
- Anticoagulant (keeps the blood flowing): Prevents excessive tendency of blood platelets to clump together to form clots. Highly recommended for those who have suffered from thrombosis, embolism or vascular accidents due to lack of blood supply.
- Hypolipidemic agents (lipid-lowering): Lowers LDL cholesterol. If you like breakfast with bread and butter, rub the bread with plenty of garlic before spreading the butter and this prevents the sudden morning increase in cholesterol due to eating butter.
- Hypoglycemic: Since it normalizes the glucose level in the blood, it is highly recommended to be consumed by diabetics as a complement to other therapeutic measures, the obese, and those with a family history of diabetes, as a preventive.
- Antibiotic and general antiseptic.
- Stimulates Inmune System: Garlic increases the activity of defensive cells in the body, lymphocytes and macrophages.
- Anti-parasitic: potent against most common types of intestinal parasites.
- Tones and purifies the overall health of the body.
- Prevents malignant tumors from forming, especially gastrointestinal cancers.
How to consume it:
• Raw: 1-3 cloves of garlic, preferably in the morning.
• Garlic extract: In capsules.
• Infusion or tea : Boil a head of garlic in one liter of water for 5 minutes. Drink 3 cups a day.
• Alioli (garlic mayonnaise): which is the best way to consume garlic. Emulsion is obtained by several cloves of crushed garlic processed with olive oil until it forms a paste (as indicated above but without vinegar).
Source: Enciclopedia de Plantas Medicinales
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;" - Psalm 34:15
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