Fight Heart Disease
With Garlic And Onions
Garlic contains
compounds called thioallyls that research shows help
dramatically lower blood cholesterol levels. These compounds
also keep blood cells from clumping in arteries, thereby
diverting a heart attack. These thioallyls may also be effective
in lowering blood pressure. One of these compounds, called
allicin, is released when a clove of raw garlic is crushed.
Allicin not only gives garlic its characteristic smell, but also
works wonders at unclogging arteries. Cooking garlic causes yet
another heart-healthy compound to form, called ajoene, which
acts a bit like aspirin and keeps the blood from clotting.
A large number of research studies show that
garlic, either fresh, powdered, or extract, is effective in
lowering blood cholesterol levels. In one study from the
Brown University of Medicine and Memorial Hospital of Rhode
Island, researchers gave men with already risky levels of
LDLs garlic extract in pill form. The study participants
also ate a low-fat diet.
After six months of garlic pills, researchers sampled blood
cholesterol levels in the men. Blood cholesterol levels
dropped significantly compared to a group of men eating the
same low-fat diet and taking a placebo pill. Garlic pills
also lowered LDL levels and nudged blood pressure down a few
notches. Besides tasting a touch of garlic in their mouths,
none of the study participants had any intestinal trouble
(common with eating raw garlic).
How much garlic does the trick? A clove a day keeps the
doctor away (or take at least the equivalent in powder or
pill form). Should you use fresh, powdered, aged garlic
extract or other types of garlic pills? According to
researchers, get garlic into your diet any way you can.
While it's true that raw garlic has more of the
cholesterol-lowering allicin than cooked, cooked garlic has
other benefits such as keeping the blood thin. Garlic pills
and tablets vary in the amount of active ingredients they
contain. Generally, those that are not cooked or heat
treated will have more allicin.
Garlic powder available in the spice aisle at your local
grocery store is one of the least expensive ways to get
cholesterol lowering allicin into your diet. Garlic powder
can be added to foods during cooking or sprinkled into
salads and other fresh foods. Give garlic powder a try,
especially if you like fresh garlic, but it doesn't like
you.
Fresh garlic, crushed or chopped, can be added to virtually
anything. When selecting garlic in the produce aisle, look
for firm, compact bulbs without any green sprouts coming out
of the ends (a sign that it's old). You can also purchase
ready-to-use crushed garlic in jars. Check the label as oil
is often added. But since a teaspoon or two of garlic is
used in cooking (unless you want to wake up your neighbors
with your breath), this extra oil is not worth the worry.
As a cousin to garlic, onions also fight hard for your
heart's health. When taking a quick
look at onion's nutritional profile, you don't notice
anything too outstanding - a bit of fiber, vitamin C, folate,
potassium, and about 30 calories per half-cup raw. Take a
longer look, though, and you find a host of powerful
phytochemicals. These warriors against heart disease are
called flavonoids, and according to several large research
studies from around the world, they significantly reduce the
risk of death from heart disease.
The standout flavonoid in onions, quercitin, has been shown
experimentally to protect the bad cholesterol carriers, LDLs,
from oxidizing and damaging artery walls. In addition,
quercitin also keeps blood from getting too sticky and
jamming up blood vessels leading to an actual heart attack
or stroke. In a Finish study, women with the greatest intake
of quercitin from onions had half the risk of dying from
heart disease compared to women in the study with the lowest
intake. The researchers suspect the quercitin performed its
two-pronged magic to protect the women from a fatal heart
attack.
Quercitin levels in onions depend on their color. White
onions have next to nothing in the way of this phytochemical,
while yellow and red or Bermuda onions are packed with
quercitin. Since onions are so versatile, they can be added
to almost every dish - raw or cooked. If the strong odor of
onions bothers you, thanks to similar sulfur compounds
responsible for garlic's aroma, try some of the sweeter
onion varieties that have less of these offensive chemicals.
Red onions are usually sweeter than standard yellow onions
and can be used raw in salads and on sandwiches. The Maui
onion from Hawaii is so sweet, you can eat it like you would
a piece of fruit off a tree. Select onions that are hard and
firm without soft spots, and that are not beginning to
sprout. Always store onions in a dark, cool, dry place such
as a basement, cool pantry, or cellar. Putting an onion in
the refrigerator about 30 minutes before slicing or chopping
will help reduce the amount of tearing you may endure when
preparing onions.
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