Hearts Rejoice, Vampires Cringe - Why Garlic Matters

"David, here, have some more! Eat up my boy!"

Eastern European grandmothers everywhere are relishing in what they already knew for so very long.  One of the staples of Eastern European foods is garlic, and buckets of it.  So, when your grandmother told you to "Here, just chew on this clove, its good for you!", she really did have your heart in mind.

Garlic, like its closely related shallot and onion, to me, is an absolute necessity in any form of cooking - whether you are frying up some perogies in bacon and onions, pairing it with ginger and chili flakes in a chicken stirfry, or the plethora of indian spices that accompany these wonderful dishes.

Unlike western cultures of the 17th century, who proclaimed it was, "unfit for ladies and anyone who wished to court them"[source], ancient Egyptians, Israelites, Greeks, Romans, and much of mesopotamia used garlic for both cooking and non-edible means:

• Heart disease
• Common cure for virtually all ailments
• Repelling scorpions
• Treating dog bites and bladder infections
• Warding off evil spirits (with its pungent smell, no doubt)
• Helps to kill food-borne pathogens, like E. coli [source]

So, next time you smash-n-peel another clove to throw into a bit of olive oil - like your grandmother, you too have your heart in mind.

Apparently particular compounds in garlic stimulate red blood cells to produce H2S (dihydrogen sulfide gas) - that rotten gas that oil workers everywhere fear.  H2S, in turn, is linked to blood vessel relaxation - 72% in rats - and of course, blood vessel relaxation allows your blood to flow uninhibited or constricted, and thus lowers blood pressure.

BUT! That's not all this wonderful, fragrant, breath consuming ingredient can do for you.