Garlic’s good effect

Eat it raw for heart health

By Culinate staff

August 3, 2009

Bring on the garlicky vinaigrette (and the breath mints). Reuters reports that fresh garlic — not garlic that’s been cooked or dried — may help increase heart health:

The researchers found . . . that garlic’s heart-healthy effects seemed to result mainly from hydrogen sulfide, a chemical-signaling substance formed after garlic is cut or crushed and relaxes blood vessels when eaten.

“Although best known as the stuff that gives rotten eggs their distinctive odor, hydrogen sulfide also acts as a chemical messenger in the body, relaxing blood vessels and allowing more blood to pass through,” said researcher Dipak Das in a statement.