Why should you always crush garlic before eating it?

Vegetables from the garlic family, along with cruciferous vegetables, are foods often associated with a reduced risk of several types of cancer.

Whether it’s garlic, onions, scallions or chives, these vegetables really deserve a place of your choice in your eating habits…provided you respect a simple formality.

Crushing a clove of garlic or chopping an onion seem like normal actions that are done mechanically without much thought. However, these simple gestures are of paramount importance for cancer prevention!

For example, crushing a clove of garlic causes very significant changes in its chemical structure: an abundant molecule found in garlic (Alliin) is then transformed by an enzyme into allicin, a very unstable molecule which in turn turns into an unstable molecule. About thirty other compounds.

These newly formed molecules have the peculiarity of containing one or more sulfur atoms in their chemical structure, and their appearance does not go unnoticed! So crushing a clove of garlic converts the inactive and odorless molecules found in this plant into highly volatile compounds that give garlic its distinctive aroma.

The same type of reaction occurs with onions, except that instead of forming allicin, crushing this vegetable creates an eye irritating agent that makes many people cry!

But more than just producing aromas and flavors, the formation of allicin by grinding garlic is very important for preventing cancer.

Indeed, while the molecule contained in the unbroken bulb (alliin) does not have a specific biological activity, allicin and its derivatives, on the contrary, have unusual anti-carcinogenic activity and are the main generators of the beneficial properties of this vegetable in the prevention of cancer.

Reducing colon and stomach cancers

Several studies have shown that people who regularly eat vegetables from the garlic family have a lower risk of developing several types of cancers, especially those of the digestive system such as stomach and colon cancer. For example, in a study conducted in Italy, it was found that frequent consumers of garlic were affected by stomach cancer by half compared to people who consumed it very rarely.

Garlic helps eliminate toxic pollutants from the body

Research in recent years has made it possible to identify at least one major mechanism by which vegetables of the garlic family prevent the development of many cancers, particularly those of the gastrointestinal tract. The fragrance molecules released by grinding these vegetables have the ability to speed up the removal of toxic, carcinogenic substances from the body, reducing the risk of these substances attacking genetic material and causing mutations that can lead to cancer.

Therefore garlic and its cousins ​​are not only essential ingredients in culinary art, but they are also a very important aspect of a cancer prevention strategy through diet. This vegetable is actively involved in eliminating toxic compounds from the body, as well as attacking spontaneously formed micro-tumors to prevent them from growing.

But remember, to enhance the formation of anti-carcinogenic molecules in garlic and thus make the most of its beneficial properties, crush the cloves for a few minutes before adding it to your dishes or salad dressings.

Bon appetite !