Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

I’m Italian, so I’m required to like garlic, but that garlic powder I grew up on can’t hold a candle to fresh garlic. A new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry claims that raw, crushed garlic has more heart-protective effects than the dried stuff.

In the study, Dipak K. Das and colleagues point out that raw, crushed garlic generates hydrogen sulfide through a chemical reaction. 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. Processed and cooked garlic, however, loses its ability to generate hydrogen sulfide.

The scientists gave freshly crushed garlic and processed garlic to two groups of lab rats, and then studied how well the animals' hearts recovered from simulated heart attacks. "Both crushed and processed garlic reduced damage from lack of oxygen, but the fresh garlic group had a significantly greater effect on restoring good blood flow in the aorta and increased pressure in the left ventricle of the heart," Das said.

Garlic is one of the foods Dr. Fuhrman recommends diabetics eat plenty of, along side green vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms and onions. Sometimes I bake garlic cloves in the oven and spread it on wholegrain bread.

Via EurekAlert!

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I really didn’t want to leave the house yesterday. It was hot and sticky—I hate the humidity—but I had to. My CSA box share was waiting and even though I split the share with a friend. I’m the go-for. Luckily, it was a good haul this week: wild flowers, red onion, scallions, tomatoes, potatoes, parsley, garlic, cucumbers, zucchini and some sort of squash.

My friend just had a kid. So I let her keep the flowers. She looked like she went a few rounds with Mike Tyson. So they brightened up her day. Plus, she didn’t want much else. My friend only took a few potatoes and some scallions and red onions. I kept the cucumbers and gave the rest of the stuff to my mom. She’s a much better cook than me.

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The CSA gods were good to me again this week. My box share did not disappoint. Yesterday we got red potatoes, red leaf lettuce, scallions, garlic, zucchini, cucumbers, red cabbage, tomatoes and basil. Splitting it with my friend was hard, but we managed.

After a brief fist fight—mind you, she is 9 months pregnant—we divided up the potatoes, scallions, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and lettuce and I kept the red cabbage. She took the garlic and the basil. I’m Italian. My mom grows enough basil to feed an army.

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Looks like the summer harvest is in full swing! My garbage tomato is thriving and my local CSA box shares are getting better and better. This week the box was pretty heavy again. That’s a good sign! Means there’s plenty of good stuff inside.

When I cracked the lid, I found beets, onions, cucumbers, red and green leaf lettuce, zucchini, little gourds, garlic and a whole bunch of red potatoes. Awesome! The cucumbers didn’t even last an hour. I whipped up some avocado and destroyed them. 

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I always get excited when I pick up my share for the week and the box is heavy—means there’s a bunch of cool stuff inside. Although, it’s pretty funny to watch a big tattooed galoot like me carrying a box of organic veggies around and then taking pictures of it like a mental patient.

Now, this week was packed with goodies. There was red leaf lettuce, kale, zucchini, cabbage, garlic, beets, fennel, onions, cucumbers and a flying saucer-looking gourd of some sort. I usually give the beets to my mom. It’s funny to watch her get ticked that they stain her hands. I’m evil.

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