Black Garlic versus Raw Garlic

Garlic has long been used in food dishes and supplements for its health benefits. But, now there is a new kid on the block that is challenging garlic lovers to a new taste. We are talking about black garlic.

What is black garlic? In essence, it is a type of garlic that is black. Black garlic is aged raw garlic that has gone through a fermentation process. Some trendy restaurants have introduced it to our taste buds and it has met with rave reviews.

What is the difference between black garlic and raw garlic? Raw garlic is the type that most people are used to. It comes in a bulb that contains several cloves. They are off white in color and have a pungent odor.

Raw garlic is great pressed as a marinade for steak or an addition to soups and stews. It adds a piquant taste that enhances our food without the need for salt which can raise blood pressure.

Garlic supplements are taken to lower cholesterol. That is bad cholesterol we are talking about here. Unfortunately, eating a lot of garlic can result in the smell being excreted through your pores. While you will be healthier, those around you won’t like the smell very much.

Garlic is also good for the heart. It helps lower blood pressure, stops harmful arterial plaques from forming and may lower the risk of future heart attacks in heart patients.

So, what about black garlic? It has some of the smell of garlic. Some describe it as sweet and sour at the same time.

One thing that black garlic does not have, however, is the odor of garlic. You won’t smell it through your pores or on your breath. The texture is different, too. Where raw garlic is firm and smooth, black garlic is soft like jelly or a kid’s fruit snack treat.

They can be eaten alone as a snack or cut up on salads and such. Like raw garlic they can be pressed and the juice used as a delicious topping for dinner dishes. People who may not care for garlic specifically may take a liking to black garlic.

There are also health properties of black garlic. For one, it has a greater antioxidant power than regular raw garlic. For those fighting the aging process, this is good and tasty news. A compound not found in raw garlic, s-allylcysteine, is produced that lowers bad cholesterol, helps to prevent heart disease and other conditions including cancers.

While both have positive health benefits, the lack of odor and the sweet and pungent taste puts black garlic a little ahead of raw garlic. If you like raw garlic there is no reason to stop eating it. But, if you want to try a new taste, give black garlic a try.




Posted by Andy Harvey - March 2, 2010 at 2:03 pm
http://fitnesshealthtoday.com/black-...us-raw-garlic/

Black Garlic a real wonder food...It really works!! (Part 4)

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11*Arginine - Increased muscle activity, maintain sexual function and the treatment of liver disease, reduced sperm coma,antioxidant and anticancer

12*Histidine - Born of blood and blood pressure, allergies, ulcer, asthma, arthritis, angina pectoris and cardiac insufficiency

Aged Garlic extract attenuates intracellular oxidative stress

Aged garlic extract attenuates intracellular oxidative stress.

Ide N, Lau BH.

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, CA, USA.

Abstract

Oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) has been recognized as playing an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. We recently reported that aged garlic extract (AGE) inhibited LDL oxidation and minimized oxidized LDL-induced cell injury. In this study, the antioxidant effects of AGE were further examined using bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) and murine macrophages. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, as an index of membrane injury, and intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels were determined. Oxidized LDL (Ox-LDL) caused an increase of LDH release and depletion of GSH. Pretreatment with AGE prevented these changes. AGE exhibited an inhibition of Ox-LDL-induced peroxides in PAEC. AGE suppressed peroxides in murine Macrophage (J774 cells) dose-dependently. The J774 cells were also incubated with AGE, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and nitric oxide (NO) production was measured. AGE inhibited NO production in J774 cells. In a cell free system, AGE was shown to scavenge H2O2 dose-dependently. Our data demonstrate that AGE can protect the endothelial cells from oxidized LDL-induced injury by preventing depletion of intracellular GSH and by removing peroxides. AGE also reduces levels of NO and peroxides in macrophages. These data suggest that AGE is a useful protective agent against cytotoxicity associated with Ox-LDL and NO, and it may thus be useful for the prevention of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases.

PMID: 10374252 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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