Garlic for brain health 5, Written Nrain Lauren Panoff. Coli bacteria that cause urinary tract infection UTI. Share on Pinterest Garlic may contain heart-protective chemicals. Life can take a toll on your energy levels. How It Works?

Garlic for brain health -

However, this association was not seen in women. Additionally, studies have shown that garlic powder supplements could help improve certain aspects of liver health, such as the liver damage markers alanine transaminase ALT and aspartate aminotransferase AST , in people with NAFLD.

Garlic is rich in protective plant compounds but is usually consumed in small amounts. Therefore, when consumed in small doses, garlic does not contribute a significant amount of nutrients, such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Here is the nutrition breakdown for three cloves of garlic:. Garlic does provide small amounts of certain nutrients, such as vitamin C and potassium , but not enough to contribute in any significant way to daily nutrient intake.

When taken in high doses, garlic may be unsafe for people at risk for bleeding, such as those on blood-thinning medications and people with blood clotting disorders.

High-dose garlic ingestion may also cause gastrointestinal symptoms, bad breath, and body odor. Garlic should also be avoided by those with allergies to plants in the lily family, such as leeks , chives, and tulips. Take caution if using raw garlic topically, as garlic can burn the skin and lead to other issues, such as skin inflammation.

Garlic can be enjoyed in a number of recipes and can also be added to drinks and wellness shots. Here are a few ways to incorporate garlic into your diet:. Letting the garlic sit for a short time will allow the allicin to develop, which makes the garlic more beneficial for health.

Regularly consuming garlic may benefit the health of the brain, heart, and liver, and may help regulate inflammation and support immune function. Try adding garlic to savory dishes like soups and pastas or making wellness teas or shots with fresh garlic, ginger, lemon juice, and honey.

Chen L, Deng H, Cui H, et al. Inflammatory responses and inflammation-associated diseases in organs. doi: Arreola R, Quintero-Fabián S, López-Roa RI, et al.

Immunomodulation and anti-inflammatory effects of garlic compounds. J Immunol Res. Ansary J, Forbes-Hernández TY, Gil E, et al. Potential health benefit of garlic based on human intervention studies: a brief overview. Darooghegi Mofrad M, Milajerdi A, Koohdani F, Surkan PJ, Azadbakht L.

Garlic supplementation reduces circulating c-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6 in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Nutr. Askari M, Mozaffari H, Darooghegi Mofrad M, et al.

Effects of garlic supplementation on oxidative stress and antioxidative capacity biomarkers: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Phytother Res. Shi X, Lv Y, Mao C, et al. Garlic consumption and all-cause mortality among chinese oldest-old individuals: a population-based cohort study.

Song H, Cui J, Mossine VV, et al. Bioactive components from garlic on brain resiliency against neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.

Exp Ther Med. Liu Y, Meng G, Zhang Q, et al. Light-to-moderate raw garlic consumption frequency is inversely associated with thickened carotid intima-media thickness: a population-based study. Front Nutr.

Wang Y, Huang P, Wu Y, et al. Association and mechanism of garlic consumption with gastrointestinal cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis. One study indicated that fresh and cooked garlic extracts increased memory in both female and male rats. Scientists theorize that higher blood glucose levels can contribute to occasional memory issues due to the production of free radicals which can increase oxidative stress.

Scientists attribute the improved short term memory to the antioxidants in garlic that combat oxidative stress. This study did not indicate that garlic would have an impact on long-term memory. Other studies have indicated a positive effect on those with mild memory issues associated with aging.

High doses of garlic supplements appear to increase antioxidant enzymes and maintain cholesterol and blood pressure levels already within normal range.

This combination of effects appears to promote cognitive and cardiovascular health. While garlic certainly has favorable properties, you still may want to limit your consumption. Just two cloves of raw garlic a day will yield positive effects while minimizing the negative effects that so many think of when considering garlic supplements.

Too much garlic on an empty stomach can cause flatulence, gastrointestinal distress, and changes in your intestinal flora. Garlic does have some potential adverse side effects. Here are the most common negative side effects that can happen with garlic consumption:. The safety of garlic appears to depend primarily on how you take it.

Aged garlic extract or AGE seems to have the safest profile and the least side effects compared to other forms of garlic. If you take medication regularly, ask your doctor about the potential interactions that could occur with a regular garlic supplement.

While garlic extract has the fewest potential side effects, garlic is most effective when eaten raw. Garlic supplements ultimately, though, can do the job well also.

When you eat garlic raw, you're taking full advantage of the Allicin, which you can lose when you cook the garlic. Garlic supplements are a close second to raw garlic.

They still have the powerful effects of garlic without the pungent taste. In short, garlic consumption can improve your overall health. Aging, alone is not to blame for these changes, but rather, the combination of poorer dietary choices, increased use of medications, different living environments more institutionalized living , and the stress or worry of aging.

One simple step toward preserving mental health as we age may be to consume more garlic. Garlic Allium sativum is an inexpensive, widely available botanical with the ability to positively modulate the microbiome and improve the diversity of bacterial species. In an in vitro study , the antimicrobial actions of garlic powder were shown to reduce the number of Bacteroides, while leaving the beneficial bacterial strains unharmed.

Garlic acts similar to a selective antibiotic, identifying and eliminating harmful microbial strains in the gut, while ignoring the beneficial strains, which are naturally resistant to the antimicrobial effects of garlic.

As the quantities of competing microbial species decline, the quantities of beneficial strains are able to naturally flourish, which improves the composition of the microbiome.

As garlic works to improve the composition of the microbiome, it indirectly encourages the production of short chain fatty acids — compounds produced by beneficial bacterial strains that serve to activate signaling between the gut and brain via the vagal nerve.

These compounds also serve to maintain a strong blood-brain-barrier, which is often predisposed to becoming more permeable as we age, contributing to declining brain health. Both actions of short chain fatty acids are important for regulating neuroinflammation, which is a key element in the pathology of many age-related neurodegenerative diseases and accelerates age-related cognitive decline.

The variety of organosulfur compounds found in garlic have potent antioxidant properties. Not only does the antioxidant activity of organosulfur compounds help reduce neuroinflammation associated with oxidative stress, but it may also enhance memory and cognitive function by increasing 5-hydroxytryptamine levels in the brain and improving brain mitochondrial function , according to animal studies.

In another study , when garlic extract was given to mice with scopolamine-induced amnesia for 21 days, both learning and memory were significantly improved as a result of an enhanced antioxidant status measured by increased glutathione levels , and by inhibiting cortical acetylcholinesterase activity.

Other studies show that the compounds in garlic can help maintain continuous neurogenesis activity throughout adult life, which is important for sustaining cognitive health and function.

More specifically, garlic was shown to enhance hippocampal cell proliferation and neurogenesis which improves memory deficits and memory impairments. This achievement was evidenced by significant increases in the number of cells positive for Ki67 and DCX, which are markers for proliferating cells and neuroblasts, respectively.

Additionally, garlic treatment resulted in significantly increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor BDNF levels , a potent factor regulating adult neurogenesis and synaptic transmission in the brain. Garlic is a simple way to help preserve brain function in an aging population.

Copyright: © Song et al. Optimize time management is Body composition analyzer open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Btain License. Garlic Allium sativum L. Garlic for brain health well-recognized as Garlid botanical resource for Garic maintenance, Garlic for brain health helath to its active components with antioxidant properties 1. However, fresh garlic causes indigestion and its odor is a possible social deterrent 2. It has been demonstrated that AGE can reduce oxidative damage by scavenging reactive oxygen species ROS and inhibiting the formation of lipid peroxides 5. In addition, there is evidence to indicate that AGE can reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and possibly inhibit carcinogenesis 6 — Black garlic is raw garlic that Garlic for brain health healt Body composition analyzer Cooking with Mushrooms controlled high-temperature, high-humidity conditions heslth several Nutritional support for aging adults. The garlic cloves turn brown, then eventually black as a result of the Brai reaction Garlic for brain health. In addition to having black cloves, black garlic has a milder flavor and a more delicate, sticky consistency than raw garlic 2. The aging process causes black garlic to contain substantially more antioxidants than raw garlic 3. This is partly because allicin, the compound that gives garlic its pungent odor when crushed, is converted into antioxidant compounds like alkaloids and flavonoids as black garlic ages 24.