The Italian Super Food That You Should Eat

I understand that the thought of eating an Italian meal conjures up the images of having pasta, pizza, and wine.  

And while that is true, it’s not the kind of Italian superfood that will help you to stave off viruses, improve your immune system and help your heart.

So what is this Italian Superfood?

Garlic.

Benefits throughout history:

• Garlic was recommended to those who suffer from depression in ancient Babylon
• In ancient Indian medicine, garlic was a valuable remedy used as a tonic, to cure a lack of appetite, common weakness, cough, skin disease, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, etc.
• The Egyptians fed their slaves with garlic to make them strong and capable of doing more work. The Old Greek historian Herodotus [1] wrote: ‘Inscriptions on the plates of the Egyptian pyramids tell us how much their builders used the garlic for this vegetable, If it had not been for the garlic, which builders used to a great deal, they would not have been able to keep balance, let alone pull the gigantic plates.’
• The ancient Israelis made use of garlic as a starvation stimulator, blood pressure enhancer, body heater, parasite-killer, etc.
• The Tibetans possess ancient recipes to cure stomach aches with garlic.
• Celsius in the second century was using garlic to cure tuberculosis and fever [6]. 
• Galen (121–200 AD), the renowned medical writer and physician among Romans, and later among other nations, referred to as the father of galenic pharmacy spoke of garlic as the most popular folk remedy that cured many diseases and named it a ‘rustic’s theriac’.
• Galen used garlic for the regulation of digestion and against colic [3,6].

Lipids, Cholesterol, and Blood Pressure

According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure affects over 100-million people in the US alone. 

Given the population is currently 328 million this is nearly one out of every three individuals. 

If we eliminate children under 18 years of age, that leaves us just 246.37 million adults. 

So the percentage is nearly 1 in every 2.4 adults.

Blood pressure medication is not without serious side effects. 

Short-term side effects include:

• Dizziness
• Light-headedness
• Cramping

Long-term side effects of blood pressure medicine include:

• Kidney disease
• Blood vessel wall deterioration
• Liver failure

Considering that an estimated 30-million adults are on some sort of blood pressure medication, it would be ideal to have a natural treatment. 

Current Meta-analysis of randomly chosen literary data has demonstrated that garlic is related to a decrease of blood pressure in patients with increased systolic pressure but not in patients without increased systolic pressure [24].

Weight/Fat Loss

For the primary purpose of my career as an exercise scientist and nutritionist, most people come to see me for fat loss, weight loss, to move better, increased energy, to reduce or eliminate medications, and improved health.  

Here are a few reasons that make garlic an excellent ingredient to help you with your goals. 

Needless to say, it needs to be complemented with the right low glycemic diet along with the right kind of exercises that both increase metabolism and are designed to work properly with any skeletal limitations.

• Garlic is responsible for boosting energy levels that burn all the calories, keeping you fitter. It is known to boost your metabolism, further helping you lose weight efficiently.
• Garlic is a known appetite suppressant. It helps keep you fuller for longer, further preventing you from overeating.
• In a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, there is an association between garlic and fat-burning. The compounds in it are known to stimulate the fat-burning process.
• It is a great detoxifying agent. It helps flush out toxins that can be a hindrance to your digestive system. So, including garlic in your diet will only help keep your digestive system in check.

Research to Lower Glucose and HbA1C

According to a 2017 study in the NIH Effect of garlic supplement in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM): a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials:

The present study confirms that additional garlic contributes to improved blood glucose control in 1–2 weeks as well as in 24 weeks in Type 2 Diabetics, and plays positive roles in total cholesterol and high/low-density lipoprotein regulation in 12 weeks.  

Furthermore, a double-blind clinical trial in diabetic patients revealed that herbal medicine containing garlic at a dose of 750 mg 3 times per day for 12 weeks had potential effects for diabetes management by reducing fasting glucose blood levels through the decrease of HbA1 (NIH).

Can garlic cure your sweet tooth? Not quite, but it may affect your fasting blood glucose (Aepios).

Vampires

If all of that hasn’t yet persuaded you to consume more garlic, I have one more. 

How about staving off vampires?

A persistent belief in the power of garlic is to ward off vampires.

Probably the most popular theory of the origin of the vampire is the disease Porphyria, a term for several diseases which are all caused by irregularities in the production of heme, a chemical in the blood. 

Some forms of this disease cause sufferers to be sensitive to light and lead to a disfigurement of the skin, including erosion of the lips and gums. 

These factors could have led to the corpse-like, fanged appearance that we associate with vampires and their dislike of sunlight. Interestingly, people who suffer from Porphyria also have an intolerance to foods that have high sulfur content…such as garlic.

Rabies in Humans

Lastly, the traditional belief that garlic’s odor deters vampires may have originated with the disease rabies.

“In 1998,” writes Mark, “Spanish neurologist Dr. Juan Gomez-Alonso made a correlation between reports of rabies outbreaks in and around the Balkans—especially a devastating one in dogs, wolves, and other animals that plagued Hungary from 1721 to 1728—and the ‘vampire epidemics’ that erupted shortly thereafter.

Various other symptoms support the rabies-vampire link: 

Dr. Gomez-Alonso found that nearly 25 percent of rabid men have a tendency to bite other people. 

That almost guarantees transmission, as the virus is carried in saliva. 

What does all this mean?

It means that garlic has many medicinal benefits. 

From fighting infections, viruses, and the common cold, to lowering blood pressure, bad lipids, and diabetes. 

Furthermore, it is effective in helping curb appetite through lowering glucose, helping to lose weight and drop body fat and possibly fight off vampires.