Why Garlic Is Good for You

Researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham have discovered something that every Italian grandmother has known for decades: Eating garlic is good for you. And while Italian grandmothers can tell you why it’s good for you "Because I said so," the researchers have some other ideas. Writing in Well, Tara Parker-Pope reports that the scientists have shown that eating garlic appears to boost our natural supply hydrogen sulfide, an organic substance that acts as an
antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and
increase blood flow. Parker-Pope tells us that when researchers extracted juice from supermarket garlic and
added small amounts to human red blood cells, the cells immediately
began emitting hydrogen sulfide.  They now think that the power to boost hydrogen sulfide production may help explain why
a garlic-rich diet appears to protect against various cancers,
including breast, prostate and colon cancer.
Higher hydrogen sulfide might also protect the heart. Although garlic has not consistently been shown to lower
cholesterol levels, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
earlier this year found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice
almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle caused by a
heart attack. Read more in Well.