Today I want to talk to you about a love affair.

A perfect marriage of sorts.

Individually they are both rock stars, but when joined together they become much more than the sum of their individual parts.

Their marriage goes back a long way. It has its roots in the ancient wisdom of people that lived close to the earth and somehow, instinctively, knew that they belonged together.

If you have ever lived in or visited Cyprus, you may know what I am talking about. A favourite way of serving olives is in olive oil with crushed garlic 🧄.

Olive oil and garlic are both nutritional powerhouses. But a certain kind of magic happens when they are joined together.

Garlic contains Alliine, a little amino acid. Alliine is like a chest full of gold. In order to open the chest and get the gold, one needs a key 🗝️ - a little enzyme called alliinase.

The thing is, alliinase is a bit capricious. It will only unlock "the chest" when the garlic is cut up or crushed. Only in such "working conditions" will alliinase give you access to "the gold" - a compound called Allicin.

Allicin is gold because it is what is responsible for garlic's superpower. Its ability to kill viruses and bacteria, protect your heart and your liver, fight cancer, inflammation and oxidative stress.

You can get to it if you bite into the garlic and chew it, if you crush it and add it to food at the end of the cooking process, or…you can have permanent access to it in high concentrations if you

👉  PUT CRUSHED GARLIC IN YOUR OLIVE OIL.

When you do that, Allicin remains stable in the oil and is there for you to access whenever you want.

Studies have shown that for best results garlic needs to be left alone for 30'-45' after being crushed and before being put in the oil. The longer you leave it in the oil the stronger the effect.

Keep these "lovebirds" in a dark glass bottle and make sure to seal it well when not used. Like other unsaturated (i.e liquid) fats, olive oil does not like air, light, or too much heat.

What about garlic in powder form? Well, while garlic powder contains both the "chest" (Alliine) and the "key" (alliinase), when you swallow it, your digestive enzymes destroy the "key" so you can not access the "gold" (Alliicin). You need a lot more of it to achieve the same effect. Whereas a little fresh garlic goes a long way.

If you have diabetes, or are trying to avoid it, here is the good news. A meta analysis of 33 studies examining the effect of garlic supplementation on blood sugar and cholesterol levels, showed significant improvements in both. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30049636/)

So, now you know. Take this gift nature has given you and use it without moderation. (It tastes better than a pill, that's for sure! 😉)

#garlicoil #nutritiontips #nutritioncoaching #EatSmarter #diabetesprevention