Fight Heart Disease With Garlic And Onions

Garlic contains compounds called thioallyls that research shows help dramatically lower blood cholesterol levels. These compounds also keep blood cells from clumping in arteries, thereby diverting a heart attack. These thioallyls may also be effective in lowering blood pressure. One of these compounds, called allicin, is released when a clove of raw garlic is crushed. Allicin not only gives garlic its characteristic smell, but also works wonders at unclogging arteries. Cooking garlic causes yet another heart-healthy compound to form, called ajoene, which acts a bit like aspirin and keeps the blood from clotting.

A large number of research studies show that garlic, either fresh, powdered, or extract, is effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels. In one study from the Brown University of Medicine and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, researchers gave men with already risky levels of LDLs garlic extract in pill form. The study participants also ate a low-fat diet.

After six months of garlic pills, researchers sampled blood cholesterol levels in the men. Blood cholesterol levels dropped significantly compared to a group of men eating the same low-fat diet and taking a placebo pill. Garlic pills also lowered LDL levels and nudged blood pressure down a few notches. Besides tasting a touch of garlic in their mouths, none of the study participants had any intestinal trouble (common with eating raw garlic).

How much garlic does the trick? A clove a day keeps the doctor away (or take at least the equivalent in powder or pill form). Should you use fresh, powdered, aged garlic extract or other types of garlic pills? According to researchers, get garlic into your diet any way you can. While it's true that raw garlic has more of the cholesterol-lowering allicin than cooked, cooked garlic has other benefits such as keeping the blood thin. Garlic pills and tablets vary in the amount of active ingredients they contain. Generally, those that are not cooked or heat treated will have more allicin.

Garlic powder available in the spice aisle at your local grocery store is one of the least expensive ways to get cholesterol lowering allicin into your diet. Garlic powder can be added to foods during cooking or sprinkled into salads and other fresh foods. Give garlic powder a try, especially if you like fresh garlic, but it doesn't like you.

Fresh garlic, crushed or chopped, can be added to virtually anything. When selecting garlic in the produce aisle, look for firm, compact bulbs without any green sprouts coming out of the ends (a sign that it's old). You can also purchase ready-to-use crushed garlic in jars. Check the label as oil is often added. But since a teaspoon or two of garlic is used in cooking (unless you want to wake up your neighbors with your breath), this extra oil is not worth the worry.

As a cousin to garlic, onions also fight hard for your heart's health. When taking a quick look at onion's nutritional profile, you don't notice anything too outstanding - a bit of fiber, vitamin C, folate, potassium, and about 30 calories per half-cup raw. Take a longer look, though, and you find a host of powerful phytochemicals. These warriors against heart disease are called flavonoids, and according to several large research studies from around the world, they significantly reduce the risk of death from heart disease.

The standout flavonoid in onions, quercitin, has been shown experimentally to protect the bad cholesterol carriers, LDLs, from oxidizing and damaging artery walls. In addition, quercitin also keeps blood from getting too sticky and jamming up blood vessels leading to an actual heart attack or stroke. In a Finish study, women with the greatest intake of quercitin from onions had half the risk of dying from heart disease compared to women in the study with the lowest intake. The researchers suspect the quercitin performed its two-pronged magic to protect the women from a fatal heart attack.

Quercitin levels in onions depend on their color. White onions have next to nothing in the way of this phytochemical, while yellow and red or Bermuda onions are packed with quercitin. Since onions are so versatile, they can be added to almost every dish - raw or cooked. If the strong odor of onions bothers you, thanks to similar sulfur compounds responsible for garlic's aroma, try some of the sweeter onion varieties that have less of these offensive chemicals.

Red onions are usually sweeter than standard yellow onions and can be used raw in salads and on sandwiches. The Maui onion from Hawaii is so sweet, you can eat it like you would a piece of fruit off a tree. Select onions that are hard and firm without soft spots, and that are not beginning to sprout. Always store onions in a dark, cool, dry place such as a basement, cool pantry, or cellar. Putting an onion in the refrigerator about 30 minutes before slicing or chopping will help reduce the amount of tearing you may endure when preparing onions.