Part 1: Why Local Garlic

Why local garlic? Why pay more? Why go to the effort? Learn why foreign garlic should stay out of your cart. Get a brief overview of the myriad health and medicinal benefits of garlic. It’s all here on why local garlic is king.

I had the privilege of attending a garden club event where local a garlic farmer who runs Lockport Gardens here in Manitoba gave the low down on growing garlic. I’ve grown my own garlic for a few years, and it was great to get a professional’s first-hand insight into the process and why local garlic is the best!

My own experience in growing garlic has been positive. My garlic grew HUGE cloves, two or three times the size of grocery store garlic, with delicious, strong flavour. I was able to acquire some heads of garlic to plant from a local farmer at a farmers’ market. Many seed suppliers also sell garlic in the fall.

Why Not Foreign-Grown Garlic?

Wayne was adamant in the benefits of growing your own, or buying local garlic. Much of the garlic in our grocery stores comes from China. This was not always the case. About thirty years ago, Chinese produce started out-competing Canadian garlic growers due to free trade agreements, putting many out of business.

This garlic, he says, is not always grown in sanitary conditions. Then it is bleached to that pure white we see in stores. Furthermore, it is sprayed for bugs upon leaving China, and again upon arrival in Canada.

There is also a well-known dirty little secret that in the process of producing minced garlic in jars, Chinese convicts peel garlic. Long hours with garlic cause fingernails to soften or fall off, leaving the prisoners to use their teeth to peel garlic.

 I am never buying Chinese garlic ever again! Who would want to put that in their body?!

Good Reason for Local Garlic

There are many reasons why you would want to put quality garlic in your body. There are books written in detail on the benefits of garlic, but this will at least give a snapshot, or foretaste (taste!) of why we want garlic – and lots of it! Thankfully, the list is longer than the deterrents from that four-letter country.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This is for informational purposes only. It is not to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure any disease or illness etc.

Garlic’s cardiovascular benefits for the heart are well known, including reducing cholesterol, reducing blood pressure as a vasodilator – relaxing and dilating blood vessels, and preventing fat build-up in coronary arteries.

This preventions of fat build-up in blood vessels, along with detoxification properties supports healthy weight.

Garlic can increase immune system activity. It increases natural killer cells (germ killers), while reducing the number of inflammatory messengers of the immune system.

This boosted immune activity not only helps fight off the latest round of cold and flu, it may play a role in inhibiting cancer and tumor activity (Agarwal), including cancer cell death (apoptosis).

As a cousin to the above, garlic has antioxidant power, protecting against oxidation and free radicals – those mutant cells that can be precursors to cancer. Garlic even goes after hydroxyl radicals, which lead to more destructive damage than any other free radical (VR). It may be its antioxidant properties that protect the liver from, and aid in reducing heavy metals in the body (Chaudhuri).

Garlic helps to eliminate excess mucous from the body – think sinus – stuffy nose, respiratory blockage, productive (mucousy) coughs. At the same time, it soothes bronchial spasms of coughing.

Garlic eases digestive upset, including gas and bloating, and is also a prebiotic – feeding healthy gut flora, all the while killing harmful microbes, including parasites.

Garlic can lower or stabilize blood sugar levels (Josling)

It has anti-fungal properties when used topically. It has antiseptic, antibacterial, and antimicrobial for many types of infections, including staph infections. (Josling)

Garlic Mentionables

When garlic is crushed it begins a chain reaction – from alliin (amino acid), which reacts with oxygen to activate alliinase (enzyme), to create allicin, the organosulfur compound that is responsible for a vast array of garlic’s actions (Villegas).

Allicin remains active for only short period before degrading (Josling), which is why garlic must be eaten fresh for best medicinal benefits. Crushed garlic on the counter lasts two and a half days before the allicin is completely decomposed. Boiling garlic for twenty minutes inactivates many of its medicinal benefits. Microwaved for just 30-60 seconds, the chain reaction is completely destroyed. There’s something to ponder!

However, crushed garlic survives up to a month in water at room temperature, and indefinitely at -70˚C (Agarwal). So, for instance, adding garlic to soup at the end of cooking, and then refrigerating or freezing would preserve many benefits for a time. Garlic has also been preserved in vinegar and oil. Whole, garlic heads last several months in a cool, dry place, or even on the kitchen counter.

Garlic is a dose dependent herb, and should be taken daily as a tonic in order to be most effective. (Hoffman), such as a clove a day. Garlic only has shown negative effects after eating several bulbs (not cloves – whole bulbs) long term, notwithstanding hot conditions such as nausea, heartburn, stomach distress from excess garlic, and fussy nursing babies.

Garlic is a hot herb, and is strong enough that it can irritate the skin – protection should be used in topical applications, such as dilution or a layer of olive oil. This same warming action increases circulation within the body, even to areas that need extra support such as sore muscles.

I have not even mentioned the vast use of garlic in cooking, for flavour alone.

One not even need to look at the fantastical folklore of garlic to realize its value in ancient times. The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians used garlic in dozens and dozens of remedies. The Israelites even longed for the garlic of Egypt as they wandered the desert after their escape in Numbers 11:5. China, Japan, Korea and India, as well, record ancient uses, often surprisingly similar in nature.

In the Middle Ages, garlic was used against the Bubonic Plague – Black Death. In WW1 the British used garlic when they ran low on antibiotics. The Russian Army used garlic so extensively, they called it Russian Penicillin.

Even as one of the oldest medicinal remedies known to man, even as scientists continue to discover the science behind it, garlic may perhaps be the grandest herb given to us. It is time to bring back garlic to Canada for regular production. Now you know the rest of the story, why local garlic is the crème de la crème. Thankfully, it is already starting, as there are a number of local farms producing garlic. Or try growing your own. Learn how in Part 2: Growing Your Own Garlic.

Sources:

Agarwal KC. Therapeutic actions of garlic constituents. Medical Research Reviews. January 16, 1996. https://europepmc.org/article/MED/8788216

Chaudhuri, K.; Chowdhury, R. Garlic: A Promising Antidote to Heavy Metal Toxicity. 2010.  https://hero.epa.gov/reference/1344659/

Hoffman, David. Medicinal Herbalism. The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine. Healing Arts Press. 2003.

Josling, Peter. Allicin and Vitimin C – Power, Performance, Proof. HRC Publishing. 2010.

Villegas, Heidi. Garlic Masterclass. 2023. https://healinghargesthomestead.com

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