Garlic

Researchers still can't seem to agree on just how much garlic is a good thing, or which form of garlic is best. A recent study concludes that ingestion of a garlic-supplement is not an effective cholesterol reducer.

Heart Disease:

About the equivalent of a clove of garlic per day may be all that is needed to lower blood-cholesterol levels an average of 9%, according to a NY Medical College report. Most of the credit goes to the chemical allicin, which is released when garlic is crushed or chewed. Several other chemicals believed to help keep blood vessels more flexible and block artery-clogging plaque are also found in garlic, as is ajoene, a potent anticlotting agent.

Cancer:

No clinical trials have tested garlic's cancer fighting potential. But, recent reports suggest a correlation between high quantities of garlic in local diets of several countries to low occurrences of certain kinds of cancers.

Choose Your Garlic Well:

Always select large heads of garlic; peeling those tiny cloves isn't worth the effort. Professionals call these small cloves "seed garlic," and indeed, they can be sprouted and planted if you like purple spheres of flowerets. A good head of garlic should be very hard; soft ones can be rotten or contain moldy spots, which spread very quickly through the cloves. The "paper" on a garlic head can be white or shot through with blue veins. This doesn't affect the taste, although, in some places, blue garlic is cheaper.

Stop the Sprouting:

Garlic starts to go bad when it sprouts, and this sprouting is one of the reasons that a garlic clove can taste bitter. Given time, it will start sprouting. To delay this process, store garlic in a dark, cool and dry place.