Eat garlic! Garlic has been used by humans for thousand of years for cooking purposes and for its medicinal benefits. It has also been known for a long time that garlic keeps vampires away. Today, we can take advantage of yet another powerful effect of garlic: it helps keep fellow humans 6 feet away!
Medicinal benefits of garlic
Garlic (Allium sativum), is closely related to onions, scallions, chives, leeks and shallots. The allium family plants all contain sulfur compounds, the most famous of those known is allicin, which has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. However, allicin is an unstable compound that is only briefly present in fresh garlic after it’s been cut or crushed.
Besides fighting bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, garlic is also known to:
- boost the immune system
- reduce blood pressure
- protect against organ damage from heavy metal toxicity
- lower bad cholesterol
- improve brain function
- strengthen bones
- improve physical performance
- boost longevity
- reduce allergy
- fight certain cancers
Garlic also contains vitamins and minerals such as manganese, vitamin B1, B6, and C, selenium, calcium, copper, potassium, phosphorus and iron.
So, if you haven’t done so yet, garlic is definitely a good thing to add to your diet right about now!
Garlic and vampires
Vampires, in popular legends, are known as pale, scary-looking, blood-sucking creatures that come out at night because of their aversion to sunlight. They search for living people and animals whose blood they can feed on. It is commonly known that they also have an aversion to garlic.
The question is, what are the origins of these imaginary and famous creatures that are a favorite around Halloween? And why do they dislike garlic so much?
The physical and behavioral features of the vampire show intriguing similarities with porphyria patients. Porphyria is a disorder also known as “vampire disease” and is characterized by a defect in one of the enzymes involved in the synthesis of heme. Heme is a part of the hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells which is responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood. Not being able to synthesize heme leads to chronic hemolytic anemia, a type of blood deficiency. This explains the vampires’ desire to feed on another being’s blood.
Some compounds in garlic can induce a heme degrading enzyme which will further exacerbating the anemia and explains why vampires dislike garlic so much.
Garlic and humans
Garlic is easy to include in your diet and while it pleases your taste buds, it also attacks the olfactory senses of your neighbors. Therefore, it is incredibly helpful at encouraging fellow humans to respect the 6 feet physical distancing. Garlic tea can strengthen the immune system and while it makes you more resistant to germs, it can possibly clear you a table in your local cafe.
So, before you go out trick-or-treating, partying, and eating your candy overload this year, make sure you take your dose of natural immune boosting germ-, vampire-, and human-repellent. There is no better time than Halloween 2020 to benefit fully from all its effects!
Safe Halloween everyone!
Sources
(1) https://facty.com/food/nutrition/11-health-benefits-of-garlic/?style=quick&utm_source=adwords&adid=339359125426&utm_medium=m-search&utm_term=&utm_campaign=FH-USA—Search—dynamic-ads—mobile&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxNT8BRD9ARIsAJ8S5xYYtotgs34uHkOqmNF-O16r79TWTFgEboMKINzhKL1C0dADbIGvmNUaAmv2EALw_wcB
(2) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-proven-health-benefits-of-garlic
(3) https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265853
(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103721/
(5) https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2010/02/22/six-ways-to-stop-a-vampire/
