Smash Garlic For Better Health

tidbits that tantalizeYour Breath? Well...

It's the best of both worlds.

Not only do you get to take out your pent-up frustrations, you lower your blood pressure and clear your arteries at the same time. It's truly a win-win situation - except for the don't-come-any-closer lingering odor of garlic...

But, researchers from Argentina may have found a solution.

Scientists from the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) say the key is to crush and cook. The working theory, up to this point, has been that garlic must be consumed raw to derive its health benefits. Those benefits, by the way, are impressive. Garlic is believed to improve cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure and helping break up clusters of platelets in the blood.

The scientists at ARS now say you can cook garlic and still reap the healthy rewards - if you smash it first. They studied the effect of cooking both whole and crushed garlic. While the whole garlic lost all its health benefits when cooked, the crushed garlic held up quite well. It retained most of its healthy properties, if it was crushed before cooking, and the cooking time limited to 3 to 6 minutes at moderate temperatures.

What's the big deal? Ah, that would be the nose factor...

The crushing and cooking eliminates the pungent odor of the garlic.

So, go ahead - smash some garlic. Your friends will thank you...

To read more about the study, see this from ScienceDaily. To learn more about garlic, see this from The World's Healthiest Foods.