We all know about the health benefits associated with garlic. However, it seems like there’s a new kid on the block. Black garlic. What is it, and could it be the key to longevity?
What is black garlic?
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Though widely used as a herb or spice, garlic is botanically a vegetable. It offers a variety of health benefits and is a particularly pungent ingredient sure to spice up your favorite dish. Unlike other vegetables, it’s less commonly cooked on its own or eaten whole.
Regular but aged
For those not in the know, black garlic is essentially just regular garlic that’s been aged. However, this doesn’t simply involve forgetting about it in your kitchen cupboard. Black garlic is made under very strict parameters. These include strict temperature and humidity controls. Black garlic must be aged for several weeks. After this aging time, it becomes black and sticky. This, according to Well and Good, is due to the Maillard reaction. While that sounds complicated, it’s simply a chemical reaction between the garlic’s amino acids and naturally present sugars according to Keri Gans, MS, RDN.
Black garlic, somewhat unsurprisingly, also doesn’t have the same look or texture as shop-bought white garlic. The texture is vastly different, and it’s much easier to spread than ‘regular’ garlic would be. It isn’t just cool looking though, it’s really good for you! It is a form of regular garlic but because of the aging process, the composition and nutrients change slightly. Ideally, both black and regular garlic should form a part of your diet. They’re both hugely beneficial but in slightly different ways.
Why should you be eating it?
There are tons of associated benefits when it comes to just regular garlic. But the aging process that black garlic goes through changes the nutrient composition slightly. This small shift leads to slightly different benefits.
Heart health
In an animal study on rats, those that were fed black garlic had “fewer indicators of heart disease”. This included lower levels of LDL, which is bad cholesterol, than those that weren’t fed black garlic. Another study (also on rats) found that both black and regular garlic was beneficial for improving circulation and protecting against heart damage. Notably, black garlic has been shown to help reduce the concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN). When the concentration of BUN is high, it can increase blood pressure and cause an electrolyte imbalance. In people with weak hearts, this can ultimately cause heart failure.
Antioxidant content
It has a much higher antioxidant content than regular, raw garlic. In fact, it contains around 3 times more antioxidants than its regular counterpart. It seems that it reaches its peak in terms of antioxidant content after about 21 days of aging. Why is this a good thing? Antioxidants are great when it comes to protecting the cells against free radicals. Free radicals can cause serious health conditions such as heart disease and cancer.
Cancer prevention
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Whilst diet is definitely a factor when it comes to cancer prevention, it is definitely not a cure-all. There is some research that suggests that black garlic in particular has some anti-cancer properties. However, it is important to remember that this will likely only work as part of a healthy lifestyle. A limited study of just 21 people did find that black garlic extract was toxic to lung, breast, stomach, and liver cancer cells. The extract also outperformed the regular garlic extract. A review of 25 studies also found that it seems to have a beneficial effect when it comes to cancer prevention in both humans and animals. However, it has to be said that simply eating black garlic isn’t going to prevent cancer. A more holistic approach is needed.
Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance is common in pre-diabetes and diabetes and essentially means that the cells can’t easily take glucose from the blood. Glucose is what the cells use as energy, which facilitates daily activities on a cellular level. There have been several studies on animals that seem to show that it might be useful in the treatment of insulin resistance. However, it is definitely not recommended that you ditch your prescribed treatments and rely on black garlic instead. Gans does however recommend it as a complementary therapy.
Brain Health
A study done on rats, published in the Drug and Chemical Toxicology journal seems to suggest that black garlic might reduce oxidative stress in the brain. Oxidative stress leads to cell damage and plays a major role in the aging process. Less oxidative stress means better brain function. As with heart health and cancer prevention, however, it has to be mentioned that though black garlic may help, it can’t overturn oxidative stress and improve brain health. Thus far, research has been limited to rat brains and more research is needed to successfully indicate whether black garlic could be as beneficial in human studies.
So, should you try black garlic?
Ultimately, there’s really no reason not to. It has a much more delicate flavor than regular garlic and is easily spreadable. Well and Good recommend using it in sauces, adding it to dressings, and even rubbing it on chicken or fish before cooking. It’s likely that including some in your diet will only benefit you. As long as you aren’t reliant on it and don’t go off any prescribed medication, it can really only be a good thing.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6212616/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22260639/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/black-garlic-benefits
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29280389/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20016716/
