7 Potential Benefits of Adding Garlic to Your Recipes and Meals

If you remember one thing from this article, let it be this: Garlic breath is good. Seriously, if you’ve eaten your fair share of garlic today, you’ve done a service to your health. But what is garlic, and why is it so good for you?

“Garlic belongs in the allium family,” says Sudha Raj, PhD, RDN, a teaching professor at Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in Syracuse, New York. Allium refers to a class of plants that also contains onions, scallions, leeks, and shallots. “It contains phytochemicals such as allicin and organosulfur compounds,” Dr. Raj adds. These phytochemicals (or plant compounds) are responsible for the plant’s heart-healthy, immune-supportive, anti-inflammatory, and nutritional properties.

One note: The scientific backing for many of these benefits of garlic is based on studies involving supplements and extracts (including powders and capsules), which may provide doses higher than you’d get from food. “However, long-term use of garlic in smaller amounts as in daily food preparation may also produce positive outcomes at lower doses,” Raj says.

Indeed, “in many studies, the concentrated equivalent may be around two cloves,” says Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, RDN, a doctor of public health and nutritionist in San Diego, as well as the author of the Eat Clean, Stay Lean book series.

If you are interested in taking a supplement, talk to your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you and it won’t interact with any medications you’re currently taking, especially if you have ongoing medical conditions or are making adjustments to your diet that may influence how well one of your drugs works.

But don’t discount the power of adding garlic to your favorite foods, which can contain a huge variety of nutrients and chemicals that may make them all work together in beneficial ways, says Raj. “Deliberately including garlic in food preparations on a regular basis can give you long-term benefits,” she says.

Here are seven benefits of garilc.

1. Garlic May Help Lower Blood Pressure

A couple of cloves a day may help keep a visit to the cardiologist away. “Garlic stimulates the synthesis of nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels, and inhibits ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) activity,” says Raj. (ACE inhibitors help relax blood vessels.) This could potentially support healthy blood flow and pressure.

In one study that involved 12 trials and more than 550 individuals with hypertension, the authors noted that taking Kyolic aged garlic supplements for three months lowered systolic blood pressure (top number) by about 8 points and diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) by 5.5 points — a similar effect to that of blood pressure medications.

RELATED: 5 Lifestyle Changes to Help You Lower Blood Pressure

2. Garlic May Help Quell Inflammation

Scientists believe that chronic inflammation is a driver behind chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Garlic helps inhibit the activity of certain inflammatory proteins, says Raj. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind study of 70 women with the inflammatory autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis, the group who took 1,000 milligrams of garlic supplements per day for eight weeks had lower inflammatory markers, less pain and fatigue, and fewer tender joints compared with a placebo group.

3. Garlic May Help Lower Cholesterol

Another potential benefit of garlic for the heart: improving cholesterol levels. How? “Garlic may help decrease the production of cholesterol by the liver,” says Dr. Bazilian.

While more research is needed to determine the relationship between garlic intake and cholesterol levels, a meta-analysis and review of studies concluded that taking garlic supplements was effective in lowering both total cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol levels, which are two risk factors for heart disease.

RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Cholesterol

4. Garlic May Support Immune Function

Can adding a little more garlic to your dinner tonight boost your immune system? While there’s not enough evidence to suggest that garlic will prevent or treat the common cold, for instance, it can play a role in your body’s defense mechanisms in a few ways.

The allicin (one of the plant chemicals Raj highlights) in garlic provides antibacterial properties, says Bazilian. Scientists also believe that garlic has antiviral properties that may work in two ways, Bazilian says: by blocking the entry of viruses into cells, and by strengthening the immune response so that it can effectively fight off potential invaders. It’s these things that can help support a healthy immune system overall.

5. Garlic May Reduce Blood Clotting

One more perk of garlic for your heart health: “Compounds in garlic and onions have been shown to decrease the ‘stickiness’ of our platelets and have anticlotting properties,” says Bazilian. These things may help guard against atherosclerosis, a process in which plaque buildup leads to a hardening and narrowing of the arteries. Per the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), atherosclerosis increases your risk for blood clots that can cause heart attacks and stroke. Of course, eating garlic shouldn’t be the only preventive measure you take to protect your arteries. The NHLBI recommends following a heart-healthy eating plan, getting plenty of exercise, managing your weight, and avoiding or quitting smoking.

RELATED: What Are the Best and Worst Fats for Heart Health?

6. Garlic Provides a Host of Antioxidants

Garlic’s nutrients and plant compounds give it “strong antioxidant properties,” per a research review. Not only do antioxidants benefit blood vessels and reduce inflammation, but they may soak up the damaging free radicals that can lead to diseases like cancer (though this anticancer potential needs to be borne out in human research, says the American Institute for Cancer Research).

7. Garlic Makes Other Healthy Foods Taste Great

Bazilian includes garlic in the same category of food as onions, herbs, and spices, adding that “garlic brings great flavor to foods, so it helps us eat more of the foods that we’re supposed to be eating more of, like vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and beans.”

Adding flavor through garlic can also potentially help you reduce the need for excess salt on your foods — and for just 4 calories per clove, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And finally, don’t discount the role that taste plays in your overall diet: “When we love the food we eat and learn to listen to our cues for satiety, it can be more satisfying, too,” Bazilian says.