Which Is Healthier: Raw or Cooked Garlic?
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Which Is Healthier: Raw or Cooked Garlic?

Which Is Healthier: Raw or Cooked Garlic?
Everyday Health
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Updated on August 7, 2025
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Eating garlic is a great way to boost your health. In addition to being nutritious, garlic may reduce the risk of inflammation and conditions such as cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.

The greatest health advantages come from fresh, raw garlic, but it’s far more common to eat it cooked. If prepared correctly, you can get many of the garlic benefits in its heated form, too.

Nutrition in Raw Garlic

With only 13 calories per serving, which is considered three cloves, raw garlic contains trace amounts of several key vitamins and minerals.

The star ingredient, however, is allicin, which is the sulfur-containing compound that creates garlic’s aroma and is linked to many health benefits.

When garlic is chopped, crushed, sliced or chewed, alliinase enzymes are activated and, through a series of conversions, form the phytonutrient allicin.

Garlic also contains B vitamins, such as vitamin B6, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and thiamine, which help your body produce energy from food.

 It also contains the antioxidant vitamin C and the minerals selenium, calcium, and magnesium.

Nutrition in Cooked Garlic

Heating garlic or putting it in a recipe can change its pH balance.

 Cooking garlic can diminish the nutrients it contains, particularly the allicin.

Other healthy compounds are compromised by high temperatures, too. Vitamins B and C in garlic are water soluble, so they can be degraded when exposed to intense heat.

During a study to assess the biologic activities of garlic in its raw and heated form, researchers found that both fresh and heated garlic had anti-inflammatory effects. However, the heated garlic had a lesser effect and a lower allicin level.

Cooking garlic at a lower temperature — up to 140 degrees F — may help preserve the allicin’s benefits. Consider adding garlic at the final stages of a recipe to keep it from cooking too long.

Health Benefits of Garlic

The antioxidant properties of allicin in garlic have been studied extensively for their potential benefits for a variety of health conditions.

It Can Lower Inflammation

Garlic contains a compound known as diallyl disulfide that has an anti-inflammatory effect.

 Research has found that consuming garlic or garlic supplements produces anti-inflammatory effects in people who have colds, flu, or chronic conditions, like diabetes, as well as in people who are healthy.

One study found the anti-inflammatory nature of garlic may even help treat and prevent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

It May Improve Cardiovascular Health

Much attention has been given to the potential positive effect of garlic on cardiovascular health, since it’s a key ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine, which is known to be heart-healthy.

One systematic review found that eating garlic can reduce blood pressure, waist circumference, and cholesterol levels, all risk factors for heart disease. It also cites research that says garlic can play an important role in managing conditions such as hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, which are also closely tied to heart health.

Other research finds that garlic supplements, specifically aged black garlic pills, may lower diastolic blood pressure, which is how much pressure is in your blood vessels when your heart rests between beats. This is particularly true for men who already have hypertension.

It May Help Lower Cancer Risk

Current research shows that garlic, and the allicin it contains, may have anti-cancer benefits. More human studies are needed to better understand how food preparation and the amount you eat can impact how effective garlic may be for cancer prevention.

Most of the human studies related to garlic’s effect on cancer risk compare people who eat a lot of garlic to those who eat very little. Some of that research has linked higher garlic consumption to a lower risk of cancer in these organs and tissues:

  • Esophagus
  • Pancreas
  • Breast
  • Endometrium
  • Prostate

The Takeaway

  • Garlic offers health benefits whether it’s raw or cooked. The phytonutrient allicin is the compound in garlic that provides the biggest health effects.
  • Cooking garlic can impact the effectiveness of its health benefits, but heating it at lower temperatures may help blunt that effect.
  • Eating garlic or taking garlic supplements may lower inflammation, support cardiovascular health, and lower the risk of developing certain types of cancer.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Garlic. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. February 2025.
  2. Garlic, Raw. U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central. April 1, 2019.
  3. Ansary J et al. Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview. Antioxidants. July 15, 2020.
  4. Garlic. Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center. September 2016.
  5. What Are B Vitamins? Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. April 3, 2025.
  6. The Health Benefits of Garlic. Cleveland Clinic. March 2, 2022.
  7. Zhou S et al. Evaluate the Stability of Synthesized Allicin and Its Reactivity With Endogenous Compounds in Garlic. NPJ Science of Food. February 2025.
  8. Kilic-Akyilmaz M et al. Effect of Heat Treatment on Micronutrients, Fatty Acids and some Bioactive Components of Milk. International Dairy Council. March 2022.
  9. Shin JH et al. Short-Term Heating Reduces the Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Fresh Raw Garlic Extracts on The LPS-Induced Production of No and Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines by Downregulating Allicin Activity in Raw 264.7 Macrophages. Food and Chemical Toxicology. August 2013.
  10. 4 Health Benefits of Garlic. Virginia Commonwealth University. April 19, 2021.
  11. Zugaro S et al. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) as an Ally in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. January 11, 2023.
  12. Imaizumi VM et al. Garlic: A Systematic Review of the Effects on Cardiovascular Diseases. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. Feberuary 23, 2022.
  13. Valls RM et al. Effects of an Optimized Aged Garlic Extract on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Moderate Hypercholesterolemic Subjects: A Randomized, Crossover, Double-Blind, Sustained and Controlled Study. Nutrients. January 18, 2022.
  14. Garlic: Lab Studies Find Potential Cancer-Preventive Compounds. American Institute for Cancer Research. April 7, 2021.
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Kayli Anderson, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.

Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.

Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.

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Gord Kerr

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Gordon Kerr has worked in the health care industry for the past 15 years. He holds a diploma in Food and Nutritional Science from CSNN, Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, Vancouver. With his passion for a healthy lifestyle and the desire to help others benefit from proper nutrition and natural remedies, Gordon accepted the international position with CARICOM Regional Food and Nutrition in the Caribbean and moved to Barbados. As well as educating the under-nourished people in the region, Gordon formulated dietary plans to help manage medical conditions including chronic nutrition-related diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension. Now retired, Gord enjoys a quiet life on a small island in the Gulf Islands of B.C.

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