Tag: Cooked vs raw garlic

According to ancient texts from various cultures, garlic has been valued for both culinary and medicinal purposes for thousands of years. But is eating raw garlic ok for you, and does it retain its potency? The answer depends on your body's tolerance and your health goals, as the raw form is more potent but can also cause side effects.

Up to 99% of allicin, garlic's key health compound, can be lost during frying. So, does frying garlic remove nutrients? While the answer is yes for some compounds, cooked garlic still offers health benefits, depending on preparation.

When a clove of fresh garlic is crushed, the enzyme alliinase reacts with the compound alliin to form allicin, a powerful sulfur compound responsible for many of garlic's health benefits. But what happens to this potent compound when heat is applied? This article examines if and how roasting affects garlic's beneficial properties.