Garlic for Weight Loss and Other Health
Benefits
Losing
weight isn’t a cakewalk. It takes blood, sweat, and hard work to shed unwanted
body fat. Sadly, there are no shortcuts to becoming a healthier and fitter you!
But, what we do have are – healthy and active ways to do the same.
Garlic is one such ingredient that you can try for weight loss. Yes, this
odoriferous herb has numerous health benefits, known since ancient times. This
bulb-shaped, medicinal herb helps cut down fat and its accumulation in
innumerable ways. Let’s find out more about it below:
How Garlic Helps For Weight Loss
Garlic is an indispensable part of the Indian kitchen as it is
often craved by recipes to enhance its aroma and taste. Apart from increasing
the taste of the food, the herb is known to aid weight loss.
Its beneficial ingredients such as vitamin B6 and C, fiber,
calcium, protein, and manganese play a major role in burning unwanted
health-deteriorating fat.
Adding garlic into your diet helps boost energy levels and
increases metabolism; burning fat efficiently. It also acts as an amazing
detoxifying agent by flushing out toxins that are a hindrance to the digestive
system. Below are a few home-made recipes that will aid weight loss and can be made with little to no
preparation.
Begin by Consuming Garlic in Your Daily Routine
1. Garlic with lime juice
Take
lukewarm water, add one tablespoon of lemon juice and a 1-2 pieces of crushed
garlic cloves to it. Mix and drink while it’s still warm.
This heavenly combination of both ingredients will not only help
in stimulating weight loss but also help in reducing free radical damage and
improve immunity due to the presence of vitamin C.
2. Raw garlic and honey
Take 2-3 garlic cloves, peel off their outer skin. Crush the
peeled cloves and then mix it with honey.
Allow the mixture to sit for 10-15 minutes and then consume the
concoction there after. This mixture helps to improve immunity and reduce the
risk of seasonal cold and cough.
3. Ginger, garlic, and lemon tea
Take 1-2 pieces of garlic clove; add a small piece of ginger to
it. Grind them to get a fine paste. Now, boil about two glasses of water in a
pot and add the paste to the pot of boiling water.
Let the whole concoction boil for about 5 minutes. Cover the
concoction and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture and
simultaneously add lemon juice to it.
If you do not like the taste of the concoction, add some honey
to it to enhance the flavor. This mixture largely aids digestion and helps
flush out toxins from the body.
4. Unpeeled garlic cloves covered in honey
For this recipe, remove the outermost layer; make sure you do
not peel the clove cover. Now, take a mason jar and add 3-4 cloves inside it
and pour raw honey over it.
For the next few days, store the combination of the two, leaving
it in the refrigerator. Let the goodness of the two infuse and then consume the
magical combination on an empty stomach.
In the long run, this mixture will help to improve your overall
immunity, heart health, and skin health.
5. Garlic Milk Benefits
This magic potion is not known to many! This recipe will aid in
weight loss and will help in keeping your gut healthy and happy.
- 1
cup of fresh milk
- 5-6
garlic cloves
- 1
tbsp turmeric powder
- Pinch
of black pepper
- ½-1
tsp Organic honey (to enhance taste)
Crush the garlic cloves or grind it. To maximize health
benefits, crush the garlic at room temperature and allow it to sit for 10-15
minutes to trigger an enzyme reaction that boosts the healthy compounds in
garlic.
Now, heat milk in a pan and allow it to boil. To the boiling
milk, add the crushed garlic and then add black pepper and turmeric. Simmer on
low heat till the garlic is softened.
Take off heat and strain the mixture through a strainer. Drink
the mixture when luke warm, with a tsp of honey to enhance the taste. This
recipe helps in improving overall digestion and reduces migraine pain
drastically.
Other Health Benefits of Garlic
1. Garlic helps cure cold and infection
Consuming garlic with warm water can help get rid of infections
like cough and cold.
2. Helps boost the immune system
The antioxidant compounds, namely ally disulfide, allyl
cysteine, alliin and allicin have been reported to provide protection from free
radicals damage. This boosts immunity.
3. Lowers the blood pressure
The sulfur in garlic stimulates nitric oxide production in blood
vessels. This relaxes and improves their elasticity, helping to lower blood
pressure and further reducing the risk of strokes and hardening of
arteries.
4. It flaunts anti-aging properties
Hydrogen sulfide, a compound found in garlic can slow down the
hardening of arteries and prevent strokes and attacks by ensuring free flow of
blood all through the body. Another compound called Allicin is said to have
anti wrinkle properties. Along with the above compounds, Vitamin C in garlic
also helps in collagen production thereby aiding healthy skin.
5. Helps in the process of liver detoxification
Garlic contains selenium, a mineral that helps to detoxify the
liver. It also has the ability to activate liver enzymes that can help your
body to naturally flush out toxins.
6. Helps increase estrogen levels in women
With menopause, there are sudden drops in estrogen levels and
with the consumption of dry garlic daily, the deficiency of estrogen can be
compensated, resulting in healthy bones.
Summary
Indubitably, garlic is one herb that will add goodness to any
food. Not only elevating the flavor and fragrance, but also in aiding other
health benefits such as weight loss. The healthy bulb of food has a powerful
punch of health benefits that has manganese, phosphorus, calcium in it.
So, irrespective of what you are eating, a little hint of garlic
in it won’t hurt! Whether you plan to eat it raw, uncooked or cooked, it is
still beneficial for consumption.
Now, that you have come across the health benefits of garlic,
you wouldn’t mind swallowing down one or two to reap the herb bestowed with
ample benefits.
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