Do you always throw away old garlic bulbs with green shoots in the garbage? If yes, you may be missing out a lot. Namely, according to ACS, sprouted garlic is even more powerful than its fresh counterparts and it possesses strong antioxidant capacity which has a lot of health benefits to offer.
For a long period of time, garlic has been considered a powerful superfood which has the capacity to balance the blood pressure and triglycerides and to strengthen the immunity. Abundant in antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer properties, it appears that there is nothing garlic cannot do!
Knowing the benefits of garlic, researchers wanted to discover if sprouted garlic can offer the same benefits. For the purposes of the research, they analyzed extracts from sprouted and un-sprouted garlic. Continue reading the article to learn about the discoveries of the research.
Sprouted vs. Un-sprouted Garlic
As Bottom Line Inc explain, the extracts were almost the same in their phenolic content, but the sprouted garlic was a bit stronger. And, believe it or not, when they tested their antioxidant power, i.e. the capacity to detect free radicals and avert oxidative damage, sprouted garlic had twice the power of un-sprouted garlic. Wow!
In order to find out if sprouted garlic is more protective than un-sprouted, the team added a bit of each extract to Petri dishes with mice nerve cells, as well as glutamate. This is a chemical messenger which is toxic to nerve cells after sustained exposure. Afterwards, they measured the nerve cells which survived from the exposure to glutamate.
The conclusion was that glutamate lowered the nerve cells’ viability and the un-sprouted garlic extract did not do much in keeping the cells safe from damage. On the other hand, sprouted garlic encouraged the restoration of their viability! However, more research is necessary to determine which of the compounds in sprouted garlic are in charge of the high antioxidant power.
What Can We Conclude?
Be that as it may, you can now freely let your garlic sprout and use it in the same way you would use the un-sprouted. Remember, sprouted garlic has a bit stronger taste. Feel free to chop it up and add it in a salad together with tomatoes, basil, and olive oil or mince it and mix it with guacamole or spinach.
Sources: