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Learn About Garlic Extract in 5 Minutes
by Katie Hipwell
Katie Hipwell
Table of contents
What is garlic extract?
Garlic is an edible plant bulb that is closely related to onions, leeks, chives, and shallots. While garlic is native to Central Asia, it spread rapidly throughout the ancient world, and both the Greek and Roman civilisations commonly used garlic to cure illness and improve vitality.
These days, modern science has confirmed many of the benefits that have made garlic a desirable healing tool for millennia. In both its fresh and powdered form, garlic may improve immunity, exert powerful cardiovascular benefits, and provide a wide range of other benefits that make including garlic in your diet well worth it.
Is garlic extract water-soluble or fat-soluble?
Fresh garlic contains a beneficial substance called allicin, but this compound is highly unstable and rapidly breaks down into substances like diallyl disulphide and s-allylcysteine. While s-allylcysteine is soluble in water, diallyl disulphide is fat-soluble.
Where can garlic extract be found naturally? Common sources of garlic:
The only known natural source of the beneficial compounds found in garlic extract is fresh garlic bulb.
What is the recommended daily value for garlic?
Garlic extract is not recognised as an essential nutrient, so there is no nutrient reference value (NRV) for this substance. In clinical studies, however, 200-400mg daily doses are the most common.
Can you absorb enough garlic from food?
To consume the equivalent of 200-400mg of garlic extract per day, it’s necessary to eat 1-2 whole garlic cloves. No matter how much you may like the taste of this odoriferous bulb, that’s a lot of garlic.
Why is garlic necessary for your body?
Modern science has begun delivering concrete evidence backing up the ancient belief that garlic provides protection from illness and increases vitality. Specifically, garlic appears to prevent prevalent illnesses like the flu and the common cold, and this plant bulb also appears to have potent, widespread antioxidant effects. Additionally, garlic extract may help with athletic performance, prevent osteoporosis, improve your heart health, and deliver other impressive benefits.
Functions of garlic
- Potential immune benefits: Clinical research indicates that garlic extract could reduce instances of the common cold and flu by over 60%. Studies also suggest that garlic could reduce the duration of cold symptoms by 70% or more.
Research has shown that garlic may be an effective tool against the common cold. Feel Immunity includes 8mg of Garlic Extract, ideal for supporting your immune system all year long.
- Potential cardiovascular benefits: Research indicates that garlic extract may reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension and reduce levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Garlic does not, however, appear to reduce levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.
- Potential antioxidant benefits: Clinical studies show that garlic may exert powerful antioxidant effects. Combined with this substance’s purported cardiovascular benefits, these potential antioxidant effects could exert neuroprotective properties that prevent common neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
- Potential athletic performance benefits: Studies indicate that garlic may lower peak heart rate and reduce exercise-induced fatigue.
- Potential detoxification benefits: One clinical study indicates that consuming garlic may be just as effective at removing heavy metals from your body as mainline treatments.
- Potential bone health benefits: Numerous clinical and lab studies indicate that garlic may reduce bone density loss, which can occur throughout life and is especially common in post-menopausal women.
When should you take garlic?
It’s a good time to take garlic whenever fears of infectious disease are on the rise. This natural substance may also be useful for people who suffer from or want to prevent common cardiovascular conditions, and it may even be helpful to take garlic prior to athletic events. Regardless of your favourite activities or health status, garlic extract appears to offer impressive, widespread health benefits.
How long do you need to take garlic extract to start experiencing its benefits?
Since some of the beneficial compounds in garlic extract are fat-soluble, it may take 1-2 weeks for this substance to deliver noticeable effects.
Consistency is key and our research recommends to take your Feel supplements for at least 3 months to allow your body to adjust and provide you with the desired benefits.
How long does it take for your body to digest/absorb garlic?
Your body will digest the water-soluble substances present in garlic extract within around 24 hours, but diallyl disulphide and other fat-soluble substances in garlic take longer to absorb.
How long does garlic stay in your body after you take it?
The water-soluble compounds in garlic only remain in your body for 2-3 days, but the fat-soluble compounds in garlic may remain in your body for multiple weeks.
Is garlic an antioxidant?
Clinical and lab research indicates that multiple compounds present in garlic extract may exert direct antioxidant benefits.
Can you overdose on garlic? What are the effects?
There are no known cases of fatal garlic overdose, but consuming too much of this substance may cause indigestion, heartburn, and nausea.
Does garlic dissolve, flush out, or build up in the body?
The water-soluble compounds in garlic extract generally flush out of your body within 1-2 days, but the fat-soluble compounds in garlic extract may build up in your body’s fatty tissues.
Can you take garlic extract during a diet?
Taking garlic extract does not make you gain weight, and this substance is vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and cruelty-free.
Are there synthetic forms of garlic extract?
Limited efforts have been made to synthesise allicin, an important component of fresh garlic.
Absorption rate of synthetic garlic extract
No information is available regarding the bioavailability of synthetic allicin versus natural forms of this substance.
Why might natural forms of garlic extract be better?
There is no indication that allicin is the component of garlic responsible for this plant bulb’s beneficial effects. Taking full spectrum garlic extract optimises the potential benefits of this plant.
How to take garlic
Garlic is generally ingested orally in the form of fresh cloves or powdered extract.
Garlic trends in medicine
Over the last year, two studies have been released that add further evidence supporting the idea that garlic extract may have cardiovascular benefits. In the first study, clinical research indicated that garlic extract may stop coronary artery calcification, reduce blood glucose levels, and reduce blood pressure. The results of the second study indicate that garlic may also increase arterial elasticity, which reduces your risk of developing serious cardiovascular conditions.
Sources
1. Preventing the Common Cold With a Garlic Supplement: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Survey
2. Effects of Allium Sativum (Garlic) on Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure in Patients With Essential Hypertension
3. Lipid-lowering Effects of Time-Released Garlic Powder Tablets in Double-Blinded Placebo-Controlled Randomized Study
4. Antioxidant Health Effects of Aged Garlic Extract
5. Garlic as an Anti-Fatigue Agent
6. Comparison of Therapeutic Effects of Garlic and d-Penicillamine in Patients With Chronic Occupational Lead Poisoning
7. Role of Peritoneal Macrophages and Lymphocytes in the Development of Hypogonadal Osteoporosis in an Ovariectomized Rat Model: Possible Phytoestrogenic Efficacy of Oil Extract of Garlic to Preserve Skeletal Health
8. The effect of aged garlic extract on the atherosclerotic process – a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial
9. Effects of aged garlic extract on arterial elasticity in a placebo‑controlled clinical trial using EndoPAT™ technology
