The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, "You may eat as much garlic and onion as you like, but no sweet potatoes and no white potatoes."
Garlic's health benefits and medicinal properties are well documented. Garlic is considered a "wonder drug" and has a reputation in folklore for preventing everything from the common cold to the flu. Raw garlic is used by some to treat the symptoms of acne and there is some evidence that it can assist in managing high cholesterol levels. It can even be effective as a natural mosquito repellent.
In general, a stronger tasting clove of garlic has more sulphur content and hence more medicinal value it's likely to have.
Modern science has shown that garlic is a powerful natural antibiotic, albeit broad-spectrum rather than targeted. The body does not appear to build up resistance to the garlic, so its positive health benefits continue over time.
There are two main medical ingredients which produce the garlic health benefits: allicin and diallyl sulphides.
Allicin is an excellent anti-fungal and has antibiotic properties. Allicin starts to degrade immediately after it is produced, so its medical effectiveness decreases over time. Cooking speeds up this degradation and microwaving appears to destroy allicin totally and eliminate any health benefits.
Diallyl sulphides are also less volatile than allicin. They do not degrade as quickly and, importantly, the health benefits survive cooking.
Diallyl sulphides do not share the antifungal properties of allicin. However they are reportedly good for the blood and circulation. The sulphides help to lower the levels of "bad" cholesterol, hence garlic might help to keep the heart and cardiovascular system healthy. Diallyl suphides also have a reputation for boosting the immune system.
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