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 Posted By: Jafo232 
Jan 28  # 1 of 10
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Quote wrote:
Garlic is used extensively in herbal medicine and it contains compounds shown to help prevent blood clots. But most studies have tested raw garlic and cooking can damage garlic’s anti-clotting compounds.

But cooking uncrushed garlic for six minutes completely suppressed the anti-clotting properties, the researchers added.

That helped preserve the compounds, although they still lost much of their anti-clotting effects after three to six minutes.

Funny, I have always thought this and now this is the second article I have seen where researchers say that crushing garlic releases increases the benefits.

Another article that I cannot find anymore was a bit more detailed and recommended that you crush garlic at least 30 minutes before you cook with it.

I figured that when you crush garlic, it all of a sudden starts to get very sticky and in my mind I always believed it to be some sort of benefit to get the live clove to do it. Seems science is thinking the same way. Every time I cook, and I know I will need garlic, I always start preparing garlic first, even if I know I wont need the ingredient for another hour.
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 Posted By: KYHeirloomer 
Jan 28  # 2 of 10
Jafo, won't bore you with all the names (there are three so similar that they confuse everybody), but the enzymes and sufurides that make up the active ingredients are released on contact with oxygen.

That's why sliced is better than whole, chopped better than sliced, minced better than chopped, etc. The smaller the individual pieces the more surface area you expose, and, thus, the more active ingredients you activate.

However, both letting the garlic sit for any length of time, and cooking it, negates the medicinal benefits. So for cooking purposes your concern is with flavor. And to maximize that, you want to chop, mince, or crush the garlic just before adding it to the cooking pot.
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 Posted By: Jafo232 
Jan 28  # 3 of 10
According to this report from Science Daily:
Quote wrote:
Their report notes that allowing crushed garlic to stand for 10 minutes before cooking may further enhance formation of those compounds before heat inactivates alliinase

Similar to New Scientist:
Quote wrote:
showed that leaving the garlic to stand allows time for the alliinase to get to work creating the blood-thinning compounds

They seem to think that letting it stand actually increases the benefit.
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 Posted By: KYHeirloomer 
Jan 28  # 4 of 10
As a blood thinner, perhaps. And ten minutes is not the same as a half hour.

What do they say happens after you cook it? The original write-up you quoted seems to support my contention that you lose the medicinal benefits after cooking.
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 Posted By: Cook Chatty Cathy 
Jan 28  # 5 of 10
I am also reading the article and it seems to say that in conclusion eating raw garlic is healthiest for the blood clot fighting properties to be obtained.

Let us know please.

My Mom suffers from Flebitis and I would like to share this with her.