In March of this year, my grandfather would be turning 102. Born in 1917, he passed away just shy of his 97th birthday, after a long and fascinating life. Remarkably, in 1917 the average life expectancy for men was 48 years. John was a massive proponent of following a healthy lifestyle, growing all your own vegetables by tending to a massive garden, keeping the mind stimulated by reading voraciously, and constantly chewing the fat. I also like to think that a major reason he lived so long, besides his incredibly healthy lifestyle, was the right mix of exposure to stress (physical and mental), intense activity, and hard work.
For instance, after returning from the war, where he was stationed in North Africa, England, and Bari, Italy, he worked for Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical in Neville Island (the same Neville Island where I had roller skating parties during grade school). Eventually it was bought by Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, and even later became Shenango Coke Works. John was asked to retire with full benefits in his late fifties, assuming this would be a deal for his company. Little did they know he would tend his garden and watch his daughter and grandchildren grow up over the next 41 years.
With no college education, John worked in accounting channeling his exceptional math skills. Of note, years later Neville Island would undergo a massive and extensive cleanup project due to large amounts of radioactive uranium in its soil. In other words, John was exposed to a lot of junk in his lifetime. In fact, he was exposed to a large amount of cancerous chemicals, likely hydrocarbons, radioactive waste, and soot in the Pittsburgh air that was so thick, it would turn his white shirts gray.
Despite all of this, John almost made it to the century mark. Was it simply good genes? This likely played a large part. However, if you ask his friends and family, they would point to something else, something unexpected.
The Benefits of Garlic:
We have already discussed the massive benefits of garlic, green, and cruciferous vegetables. However, the key to remember is that garlic, an allium vegetable, contains that infamous pungent organosulfur compound. This defense chemical is released after garlic is sliced, and a combination of chemicals causes the release of the sulfur-based allicin. Allicin works to stimulate our immune cells, but also and perhaps more importantly in the case of my grandfather, works to detoxify the body of harmful and cancerous chemicals.
For example, when harmful vegetable oils bombard our DNA and cells with free radicals, the chemicals in garlic can help protect our valuable cellular genetic material1 and offset potential cancer-causing damage.2 Beyond enabling our cells to defend against free radical damage, the antioxidant cellular pathways enhanced from the chemicals in garlic overlap with several detoxification mechanisms, helping the body to rid itself of harmful chemicals, like the ones John encountered every day at Neville Island.3
John Reichl, preparing for WW2, looking eerily like me.
Studies support the detoxification effects of the chemicals in garlic, especially when it comes to these harmful chemicals. For instance, when cigarette smokers are supplied with watercress extract, which contains organosulfur chemicals, it blocks the breakdown and absorption of several of these cancerous chemicals, and instead discards them in the urine.4 Compounds from cruciferous vegetables, likely via similar mechanisms, reduce the amount of free radical damage to the lungs from cigarette smoke and the plethora of chemicals is contains.5 Animal studies reveal that other organs, like the esophagus,6 liver, and breasts7 are spared from the damage of these dangerous chemicals from the compounds in garlic.
While the benefits of garlic are plentiful, these benefits seem to be present more so in raw garlic. Cooking garlic can reduce its breath issues, but also destroy any active sulfur chemicals. Chopped raw garlic, on the other hand, remains extremely pungent, but also appears to have the largest amounts of allicin.8 Can we achieve both – avoid the bad breath but still harness the cancer-fighting chemicals?
Maximizing Your Benefits of Garlic:
Was garlic the reason John lived so long? Probably not the only reason, but it likely played a part in his exceptional health (did I mention he never had a surgery and only saw a doctor three times in his entire life, once mandated for military in-processing and once when he died?). Based on all of the benefits of garlic and the impression my grandfather left upon me, I have been forever attempting to increase the amount of garlic in my diet. However, these attempts left me offending everyone around me and threatened to end my new marriage.
John Reichl was perhaps best remembered for his garden, homegrown garlic, and his habit of eating cloves upon cloves of raw garlic throughout the day. He is probably next best remembered for his year-round and constant garlic stench. His wife was nice enough to deal with it for nearly seven centuries, but I was not this lucky. After years of attempts, I have finally succeeding in getting my uncooked garlic while avoiding the bad breath. The steps are listed below.
You may think this whole process sounds ridiculous. Yet, it enables me to eat large amounts of raw, sliced and allium-rich garlic, while still preserving my marriage and job. In fact, if done correctly, nobody around you will even notice.
Check out these three easy steps and give it a try:
The Benefits of Garlic References:
- Amagase H, Schaffer EM, Milner JA. Dietary components modify the ability of garlic to suppress 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced mammary DNA adducts. J Nutr. 1996;126(4):817-824. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8613883. Accessed September 9, 2017.
- Liu J, Lin RI, Milner JA. Inhibition of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced mammary tumors and DNA adducts by garlic powder. Carcinogenesis. 1992;13(10):1847-1851. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1423843. Accessed September 9, 2017.
- Guyonnet D, Siess M-H, Le Bon A-M, Suschetet M. Modulation of Phase II Enzymes by Organosulfur Compounds from Allium Vegetables in Rat Tissues. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1999;154(1):50-58. doi:10.1006/taap.1998.8574
- Hecht SS, Chung FL, Richie JP, et al. Effects of watercress consumption on metabolism of a tobacco-specific lung carcinogen in smokers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1995;4(8):877-884. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8634661. Accessed September 2, 2017.
- Chung FL, Morse MA, Eklind KI, Xu Y. Inhibition of tobacco-specific nitrosamine-induced lung tumorigenesis by compounds derived from cruciferous vegetables and green tea. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1993;686:186-201; discussion 201-2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8512247. Accessed September 19, 2017.
- Stoner GD, Morse MA. Isothiocyanates and plant polyphenols as inhibitors of lung and esophageal cancer. Cancer Lett. 1997;114(1-2):113-119. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9103268. Accessed September 19, 2017.
- International Agency for Research on Cancer. Glucosinolates, isothiocyanates and indoles. IARC Publ. 2004. http://www.iarc.fr/en/publications/pdfs-online/prev/handbook9/Handbook9_Cruciferous-Vegetables-2.pdf. Accessed September 20, 2017.
- Song K, Milner JA. The influence of heating on the anticancer properties of garlic. J Nutr. 2001;131(3s):1054S-7S. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11238815. Accessed September 2, 2017.
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