In the first article of this series, we looked at why garlic is useful to a prepper — I mean, beyond being tasty and keeping away vampires. In this part (see Part 1 by clicking here), we look at how to get it done as a prep: How to get it and use it. And in this podcast, Salty and I talked over both aspects:
There are two ways to get a useful amount of garlic: Using a lot of it in food preparation, or taking it as a supplement. Both are useful, probably. The scientific studies cited in the first article all used supplement forms, but people who eat the most garlic do have considerably lower rates of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer than those who don’t, so food appears to have enough to be valuable.
Garlic. Grow it.
Although a year or two’s worth of supplements would probably keep well enough, the best long-term supply is to grow your own. I must be a super-master-green-thumb gardener or something, because a few years ago, I bought a bulb when I was seed shopping, separated the cloves, and stuck them in the garden. Here’s how the spot looks today:
All I had to do was not harvest it all last year, and I got this. Garlic is perennial.
Yep, garlic is a perennial. To get nicer form in the bulbs, it helps to pull them up, separate the cloves, and replant the cloves a litter farther apart, but all you really need to do is leave some of it in the ground year to year. Hmm, maybe it didn’t take a master gardener at all…
Garlic. Store it.
The plant is best harvested in early to mid summer, when the bulbs are full and the wrappers are no longer loose but the cloves haven’t swollen so far as to pop open. (1) It should be cured for 10-14 days, basically by putting it somewhere out of direct sunlight but with good ventilation that isn’t too hot; less than 90 F. Then it can be stored in the cool dark (about 35 F is best) for a couple of months before it starts losing freshness from water loss.
Those are the ag specialists’ recommendations. I find it works ok just to pick it when I need it; and if the ground’s about to freeze I take out some for winter use and keep it in a dark cool cabinet. It’s still usable until spring.
One can also chop and dry it. Drying at temps over 140 F is said to destroy the enzyme that’s necessary for converting precursor molecules in the plant into the most medically useful forms. (2) . This probably explains why some supplement versions have been found to be ineffective, while others work very well — so I wouldn’t recommend drying it hot. On average, dried preparations have the same sorts of effects as fresh crushed garlic, but less potent. (3)
Some garlic supplements proved to work much better than others. A likely reason is preparation methods. Hot drying is not recommended.
One popular preparation method is to make what they call AGE, Aged Garlic Extracts. AGE ends up with a somewhat different collection of medically useful compounds than fresh garlic, but both are useful. Both AGE and fresh/dried preparations seemed useful in improving blood lipids, but the AGE is the treatment of choice in most papers looking for regulating immune activity and having anti-cancer effects. (4) It was also the AGE that was proven effective in reducing kidney damage in diabetes. (5)
The bad news is, *AGED* garlic extracts take a long time to make. The good news is, they’re easy to prepare. Just submerge the fresh finely chopped, thinly sliced, or crushed garlic in a solution of about 20% ethanol (that would be about 1:1 vodka:water) and let it sit for 15-20 months. (6) I’d keep it in the dark; the papers didn’t mention this but many bioactive compounds are light sensitive.
Garlic. Use it.
The sorts of things the plant is most useful for are preventative medicine for chronic diseases. That means long term regular dosing is what’s going to help, not waiting until some disaster strikes. The two basic choice are to cook with it a lot, or take supplements. It seems likely that both methods work well.
One thing about cooking with it though: It’s important to crush or finely chop the garlic, rather than coarse chopping or slicing it. There’s an enzyme inside the cells that needs to be outside of the cells for a few minutes before getting mixed with stomach acids if the enzyme is to do its job of activating important compounds. Crushing the clove then putting it in food gives the enzyme enough time to act. (3)
How much should you take? I’m not a physician; so I don’t make medical recommendations. I will pass along, though, that most of the studies I’ve been citing in these posts used supplements (much easier to control than a person’s diet). Those using dried garlic usually gave 300 mg of powdered extract 3x per day. Those using AGE often used 300 mg 4x/day.
This is the part where I’d usually talk about counter-indications and side effects to be careful of. There’s not a lot to say about garlic though. It’s got a great safety profile. Side effects for those on the supplements were rare and usually quite mild. (7) A few people had some abdominal discomfort and gas. A very few were allergic. Slightly enhanced bleeding was seen very occasionally. The most common reported effects, far and away, were garlicy breath and body odor.
In short, even though garlic supplements were as good at lowering blood cholesterol in those with mild to moderate high cholesterol as were the prescription medications, they had far fewer complications. (8) Some gardeners even claim the garlic growing in the garden discourages some pests. There’s not a lot of downsides to this one. Garlic bread anyone?
1) Garlic harvest, curing, and storage. (2013) UMassAmherst Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/garlic-harvest-curing-storage
2) Qidwai, W., & Ashfaq, T. (2013). Role of garlic usage in cardiovascular disease prevention: An evidence-based approach. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013, 1-9. doi:10.1155/2013/125649
3) Lawson, L. and Gardner, C. Composition, Stability, and Bioavailability of Garlic Products Used in a Clinical Trial. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2005, 53 (16), pp 6254–6261. DOI: 10.1021/jf050536+
4) Arreola, R., Quintero-Fabián, S., López-Roa, R. I., Flores-Gutiérrez, E. O., Reyes-Grajeda, J. P., Carrera-Quintanar, L., & Ortuño-Sahagún, D. (2015). Immunomodulation and anti-inflammatory effects of garlic compounds. Journal of Immunology Research, 2015, 1-13. doi:10.1155/2015/401630
5) Nasri, H. (2013). Renoprotective effects of garlic. Journal of Renal Injury Prevention, 2(1), 27–28. http://doi.org/10.12861/jrip.2013.09
6) Bayan, L., Koulivand, P. H., & Gorji, A. (2014). Garlic: a review of potential therapeutic effects. Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine, 4(1), 1–14.
7) Schwingshackl, L., Missbach, B., & Hoffmann, G. (2016). An umbrella review of garlic intake and risk of cardiovascular disease. Phytomedicine : International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology, 23(11), 1127-1133. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2015.10.015
8) Karin Ried, Catherine Toben, Peter Fakler; Effect of garlic on serum lipids: an updated meta-analysis, Nutrition Reviews, Volume 71, Issue 5, 1 May 2013, Pages 282–299, https://doi.org/10.1111/nure.12012
Garlic will act as a blood thinner if ingested in high enough quantities. Take a couple garlic pills instead of that baby aspirin everyday.
Garlic is a great companion plant in the garden and can help repel certain pests. Plant it with carrots, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and potatoes for example.
When the tops of garlic turn brown and “fall over”, it is ready to harvest (like onions). It certainly requires a drying period of a couple weeks in low humidity, with substantial air flow.
Once dried, the garlic can be weaved and hung in a cool, dry place. Makes the whole area smell great. Alternative method, cut the tops off about 1 inch above the bulb, drop the bulb into a pantyhose leg and tie a knot. Continue with additional bulbs and knots. When ready to use, just cut below the bottom most knot and use that bulb. This still allows for airflow to prevent mold (works for onions too).