Vegetables from the garlic family are, along with cruciferous vegetables, the foods most often associated with a reduced risk of developing several types of cancer.
Whether it’s garlic, onion, green onions or chives, these vegetables really deserve a prominent place in your eating habits… provided you respect a small formality.
Crushing a clove of garlic or slicing an onion are seemingly banal acts that are performed mechanically, without thinking too much. However, these simple gestures are of capital importance for the prevention of cancer!
For example, crushing a clove of garlic leads to extremely significant changes in its chemical composition: an abundant molecule present in garlic (alliin) is then transformed by the action of an enzyme into allicin, a very unstable molecule. which in turn is transformed into regarding thirty other compounds.
These newly formed molecules have the particularity of containing one or more sulfur atoms in their chemical structure, and their appearance does not go unnoticed! Crushing a clove of garlic therefore transforms the inactive and odorless molecules present in this vegetable into highly volatile compounds that give garlic its characteristic smell.
The same type of reaction occurs with the onion, except that instead of forming allicin, the crushing of this vegetable causes the appearance of an irritating factor for the eyes which can make many people cry!
But much more than just the production of odors and flavors, the formation of allicin by grinding garlic is very important for the prevention of cancer.
Indeed, while the molecule present in the unbroken bulb (alliin) has no particular biological activity, allicin and its derivatives, on the contrary, have extraordinary anti-cancer activity and are the major generators of the beneficial properties of these vegetables in the prevention of cancer.
Fewer colon and stomach cancers
Several studies have shown that people who regularly eat vegetables from the garlic family have a lower risk of developing several types of cancers, especially those of the digestive system such as stomach and colon cancers. For example, in a study carried out in Italy, it was shown that frequent garlic consumers were half as affected by stomach cancer as people who consumed it very rarely.
Garlic helps eliminate toxic pollutants in the body
The research carried out in recent years has made it possible to define at least one major mechanism by which vegetables of the garlic family prevent the development of several cancers, in particular those affecting the digestive system. The fragrant molecules released by the grinding of these vegetables have the ability to accelerate the elimination from the body of carcinogenic toxic substances, which reduces the risk of these substances attacking the genetic material and causing mutations that can initiate a cancer.
Garlic and its cousins therefore represent not only essential ingredients in the culinary arts, but also a very important facet of a cancer prevention strategy through diet. These vegetables actively participate in the elimination of toxic compounds from the body, in addition to directly attacking microtumors that form spontaneously to prevent them from growing.
But remember, to promote the formation of anti-cancer molecules in garlic and thus make the most of their beneficial properties, crush the cloves a few minutes before adding them to your dishes or salad dressings.
Enjoy your lunch !
