What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Garlic Regularly
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If a recipe calls for one clove of garlic, and you add three, or if there’s a garlicky pasta on the menu, and you order it every time—you’re in the right place.
Many of us love garlic. And if you count yourself in that group, you’re in luck—because this member of the allium genus of plants provides some pretty impressive health benefits when eaten regularly. We dove into the research to find out exactly what you can expect for your heart, digestion and immune system function. Learn the nutrition facts and health benefits of garlic, plus some ideas for how to add more garlic to your diet.
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Health Benefits of Regularly Eating Garlic
Garlic has many health benefits. Here are a few evidence-backed ones you may experience when you regularly eat garlic.
Immune System Support
Chronic inflammation can harm your immunity by reducing your white blood cell count. Studies investigating the effects of garlic extract have found that it helps reduce systemic inflammation and restore white blood cell levels, per a 2021 review in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Research. This is largely thanks to allicin, a sulfur-containing compound in allium foods like onions, chives and garlic.
A 2020 review in Trends in Food Science & Technology found that garlic may have antiviral activity, thanks to compounds called organosulfurs. The researchers believe garlic helps prevent viruses from entering and replicating in our cells.
May Lower Cholesterol Levels
Managing your cholesterol levels is important because high cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease and stroke, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But statins, the class of drugs often prescribed to lower cholesterol levels, can have some nasty side effects. For this reason, many people turn to more natural remedies—and garlic is one of them.
For example, a 2024 review in the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition suggests that there is plenty of evidence supporting garlic improving cholesterol levels, particularly in adults over 50. And another 2024 review in Nutrients suggests that garlic may improve total cholesterol, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
Blood Pressure Support
Garlic’s impact on immune health, along with its potential to reduce cholesterol levels, may also reduce blood pressure, per another 2024 review in Nutrients. These researchers feel that garlic’s rich antioxidant profile is credited for exerting antihypertensive effects through multiple pathways at the cellular level.
A 2024 review in Prostaglandins & Other Lipid Mediators found that people with high blood pressure who took 1200 mg/day of aged garlic extract significantly lowered both systolic (top number in blood pressure reading) and diastolic (lower number) blood pressure.
May Improve Blood Sugar Levels
The aforementioned review in Nutrients not only found evidence to support garlic improving cholesterol levels but fasting blood glucose and HbA1c levels as well. A 2023 review in Chinese Medicine also supports garlic as helping to lower fasting blood glucose.
A promising 2024 study in Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome found that aged garlic extract helped stabilize blood sugar by directly influencing beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells are responsible for making insulin—and insulin is the hormone that controls the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood.
Might Improve Gut Health
Your gut microbiome is made up of a plethora of microorganisms, including beneficial bacteria—often referred to as probiotics—and unhealthy bacteria. You want a healthy balance of good to bad bacteria in your gut and one way to ensure this is to eat fermented foods regularly to place probiotics into your gut. But even bacteria need to eat, and that’s where garlic comes in. Garlic is a prebiotic—food for your healthy gut bacteria.
Evidence suggests that garlic may play a role in helping your gut microbiome thrive. For example, after three months of Kyolic-aged garlic extract supplementation, participants in a 2020 review and meta-analysis in Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine had more diverse and healthy gut microbiomes.
A 2024 study in Microorganisms introduced garlic to human feces in the lab (sounds gross but stick with me). The stool samples that had garlic added to them had more microbial diversity compared to the samples without garlic. In addition, the garlic stool increased in beneficial probiotics—specifically, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, the probiotic often found in yogurt.
Unfortunately, garlic isn’t friendly to everyone’s gastrointestinal system. Garlic is high in fructans, one of the FODMAPs, so it may trigger digestive symptoms like gas and bloating for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Other Potential Benefits
Garlic is also a source of antioxidants, which reduce inflammation in the body. For example, there is evidence suggesting that antioxidants in aged garlic extract may lessen neuroinflammation to support healthy brain function with age, per a 2020 study in Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. And a 2024 review in Frontiers in Immunology suggests that garlic’s bioactive compounds—including antioxidants—may be responsible for its health benefits. These benefits include protection against cancer, diabetes, inflammation, heart disease, and infections.
Garlic Nutrition
Garlic not only adds flavor to dishes, it also adds nutrition. Here are the nutrition facts for three cloves of raw garlic, per the USDA:
- Calories: 13
- Total Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Dietary Fiber: 0 g
- Total Sugars: 0 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 g
- Sodium: 1.5 mg
Since the volume of garlic we typically eat is rather small, the amount of nutrients we ingest is also low. That said, garlic contains health-promoting nutrients like vitamin C, zinc, iron, potassium, magnesium and vitamin K. If you eat garlic regularly, the vitamins and minerals will add up.
How to Incorporate Garlic into Your Diet
Garlic is a kitchen staple. You can keep garlic powder in your pantry, purchase minced garlic in a jar, freeze garlic puree in an ice cube tray or buy fresh heads of garlic to crush, slice or prep in a garlic press. Here are some ways to incorporate more garlic in your diet:
- Use it to season veggies. Cook minced garlic in a pan with oil to infuse the oil with a yummy garlic flavor. Then add your favorite veggies. Alternatively, if you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, you can use powdered garlic later in the cooking process. If you have IBS, use garlic-infused oil, which includes plenty of garlic flavor without the garlic gut issues.
- Add it to rice. Adding garlic to rice dishes, like fried rice, gives it so much flavor. Plus, it pairs well with most proteins and veggies. Our easy, step-by-step guide for making fried rice is a great place to start.
- Mix it into stews or curries. Garlic is often used in curries in parts of Asia and stews in parts of Latin America. Again, it’s all about adding flavor and nutrition. Try this Chickpea & Potato Curry for a flavorful, vegetarian curry with garlic.
- Make a homemade salsa. Salsa is one of the most underrated ways to get more veggies. You can purchase jarred salsa, but why not try making it at home? This Roasted Tomatillo Salsa incorporates plenty of veggies including tomatillos, jalapeños, onion and—you guessed it—garlic!
- Flavor proteins with it. Garlic goes well with almost every type of protein, such as fish, chicken, pork and beef. It also goes great with plant-based proteins like beans and tofu. Try the Garlic-Herb Chicken Cutlets & Garlic-Herb Tuna recipe for inspiration. You can also use a similar seasoning blend with other proteins.
- Add it to pasta. Whether you’re having pasta with a red sauce, creamy sauce or oil, garlic goes great in just about every pasta dish. If you need ideas, try this One Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach or this Simple, Delicious Pasta Aglio e Olio (with Garlic and Oil).
The Bottom Line
Garlic is a common vegetable in many cultural cuisines and has been used as an herbal remedy for centuries. Not only does it add a whole lot of flavor, but it also adds a little nutrition.
It is important to note that many studies use garlic supplements—garlic powder or oil in capsules—which are more concentrated forms of garlic. Because of this, it can be difficult to know if study results apply to using garlic in cooking. With that said, one mini-review in Frontiers in Nutrition only reviewed studies using raw white garlic and found plenty of evidence supporting garlic as beneficial for improving blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol, reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and improving liver function.
Adding more garlic to your diet doesn’t hurt and may even provide health benefits. The exception is for those with digestive illnesses like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), since garlic may increase gas, bloating and acid reflux.
You’ll also want to be careful about taking high doses of garlic if you’re taking medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol or blood clots. Since garlic has antihypertensive, antidiabetic and cholesterol-lowering effects, you might lower these parameters too much. Talk to your healthcare provider before adding any supplement to your routine or dramatically increasing the amount of a certain food—including garlic.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What happens if I eat garlic every day?Many cultures around the globe enjoy garlic daily, and the chances of unpleasant effects are low. You may be more likely to reap the health benefits of garlic if you eat it more often, since we tend to eat it in small quantities. However, if you have gut issues like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), garlic may cause gas and bloating.
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Does garlic detox your body?For the average person, garlic does not detox your body. Your liver and kidneys do so regardless of whether or not you eat garlic.
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Does garlic burn belly fat?Some people claim that garlic’s anti-inflammatory properties “burn belly fat,” but this isn’t true. Eating garlic hasn’t been shown to result in long-term sustained weight loss.
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What is the healthiest way to eat garlic?Eating garlic as close to raw as possible is the healthiest way to eat garlic, since the allicin content will be at its peak. The more garlic is processed and cooked, the lower the allicin content gets.
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