Nutrition Tip - Rest Cut Garlic Before Cooking
Renata Richardson
A simple and highly effective way to enhance your health!
Like many cooks, you probably peel and then chop, mince, or crush your garlic and cook it immediately. Doing this, however, means you miss out on a very beneficial nutritional advantage. Feel free to peel, chop, mince, or crush your garlic, but before adding it to your pan, let it rest for 10-15 minutes. This pause allows the health-boosting compound 'allicin’ in the garlic to activate. Fresh garlic contains an amino acid protein called 'alliin.’ When the garlic clove is chopped, minced, or crushed, a heat-sensitive enzyme called ‘alliinase' is released. Cooking the garlic before alliinase is released prevents the nutritional magic from occurring. Together, alliin and alliinase form allicin, which acts as an antioxidant and antibiotic, and has been shown to reduce inflammation. Studies indicate that allicin may help support a healthy heart by lowering bad cholesterol, and the antioxidants in garlic might also help protect against cognitive decline. As you can see, it’s a good habit to adopt cut the garlic called for in your recipe and let it sit for 10 minutes before cooking. After this time, the allicin is formed and will retain its nutritional benefits during cooking. You can also cut garlic, let it sit, then add it to olive oil (if your recipe includes oil) and allow it to sit longer, infusing the oil with garlic's healthful properties. Such a simple and highly effective way to boost your health! Alla Salute!
Like many cooks, you likely peel and then chop, mince or crush your garlic and cook it right away.
By doing this, you are missing out on a very healthy nutritional benefit.
Go ahead and peel, chop, mince or crush your garlic, but before you put it in your pan,
let it rest for 10-15 minutes. This allows the health-promoting component ‘allicin’ in the
cut garlic to activate. Fresh garlic contains an amino acid protein called ‘alliin’.
When the garlic clove is chopped, minced or crushed, a heat-sensitive enzyme, ‘alliinase’,
is released. Cooking cut garlic before alliinase is released stops the nutritional magic from
happening. Together, alliin + alliinase form allicin, which is an antioxidant, an antibiotic and
has been found to reduce inflammation. Studies have shown that allicin can help promote a
healthy heart by lowering bad cholesterol, and the antioxidants in garlic may help protect against
cognitive decline.
As you can see, it’s a good habit to get into – cut the garlic called for in your recipe and
let it sit 10 minutes before using it in your cooking. After 10 minutes, the allicin is
formed and will maintain its nutritional benefits when heated as you cook. You can also
cut garlic, let it sit, then put it in olive oil (if your recipe calls for oil) and let it sit longer to infuse the healthy oil with the garlic essence. Such a simple and very effective way to boost your health!
Alla Salute!
