garlic :P

KOREA WINS!!!!!!! Italy is out! Go Korea!
10:13PMJust had breakfast with dad. We had a long talk and he asked me to join him for lunch this Friday for some Japanese buffet. Then we went on talking about golf. He encouraged me to take up golfing by taking golfing lessons at some golf club. He was once a golfer himself but it seems that work has taken up his interest in golf. “Golf is a high class game and profession like you will have to take up golfing so you could mix with the cream of the society”. So Khaifei, let’s go golfing when you’re back okay? hehe
7:16AMI’m addicted to garlic *yummy*
After my arcade session, I came back finding that there’s a strange smell in my room and mum’s room. It smelled like gas. I searched for the source of the smell and even headed towards the kitchen but yet in vain. Frustrated, I decided to ignore it. Hours later, I found out that the source was from a box on top of the fridge which contained 10 pieces of yummy durian. Looks like mum left it there for me. *burp* garlics with durians smell!
Garlic benefits
Cholesterol Reducer
There is little doubt that garlic reduces blood cholesterol. In studies of people with high cholesterol (over 200), one-half to one whole garlic clove daily typically lowered their levels by about 9 percent, according to a major review of the evidence by Stephen Warshafsky at New York Medical College in Valhalla. Benefits showed up in a month and also came from garlic supplements. Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter suggests two cloves of garlic a day might be as potent as some cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Artery Protector
A newly discovered garlic plus: It prevents bad-type LDL cholesterol from oxidizing, a process that initiates plaque buildup on artery walls, which can lead to clogging, heart attack and stroke. The theory is that unoxidized cholesterol is not very harmful. In a study by University of Kansas researchers, taking 600 milligrams of powdered garlic every day for two weeks reduced LDL oxidation by a remarkable 34 percent. So garlic eaters might have less harmful cholesterol than non-garlic eaters with identical cholesterol counts.

Blood Thinner
Studies suggest that garlic compounds help thin the blood, says Eric Block, professor of chemistry at the State University of New York at Albany. Block has isolated a garlic chemical, ajoene, (ajo is Spanish for garlic) with anti-coagulant activity equal or superior to that of aspirin. Raw garlic (three cloves a day) improved clot-dissolving activity by about 20 percent in a double-blind study of medical students in India. Cooking garlic might enhance its anti-clotting activity.

Cancer Blocker
Much research shows that garlic contains many chemicals that in laboratory animals block cancers of every type, including breast, liver and colon. A specific garlic compound suppressed the growth of prostate cancer cells in test tubes by about 25 percent, reports John Pinto of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Dedicated garlic eaters may escape certain cancers. Example: In a recent study of 42,000 older women in Iowa, those who ate garlic more than once a week were half as likely to develop colon cancer as non-garlic eaters.

Infection Fighter
Garlic kills viruses responsible for colds and the flu, according to tests by James North, a microbiologist at Brigham Young University. Eat garlic when you feel a sore throat coming on, he says, and you may not even get sick. (Eat garlic when you’re stuffed up, too: It acts as a decongestant.) Other studies suggest that garlic revs up immune functioning by stimulating infection-fighting T-cells.

Baby ‘Appetizer’
Even babies like garlic. When nursing mothers eat garlic, infants stay longer at the breast and drink more, not less, milk, according to tests at Monnel Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia.

Raw or cooked?
For anti-bacterial or anti-viral effect, only raw garlic will do. Both raw and cooked garlic seem to have cardiovascular, decongestive and anti-cancer benefits.
Eating more than three raw cloves a day can cause gas, bloating, diarrhoea and fever in some people. Cooked garlic is gentler on the stomach.
All garlic (crushed, chopped in jars, paste, even garlic powder off the spice shelf) can have health benefits.

Garlic Breath
Eating parsley or mints or sloshing mouthwash only temporarily dims garlic breath. Garlic infuses your blood and lungs, typically giving off an odour for 4-18 hours. The strength and duration of the odder depend on your body’s individual reaction.
If you are a garlic-lover, it’s wise to surround yourself with others who enjoy garlic, or try munching on parsley to rid yourself of garlic breath. And, to rid your hands of the smell after peeling and/or chopping garlic, simply wash your hands and then rub your clean hands on a chrome faucet. It works like magic!

Science
Garlic, scientifically known as Allium sativa, is a complex mixture of chemicals displaying anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, anti-blood clotting, decongestive, cholesterol-reducing and immunity-boosting properties.

Garlic through history
Louis Pasteur noted in 1858 that bacteria died when they were doused with garlic. At the turn of the century, garlic was the drug of choice for tuberculosis. Albert Schweitzer used garlic to treat cholera and typhus. And during World War II, British physicians treated battle wounds with garlic. In Russia, it’s called Russian penicillin.

Animal anecdote
French farmers sometimes feed garlic and onions to their horses to dissolve clots in the animals’ legs.

Pregnancy
New research shows that taking garlic during pregnancy can cut the risk of pre-eclampsia (raised blood pressure and protein retained in the urine). Studies reveal that garlic may help to boost the birth-weight of babies destined to be too small.

When garlic cells are ruptured by cutting or pressing, they release an enzyme called allinaise chemically changing the inherent alliin into allicin, a sulfur-containing molecule, which results in that heady, pungent garlic smell which is a mainstay in kitchens around the world. These sulphur molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream and lungs, escaping through exhaled air and perspiration. Thus, the garlic breath. And, in some people who consume massive quantities, a noticeable garlicky body odour can result.
4:02AM