Grandma Says
Garlic (Poondu)
The pungent clove behind so much Indian cooking — long treasured in tradition for far more than its flavor.
- cold and cough
- fever
- heart wellness
- digestion
- general wellness
Grandma Says the smell of garlic after eating it might put some off — but the goodness that follows more than makes up for it. Modern research keeps confirming what traditional Indian medicine valued generations ago. Beyond being one of the great seasoning agents in Indian cooking — its flavor something you have to taste to understand — garlic has long been treasured as a food-as-medicine staple.
Nutrients
- Allicin
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin B6
- Manganese
- Selenium
Good for
- Cough due to allergies
- a few garlic cloves boiled in milk and taken before bed is a long-standing traditional remedy — many say the cough is forgotten by morning
- High fever
- not a cure for fever, but rubbing garlic on the palms and the soles of the feet is traditionally believed to help bring a high temperature down
- Cholesterol
- regularly eating garlic is traditionally valued, and increasingly studied, for its role in supporting healthy cholesterol
- Heart & blood pressure
- traditionally associated with supporting healthy blood pressure and circulation
- Digestion
- long used to support digestion and ease occasional gastric discomfort
- Skin
- traditionally used to help with pimples and skin clarity
- General health
- traditionally taken to support the body's natural defenses and to help manage excess weight and conditions like piles