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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Natural Remedies / How to Maximize the Allicin in Garlic

How to Maximize the Allicin in Garlic

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Alliin. Allicin Precursor
  • Allicin Superpowers
  • Reaping Maximum Allicin Benefits
  • Allicin-Infused Oil
  • Heat Destroys Allicin
  • Allicin Supplements
  • Should You Take Allicin with Food?
  • References

allicin from garlic

Many people know that whole garlic bulbs are a powerful natural antibiotic because they are a primary source of allicin. A good share of these same folks, however, do not realize how to best harness its anti-microbial superpowers!

Alliin. Allicin Precursor

Fresh or fermented garlic cloves contain the powerful organosulfur compound alliin (S-allyl cysteine sulfoxide).

Onions, shallots, Chinese chives, and leeks also contain it, but at lower amounts.

When intact and undisturbed inside each clove, alliin has no pungency.

When the tissue of the garlic is disrupted in any way as in crushing or chopping, the enzyme alliinase is released to interact with the alliin.

The enzymatic hydrolysis that immediately occurs rapidly produces the odorous substance we know as allicin. (1)

Allicin Superpowers

Allicin has three characteristics that make it an important tool in natural wellness protocols. This includes benefits for simple at-home use as well as more complex cases treated clinically by practitioners.

  1. Allicin is a natural antifungal, antibacterial, anti-parasitic and anti-viral substance. No single pharmaceutical drug has this same broad-spectrum anti-microbial benefit. (2)
  2. Pathogenic microbes don’t seem to be able to develop resistance to allicin over time, unlike conventional medications. (3)
  3. Ingestion of allicin does not harm beneficial gut microbes or reduce their diversity, unlike many pharmaceutical drugs. In fact, initial research suggests that ingestion of garlic acts as a prebiotic, increasing microbial richness and diversity with a marked increase in the beneficial and immune-stimulating bacteria, Lactobacillus and Clostridia species. These changes occur within a 3-month period. (4)

Allicin has even proven helpful in the fight against superbugs. It is sometimes deployed to treat MRSA when antibiotics fail.

Reaping Maximum Allicin Benefits

Simple peeling of a garlic clove will definitely release some allicin.

However, swallowing this same garlic clove whole is not the best way to reap maximum anti-microbial benefits.

The best way to maximize the allicin in each garlic clove is to crush it and leave at room temperature for 15 minutes before consuming. (5)

This allows sufficient time for the enzyme alliinase to fully transform the alliin into allicin. Note that alliinase can be inhibited by digestive juices in the intestinal tract, so waiting for a few minutes before eating is very important!

According to Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, you can consume up to a whole head of garlic per day. This amount would ideally be spread throughout the day to assist with recovery from illness or other therapeutic purposes.

Allicin-Infused Oil

Dr. Campbell-McBride also suggests this method for making allicin infused oil for external use.

  1. Crush a clove of garlic and mix with 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
  2. Let sit for 30 minutes.
  3. Strain out the garlic pieces and apply the allicin-infused oil where needed.

This remedy is especially useful for middle ear infections treated at home including swimmers ear.

Heat Destroys Allicin

Is it a good idea to let chopped, minced or crushed garlic sit out for a few minutes even if you plan to cook the garlic?

Yes, it is, but the benefits will be less.

Allinase is destroyed once the garlic is heated above 117 °F/ 47 °C for wet heat and 150 °F/ 66 °C for dry heat. These are the temperature ranges that destroy food enzymes.

Unfortunately, heating, microwaving or boiling garlic also deactivates the allicin!

However, the sulfur compounds created by the interaction of alliinase and alliin remain.

So, while there are no anti-microbial properties from consuming cooked garlic, you will still get the nutritional benefit of the sulfur compounds that were created. (6)

Thus, maximizing these sulfur compounds before cooking is a wise practice.

This is especially true since sulfur deficiency is widespread!

Allicin Supplements

The biggest potential side effect of consuming lots of allicin charged garlic cloves is digestive distress.

Those with IBS or other conditions where short-chain carbohydrates are not well absorbed by the small intestine (aka FODMAP) seem to be most prone to have problems.

In those situations, taking a buffered garlic supplement might work instead. This brand is excellent.

Two to three capsules per day meet the suggested dosage according to the second edition of the book Principles and Practices of Phytotherapy. This resource recommends consuming allicin-releasing garlic tablets to provide a minimum of 12/mg (12,000 mcg) per day of alliin. (7)

This would equate to 6-12 grams per day (about 2 cloves) of freshly crushed garlic which ideally sits at room temperature for 15 minutes.

While my family has experienced excellent results (for decades) using a buffered garlic supplement, others do better on a pure allicin formula such as Allimax.

Should You Take Allicin with Food?

You should ideally take allicin supplements or raw garlic cloves with a meal or at least a snack.

This will reduce the chances of any digestive upset.

References

(1, 7) Alliin: An Overview
(2)  Garlic: A Review of Potential Therapeutic Benefits
(3) Fresh Garlic Extract Enhances the Antimicrobial Activities of Antibiotics on Resistant Strains
(4) The Effect of Aged Garlic on Gut Microbiota
(5) Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic
(6) The Influence of Heating on the Anti-Cancer Properties of Garlic

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Category: Natural Remedies
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: the bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (11)

  1. Alex

    Oct 28, 2020 at 11:06 am

    Do you have another brand of buffered garlic you recommend? The one you link to is out of stock. What is the difference between garlic and buffered garlic in a supplement?

    Reply
  2. Karleen

    Feb 25, 2020 at 3:25 am

    Early in the article it says “so waiting for a few minutes before eating is very important!”. Then at the end of the article, it says to take with a meal or light snack. ??

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      Feb 25, 2020 at 9:58 am

      I don’t see these statements as contradictory? You prepare it while you are getting your meal or snack ready. Then, when you eat it will have been a few minutes for the allicin to release.

  3. James Mark

    Dec 7, 2019 at 8:52 pm

    Thank you for this informative article. I’ve been searching everywhere for what temperate allicin is destroyed and this answered it, but now I have another question – could you clarify, in order to get the benefits of allicin, that I can crush raw garlic, let it sit out for 15 minutes, THEN add boiling water in it? And this won’t destroy the allicin since it’s already been formed?

    Reply
  4. Rebecca Keating

    May 19, 2019 at 10:00 pm

    With fermented garlic, should it also be cut up and let sit out also? Or has the fermenting process already maximized the allicin?

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      May 20, 2019 at 7:14 am

      It is my understanding that if you ferment the cloves whole, then you should crush them and let them sit a bit before eating just like if they were freshly peeled. Although … they are so tasty to eat whole when they are fermented, that I can understand if you don’t want to do this 🙂 They will still have tremendous healing properties no matter what you do as the fermentation heightens the benefits considerably.

  5. khabar in hindi

    May 15, 2019 at 4:37 am

    Nice article!! I belive you have noted some very interesting points tha health benefits of garlic.

    Reply
  6. GAPSMama

    May 10, 2019 at 12:19 pm

    How about frozen garlic? What if you freeze the garlic first, then later when needed crush it to sit on the counter. Does it still have the same benefits you mentioned?
    Thank you in advance.

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      May 10, 2019 at 3:37 pm

      Freezing it should be fine … it reduces the benefits slightly, but still should be very helpful.

  7. S.T Price

    Apr 29, 2019 at 7:17 am

    I would be happy to send you a sample if you never tried

    Reply
  8. S.T. Price

    Apr 29, 2019 at 7:07 am

    As a garlic farmer in New Jersey, i love teaching about the benefits of garlic. This is one of the best summaries with references I’ve seen. Have you ever looked into the health benefits of black garlic? More anti-oxidants pluse you lose the very intense heat and taste of raw garlic while picking up hints of other flavors. NJGarlic.com

    Reply

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