For many, adding a few cloves of garlic to the pan can make a good meal great.
Garlic has a distinctive taste that has been utilised in foods from across the globe, from spaghetti to curry. It's also a great addition to bread, whether you're adding a clove to a baguette or some naan.
The herb also offers a range of health benefits such as improved cardiac health, enhanced brain function and better digestion. With that in mind it's an obvious addition for many meals.
However, the way that you cook garlic matters, especially if you're looking to get the most out of the herb's many nutrition benefits. In particular, there is a method that takes 10-minute that a nutritionist has recently shared.
As reported in the Mirror, here is the 10-minute cooking rule for garlic that you need to know.
What is the 10-minute garlic rule?
Nutritionist Moomal Asif shared the 10-minute rule that you need to follow while cooking with garlic in an Instagram post. The post's caption read: "Did you know that TWO MINUTES in the pan destroys all the health benefits of garlic?"
The nutritionist went on to explain that when heat is applied to garlic, allicin, which is the most active ingredient in it, is almost completely deactivated, thus reducing garlic's health benefits.
However, one simple change to your cooking technique can help preserve the health benefits of garlic. Ms Asif shared the best way to cook garlic.
"Crush, mince or mince the garlic and keep it away from heat for 10 minutes. During this time maximum allicin is created and remains intact during cooking."
She added: "Then you can fry, sauté, bake to your heart’s content and still get all your medicine."
Is garlic healthy?
Garlic has been used in cooking various types of cuisines for many centuries. Garlic is healthy because its anti-oxidant content is high.
It also has powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
What makes garlic so healthy is how many minerals and vitamins it contains. Besides a high content of allicin, garlic also contains minerals like zinc, phosphorus, and magnesium as well as vitamins C, niacin, K, Folate and thiamine.
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