Garlic is packed with essential nutrients, including vitamins B1, B6, C, and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and iron. It offers numerous health benefits.
According to Dr. Nguyen Thuong Hanh, a general internal medicine and intensive care specialist at the Ho Chi Minh City Social Security, garlic can help strengthen bones, detoxify the blood, lower blood pressure, and prevent heart disease. However, frying garlic in hot oil can create toxins. Let’s explore this toxic cooking method and learn how to avoid it.
1 Frying Garlic in Hot Oil Generates Toxins
Frying garlic in hot oil can produce toxins.
The toxic garlic preparation method mentioned here refers to frying garlic in hot oil, a familiar technique that almost everyone uses when cooking.
According to Dr. Truong Hong Son, a nutrition expert and director of the Institute of Applied Medicine in Vietnam, garlic’s health benefits primarily come from allicin. However, fresh garlic does not contain free allicin but rather alliin, the precursor to allicin.
Allicin in garlic is good for your health.
To obtain allicin, garlic must be finely chopped or crushed to activate the enzyme allinase, which converts alliin into allicin. This compound acts as a natural antibiotic, helping to fight off pathogens.
However, allicin is highly volatile and sensitive to heat. When garlic is fried in hot oil, allicin is inactivated, losing its ability to boost immunity and provide antimicrobial benefits.
Properly frying garlic
Similar to other fried foods, garlic fried in hot oil, especially when burnt, not only tastes bitter but also produces toxic trans fat. Additionally, using the same oil multiple times to fry garlic increases the trans fat content, which can be carcinogenic.
The best cooking method is to simmer garlic over low heat for about 15 minutes and then turn off the heat. When stir-frying garlic, use medium heat and stir quickly to minimize the loss of active compounds while retaining its benefits after cooking.
2 Precautions When Using Garlic
Dr. Truong Hong Son also offers some precautions to consider when using garlic to avoid any adverse effects on your health:
Precautions for using garlic to avoid impacting your health.
If possible, avoid cooking garlic as it may reduce the allicin content. Allicin is most potent and beneficial when produced by chewing, crushing, or grinding raw garlic.
Limit garlic consumption to 15g per day. Excessive intake can lead to conjunctivitis and stomach irritation.
Do not use aged garlic for cooking as the beneficial compounds decrease over time.
Some foods should not be combined with garlic.
Avoid eating garlic with certain foods like silver carp, catfish, dog meat, carp, mutton, and duck as it can have negative health effects.
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Do not consume garlic on an empty stomach as it can irritate the stomach and cause abdominal pain.
People taking medications such as anticoagulants or HIV/AIDS drugs should refrain from eating garlic as it may negatively impact their health.
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We hope that through the information provided, you now understand why frying garlic in hot oil can create toxins. While garlic is generally beneficial for health, improper use can lead to adverse effects. Take care, and stay healthy!
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