To reap the most cardioprotective benefits, eat crushed fresh garlic. Here’s a link to a New York Times article by Henry Fountain (published August 3, 2009) about a University of Connecticut School of Medicine study comparing the cardiac benefits of two garlic flurries served to rats: one made from fresh-crushed garlic and the other from garlic that had been crushed and left to dry for two days. “The researchers found that while both slurries provided some cardioprotective benefits, the hearts of the rats that had eaten the fresh-crushed garlic had less damage and better recovery after blood flow was restricted for 30 minutes. Among other things, the fresh-crushed garlic was better at suppressing chemicals that act as a ‘death signal’ for heart muscle cells.” Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/science/04obgarlic.html?_r=2&ref=nutrition

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