Bad For The Breath, Good For The Heart: Why This Cardiologist Swears By Garlic

Garlic is notorious for two things: making the kitchen smell like a five-star restaurant, and making your breath smell completely unpleasant. While its aromatic qualities are pretty well known, what about the actual health benefits? 

Oddly enough, some of the cardiovascular benefits are rooted in the vegetable's gut-health benefits. Garlic is rich in prebiotic fibers1, which are essential for the flourishing of probiotics (aka good bacteria) in the gut. 

According to a study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research, probiotics have been shown to manage blood cholesterol2 by lowering cholesterol production, breaking down liver bile acids, and even eating excess cholesterol as a source of nourishment. Other studies have suggested that pre-, pro-, and synbiotics may play a role in overall cardiovascular health3.

"Not only is [garlic] a great prebiotic, but it also has antibacterial properties," Gundry adds, "which, if you like the infectious theory of heart disease—which I do—may explain why garlic eaters have little plaque in their arteries," he says. 

The infectious theory of heart disease4 states that exposure to certain infectious agents, like viruses, bacteria, and parasites, might lead to plaque buildup (atherosclerosis) and eventually coronary artery disease. 

Anecdotally, these claims show promise: "I have several patients who I would have predicted to have horrible plaque buildup but who had none on angiograms," Gundry tells us.