I didn’t have to look very far.  I visited Ioanna Malie, 74, who lives across the dirt road from the place where we are staying in Nas. As we talked over a cup of Greek coffee, I noticed a head of fresh garlic easily within reach from Ionanna’s wooden kitchen stool. Then we walked up the steep hill to her garden, where she showed me the garlic she planted last November. The tall green stalk of each plant was tied into a loose knot; she explained that this knot helps create a fatter bulb with large cloves.

Ioanna cooks for herself and her husband Yianni, and they eat about two heads of garlic a week.  This, I later learned, is typical of the Ikarian diet. Ioanna uses garlic to season her lentil soup; she tucks a few cloves into slits of goat meat before she roasts it. What surprised me is that, along with using garlic to cook , she also uses a lot of raw garlic. Ikarians mince raw garlic in spreads such as skordaliá, a paste made from cooked potatoes. They also include it in tsadziki, a spread made from thick, rich yogurt shredded cucumber, and garlic. Raw garlic is also used in pickling brine, and a clove or two are minced over fish, over salads…actually, over just about everything.

Along with seasoning foods, garlic has long been used for medicinal purposes.  The Ancient Greeks fed it to soldiers to increase their strength, and Olympic athletes used it as a “performance enhancing” food. (I wonder if this was the earliest form of doping.) And modern research shows the wisdom in this. Garlic decreases blood pressure, lowers LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, acts as a blood thinner, and helps prevent heart disease. In addition, the antioxidant properties of garlic are known to decrease the risk of stomach and colon cancer. People who eat at least 6 cloves of garlic weekly have 30% less colon and colorectal cancer and almost 50% less stomach cancer than those who eat less than one clove a week.

Garlic is very popular in Southern European cuisines, and Italians use more total garlic than Greeks. But they may not be getting as many of its health benefits. Why?  Because Italians fry, sauté, and cook garlic. This gets rid of its strong odor and leaves a softer, sweeter flavor. But fresh garlic that is crushed or finely chopped releases allicin, a powerful but unstable compound that loses much of its effect when heated. Allicin boosts the body’s supply of hydrogen sulfide, which may protect heart and brain cells from damage during a heart attack or a stroke. And by using their garlic raw, Ikarian cooks retain this health-giving benefit.

Now the downside. Garlic can make your breath and sweat smell like…garlic. There is no perfect remedy, but eating chopped parsley, taking hot showers, and brushing your teeth frequently can keep the smell to a minimum. Better yet, convince everyone around you to join your garlic-y feast so that you can’t smell each other’s breath.

Dr. Archelle Giorgiou