This super rad, ginormous clove of healing goodness that I found at the natural health food store is my inspiration for this vampire repelling post.

So, what exactly is garlic good for? To keep it simple-Immunity. With the changing of seasons, people often find that the weather fluctuations (especially here in Calgary) brings on inefficiencies with the body to be able to cope with mother nature's radical ebbs and flows. As a result, immune health can be compromised, and we're more susceptible to the common cold and flu, and I've found that nothing combats these illnesses like raw garlic.

A sulphuric compound called allicin is to be thanked for garlic's super-healing properties. Allicin is formed when garlic is sliced, crushed or chewed. Now, I don't recommend popping a whole clove in your mouth, and going to town on it unless your GI tract is in the finest working form, and let's be honest, who's is? Because of this super-food's pungency, I recommend buffering the spiciness with other foods. Try crushing cloves and throwing them in freshly smashed avocado, with a squeeze of lime juice, sea salt, and cilantro for homemade guac, loaded with vitamin c. I also sometimes slice my garlic paper thin and arrange it on top of gluten-free toast, spread with grass fed butter (vitamin d!), unpasteurized, lactose free, grass fed cheddar, and fresh spinach leaves. Oh, and homemade Caesar salad dressing tossed over kale leaves- YUM.

Besides being natural medicine and reducing illness, garlic contains vitamin c, manganese, selenium and b-vitamins; all things our bodies need to stay healthy.

Care about wrinkles and aging? Garlic contains antioxidants that fight oxidative stress from free-radical damage, protecting our cells and keeping us looking and feeling healthier.

Studies have also shown that consuming garlic on a regular basis can reduce high blood pressure, and levels of HDL (bad cholesterol).

If this isn't enough to have you convinced that you should be eating garlic on the regular, then do it for the sake of keeping your community in good health... and blood-sucker free.