Garlic (Allium sativum), a plant native to central Asia, has been used since thousands of years ago in culinary recipes and as part of natural remedies for the treatment of some of the most common ailments, as well as for some of its properties, for example as expectorant and antimicrobial. These last ones, the anti-microbial properties, are probably given by Allicin, one of its most powerful and therapeutic active constituents, effective for the treatment of many groups of bacteria, as Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Actinomyces oris among many others[1].

ALLIUM SATIVUM

Family: Amaryllidaceae
Genus: Allium
Common name: Garlic

Getting close to summer holidays. It's getting time to plan where and what to do, but aren't you tired of having to eat always the same meals in hotels and restaurants. Depending on the country or even within the same country on the region, food is either too fatty, too spicy...you name it, but for sure there is one everyone likes, Mediterranean food.

Tested during thousands of years Mediterranean food has been acclaimed internationally, not only for its variety (fish, rice, beans, meat, olive oil), but also for the benefits it reports to your health. Mediterranean diet has been associated in several studies with a significant amelioration of multiple risk factors, including among some of them a better cardiovascular risk profile, reduced oxidative stress and modulation of inflammation [12].

On this article we would like to mention some of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet and on which scientific evidence they are based upon. Let's try to first explain what is the Mediterranean diet.