NOT ALL GARLICS ARE HEALTHY! SPOT THAT TOXIC GARLIC!!

We have heard countless number of times the various health benefits of garlic and many other herbs. Nevertheless, what we rarely hear is that there indeed exists some form of toxic garlic out there which many people are unaware of because for many of us, ‘garlic is garlic’.

It is said that less than 10 years ago, all of the garlic in the US was grown in California until they started importing from growers in China thereby reducing the California grown garlic in the US less by 40%  and more than 60%  imported from China and also putting a lot of California growers out of business.

Now the question would be “how do we recognise the good from the bad? Or how do you spot the difference  between the toxic and the non-toxic?

So before you go chewing, swallowing and gulping just any garlic, read this first as culled from omigy.

If all of the roots have been removed, and a clean, concave spot is left, that means the garlic is Chinese. All of this is required by  the Agriculture Department in order to prevent plant diseases which are soil- born to enter the country.

And if the roots are still there, then it is a Californian garlic. It is proven that not a single garlic grower from California cuts out the roots.

But, unfortunately, China is dealing with a great issue of quality control. This is because most of the Chinese farmers use illegal and mostly harmful pesticides in order to make their crops grow.

One undercover magazine reporter found out that many of the vegetable farms there use parathion and phorate, two types of pesticides which are literally banned by the government. They do this just to irrigate the crops and save some effort and time.

These two  pesticides have been marked as toxic! The second major factor for the bad quality of the foods imported from China is their soil.  China is facing a major pollution problem.

Their soil by itself is toxic, meaning that it creates major health problems. Some official government reports show that a fifth of the soil in China is contaminated by some heavy metals and an unhealthy amounts of fertilizers and pesticides.

This form of severe pollution has even contaminated the rivers in China, filling them up with household waste and industrial chemicals.But, how to spot the garlic from China?

Please beware and make sure that what you’re buying is not a garlic imported from China. It is filled with bleach, and a lot of other chemicals which are extremely bad for your health.

So, here is what you have to do the next time you go to the supermarket. First, if there are roots or stem on the garlic, then it is safe.

China always makes sure to cut off the stem and the roots so that the weight would be decreased when they are shipped over the sea.

Second, the heavier and bulkier garlic is also safe. The imported kind of garlic is smaller and weighs less.Next, the garlic which is healthier and grown here, in California has a fuller and richer taste.

When put on a flavor measuring scale, one big homegrown garlic measures out 40 out of 40, and the imported garlic measures only 28 out of 40.

Finally (and we all know this one) – the best way to make sure that your garlic is safe an healthy is if you buy it from a local market or grow it in your own home.