Facts on Whether Putting A Garlic Clove Below Your Pillow Helps You Sleep Better

Some hate garlic (What?! Seriously?!). Some love garlic (Yay!).

While you might find not having the latest iPhone to be a huge regret in life, I would say not eating garlic might make you regret FOR life. Surely you have heard of the saying “prevention is better than cure” but do you know of “let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food” by Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine?

But what exactly are the benefits of the humble garlic (a member of the onion family)?

An ounce (28g) of garlic has manganese, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Selenium, and 1g of dietary fiber, as well as moderate amounts of calcium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and Vitamin B1. With all these nutrition, garlic has only 42 calories, 1.8g of protein, and 9g of carbohydrates. In short, garlic could be said to be a super health food. Plus, it has a lot of antioxidants, which can reduce oxidative stress and aid in lowering aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia.

A 2001 study that lasted 12 weeks concluded that garlic is able to reduce instances of colds by 63%, cold symptoms by 70% from 5 days to 1.5 days, and high doses of garlic extract (2.56g daily) could reduce the duration of colds and flu by 61%. Now, tell me, would you rather eat foul-tasting medicine that induce drowsiness or would garlic be a tastier alternative?

Garlic can also reduce blood pressure and cholesterol level, which can help you to live healthier and longer. And do you know that garlic was administered to Olympic athletes in Ancient Greece because it can reduce fatigue, reduce peak heart rate by 12%, reduce exercise-induced fatigue, and improve work capacity of those doing menial work.

Frankly, after digging through the vast cyber universe known as the Internet to understand why putting a clove of garlic under your pillow could supposedly help you to sleep better, we have yet to understand the precise reason for its rumoured effect.

So far, what we can gather is that garlic is a super health food that is packed full of healthy nutrients with plenty of health benefits such as protection against liver problems and diseases, prevention against baldness, cleansing of arteries, purification of the blood, relieving cold and flu symptoms, and aids with respiratory issues.

But here is where things get a little… uncertain. It is said on several websites that garlic can eliminate negative energy and repel evil spirits, which could improve the quality of your slumber. Frankly, there is no harm in listening to all these New Age stuff but utter this method to any hardcore scientist and you will probably have them up in flames due to the lack of scientific evidence and verification.

Maybe it’s all a placebo effect.