Clove at first sight: garlic wants your body healthy.

Sure, we know all foods derived from plants are rich in health-promoting phytonutrients--but why all the fuss about garlic? Is it actually superior to other nutritious plant foods? Forget the 5,000 years of folk medicine or that whole vampire thing. We researched garlic and garlic supplements so we could sift out fact from fiction, the healthful from the hype. Some of what we discovered might surprise you.

What's in It?

For years, scientists pegged allicin as garlic's key beneficial component. But allicin is quite volatile, and other forms of garlic that contain no allicin--cooked, steamed, microwaved and aged garlic extract--still exhibit medicinal advantages. Garlic's 100 compounds may work synergistically, and its secret weapon may turn out to be its more stable compound, S-allyl cysteine. Some of garlic's components are:

* S-allyl compounds: S-allyl cysteine and other water-soluble sulfur amino acids

* Allicin: alliin converts to allicin when the clove is crushed, chopped or chewed

* Antioxidants: organosulfur compounds and flavonoids such as allixin neutralize free radicals

* Selenium: an important dietary mineral