Top restaurants around the world use a simple trick to increase the potency, aroma, and flavor of garlic fivefold. The secret lies in sprouting.

Garlic sprouts for 4 to 6 weeks at temperatures ranging from 0 to 10 degrees Celsius, with the soil kept consistently moist but not overly so.

The essence of garlic during sprouting is the development of phytoalexins, chemicals with potent protective effects. They are key elements of intercellular walls and help plants survive even the toughest conditions. Because of the development of phytoalexins, plants become more resistant to various bacteria and viruses, thus multiplying their effect on our metabolism.

Dr. Jong-Jin Kim from the University of Michigan in the USA, who extensively researched the effects of phytoalexins on humans, says that these substances are harmful to insects but not to humans. His measurements even show that garlic is five times more potent as an antioxidant during sprouting than when fresh. Additionally, it's been proven to slow down atherosclerosis, treat low blood pressure, heart diseases, and is highly effective in inhibiting the development of cancerous cells and metastasis.

Although folk medicine has valued garlic as a natural remedy for millennia, it wasn't until 1858 that Louis Pasteur discovered significantly fewer bacteria in containers with garlic than elsewhere. A few years ago, The Journal of Nutrition reported on an experiment with rats, where those rats that received a daily dose of garlic had cancer completely disappear. It's scientifically proven that garlic causes blood cells to produce more sulfide and selenium, which destroy cancer cells.

And one more thing... Garlic isn't the only food left to sprout in restaurants. They do the same with grains and almost all other vegetables. Even potatoes.