My Mom Drinks This Every Night—Here’s What the Science Says

Introducing Momu2019s Garlic Tea Ritual 0:00

My mom is 90 years old and every single night she makes this tea. Now I'm not saying it's magical tea, but I am starting to ask this question. Is she really Mother Gothel from Tangled? You know, the one who retained her vitality with this whole secret ritual? So what is my 90 year old mom's nightly tea? I' m Dr. Columbus Batiste. I m an interventional cardiologist and a lifestyle advocate. And yes, I open blocked arteries for a living. But I'll tell you, I'd much rather teach daily habits that can help keep you out of the cat lab.

Now, one of things that I found is there is a common kitchen staple with human longevity data behind it. There was a 2019 paper published in Nutrients that found that among people 80 years of age and up, those who ate it more often had a lower risk of dying during follow-up. And when I saw that paper, guess what? I immediately followed my mom. In about 30 seconds, I'm going to reveal what it is and then I promise I'll try it on camera. And guess who I am bringing? My 90 year old mom. She's going make sure I drink it all just like the old days.

Now fair warning, once you see this tea, you're going have an opinion. You're either going say this is genius or absolutely not. What's my mom's nightly tea? Brushed garlic tea. All right, I told you I was coming to the kitchen. And so I'm not coming into the by myself. I have to bring in my mother, Jaja. Come on over. Hey mom, how you doing? You look nice. Thank you. Technology, technology. Yeah. So what's going on? How are you doing? Doing good. You're doing well? Listen, I've been telling everyone about you and first of all, tell them how old are.

Making the Garlic Tea 1:32

I know that's not okay to say, but just tell everyone out there how would you are? 90 years old. 90 Years old? Until June 1st. What happens June first? I'll be 91. Oh, love it. There is something I have watched you do for a lot of years. And I'll tell you, at first I raised my eyebrow, I still do, but there's something you do and you drink this tea. Now I just told everyone out there what the tea is. Tell us what your night's ritual is? I always drink garlic at night. Garlic tea? Yes, garlic tea.

Fresh garlic. Every night? Every Night. What? Now tell me exactly why do you do that? When did you start doing that. Oh, years and years ago. Besides just liking the taste of garlic, it helps me to rest. Wow. Okay. I don't think I have that one down there for you all about resting. All right. So we are going to make some garlic Tea for the folks out there today. So we have some pre-peeled garlic here for us here today. And so there's lots of ways that you can crush the garlic. So you obviously take essentially the back of a knife and crush it.

You can take a garlic crusher. One of the ways you do it, especially if you're making large batches, is what? You just throw the in here and let it go. Then you just go ahead and you turn it on and chop that up, right? We actually have garlic that we chopped up already inside the jar here. Once you chop it what do you then? Do you let sit? I usually put at least two or three tablespoons of honey. OK, inside of it too as well? Yeah, or inside oven. Let it sit overnight and before I begin to make tea with it.

All right, that's a good one. That's what we were talking about is letting it set for a little bit and then you add the hot water to it, so let's go and do why don't you go ahead and add that to your teacup there. Now you're just going to roughly estimate how many cloves that is, huh? That seems like a whole lot right there, This is a teaspoonful. All right. I'm going to drop it into the cup. I smell that, I smelled it, okay.

Tasting the Tea and Family Banter 3:34

All right, so next up, we're gonna grab that water next. Now we want the water hot, but not scalding hot. So now we fill the teacup up. It's a mug. Alright, alright, mug, a mug. And now you're stirring it and then we gonna let it steep for a little bit. You've been doing this for awhile. We're going to steep it about five to 10 minutes or so, which is great after we add that hot water. Some will say that you strain it to get out the garlic. Do you do that? You don't spray it? No. What do you do with the garlic that's left inside the cup?

I chew it. Oh, you chew. I eat it! All right, I see. So this might be the actual reason why Brooke started calling you Mother Gothel, all right? You remember Mother Gotthels? She started called you mother Gothels. 10 minutes later. All I'm going to go ahead and drink this. You ready? Are you ready. Oh, that's real, That's Real. Actually, what I learned is that once it becomes tea, when you actually chew this, it doesn't taste as strong because I don't know it has all gone into

Why Garlic May Support Health 4:47

the water. Okay. Yeah. All right. But it's a delightful taste. I love it. It is indeed a taste. We'll see if we call it delightful or not, but it is a tastes. Mom, listen, I understand that this tea is important and thank you so much for sharing this T with us. This is the ritual that you've done. I'm a Troyan adopted. And I don't know if I can quite do it, Yes, good for digestion too. Yeah, sleep, digestion, immune system, heart health. All right, stay tuned. Let's go back to the desk and talk about this some more.

Alright, now that you've seen it, let's talk science. Four reasons this isn't just a myth. Now there are four things happening here that the research actually supports. I want to walk you through each one and I promise that fourth one is the reason I think most people should really pay attention. Number one, allicin and heart protection. Two, immune function. Three, blood pressure. And number four, the one I saved for last, longevity signal. You ready? Let's get into this. Okay, listen. First up, Allicyn and Heart Protection.

When you crush a raw garlic clove, like we saw, this is why, I want to tell you why crushing matters. An enzyme called alanase, it converts alan into allicin. Now, allacin is the compound that really gives garlic that unique, sharp smell. And it's also what most of the cardiovascular research begins to point to. Now one of the earliest steps in plaque formation for coronary artery disease and vascular disease formation is LDL oxidation. In allicin, it appears to interfere with that process, stopping it.

That's not garlic is good for your heart and waving stuff. This is a specific mechanism with published data behind it and here's the key detail. You have to crush it, you have the leave it before having that heat on. Because I'll tell you, if you add the heat too early, it can shut down the enzyme before allicin forms. That's exactly what my mom does. She crushes it, she leaves it and then she heats it. Now she didn't read the study, She just knew. Years and years of practice. Okay, the second benefit research shows and supports is immune function.

So there was a randomized trial of over 120 people for 12 weeks. It was published in Clinical Nutrition back in 2012. Now the group taking the daily garlic supplement, they reported fewer cold symptoms and had better immune-related outcomes during the study period. A supplement isn't the same as raw garlic tea. We understand that. And I want to be honest about it, but the active compounds, they overlap. They're similar. And the point is this regular garlic intake appears to support immune resilience.

You understand that our health equals resiliency divided by stress. All right. Now the third benefit research supports is really important to me, especially it's blood pressure. So there was a meta analysis, meaning a study of studies. and it found that garlic supplementation, it reduced systolic blood pressure by an average of three to five millimeters of mercury in people with high blood pressures. Now that might sound small, but I will tell you, on a population level, which means across the United States, that magnitude of reduction is associated with meaningful decreases in stroke and heart attack risk.

That's significant. And here's what I want you to understand. This isn't a replacement for medication if you need it, if needed. It's added risk reduction as part of a daily lifestyle pattern. Sleep, movement or exercise, plant rich foods, stress reduction, consistency, it all adds up. And when you layer each of those on top of one another, that means that you lower your overall cardiovascular risk. My mother, at 90, has been doing this nightly for decades. Not as medicine, as your ritual, and as who she is.

I'll tell you that distinction, It matters much more than what people think. Alright, now for the fourth one. The longevity signal. This is the one that made me really pause. Now, in that 2019 nutrients paper, adults 80 years of age and older, the more frequently they consume garlic, they lower their all-cause mortality. That's not they feel better, that's they died less often during the study.

How to Make It Safely and Consistently 8:39

And that relationship, it looked dose-related. I always tell my patients. My soul go, help you feel better, hope you live longer. Okay, now that doesn't prove garlic is the magic key. It's observational, it's not causation, is correlation, but it is a signal. In some mechanistic research it points towards pathways like hydrogen sulfide. That's a gas in your body naturally produces that's involved in vascular function and cell protection. And it may intersect with biological aging. We're early on in this, I wanna be clear.

But when you look at the human data, and then I look at my 90-year-old mother crushing garlic every night, I don't think it's random. I think its a signal worth respecting. So if you want to try this, here's how I'd think about it. Tier one, starter level, crush one clove. Let it sit five minutes and add it to hot water with lemon. I need you to steep it, strain it drink it warm, not scalding. And this is the version probably most people can stick with. Now tier two, when you're committed, the committed level, two cloves.

It wants you that crush it. I want you let sit five to 10 minutes, hot water. Maybe you add ginger, no sweetener. This is closer to what my mom makes. Tier three, this pure Jaja level. Raw, crush, it hot, water, nothing else in it and then you chew and eat that garlic afterwards. Every night for decades, Now, truth be told, I'm not there yet. She looked at me like I was soft. And guess what? When it comes to that, she's not wrong. Now start where you're actually going to be consistent. A tier one you do nightly, it beats a tier three that you quit on Thursday.

Listen, Aristotle had it right. We are what we repeatedly do. He said excellence isn't an act. I must say, help is not an Act. It's a habit. So here's another point. Quick, but important. And this part really matters. If you're on blood thinners, like Warfarin, Eloquist, Serralto, as always, talk to your doctor. Remember, we work for you, you don't work us. Do this before adding concentrated garlic to the routine. Concentrated garlic can thin the blood slightly. Stacking it with blood thinner, it really matter.

As in addition to this, if you have surgery coming up, talk to your health care team, whether or not you should stop garlic supplements. Often it's about two weeks before, but follow their guidance. Now here's the thing. If you're on blood pressure medication, realize that food is medicine and garlic may add to the effect, which means it may lower your blood And last, if raw garlic, it starts to tear up your stomach, don't push through. Use cooked garlic. Smaller amounts. Respect your body's feedback.

Personalize it to you and where you're at. This is about building sustainable habits, not proving something. Alright, so the fourth reason, the longevity signal. And here's why I think most people should care. It's not about garlic alone, it's about what garlic represents. A nightly ritual rooted in something real, across decades. My mom didn't read the research, she didn' optimize a protocol. She just made her tea every night. And she's still here, at 90, sharp, strong, even judging my reaction on camera.

That's consistency meeting biology. And yes, of course, a little bit of luck. Now, if this helps you, I need you to like and subscribe. Tell me in the comments, what's your family's longevity secret? And always remember, If you wanna go fast, go alone. If want to go far, Go together. Let's go Far Together, building healthier hearts and stronger communities. So like it, share it send it save a life. I'll see you next time.