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It’s not a news flash to say that garlic is healthy. It’s been touted as a beneficial addition to your meals for a long time. While previous studies on garlic’s health effects have produced mixed results, there’s now solid research to reassert the positive claims.

Garlic may make vampires uptight, but it relaxes the blood vessels in we mere mortals. A new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham shows that red blood cells process compounds from digested garlic and turn them into the cell messenger hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow.

That means that eating garlic could increase your supply of H2S and play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease. Garlic is one of the few plants that contains the building blocks of hydrogen sulfide, and researchers say it’s the only one commonly used in our diet.