A NATURAL ANTIBIOTIC: GARLIC
Allium sativum
Garlic is probably best known to almost everyone as the pungent herb added to all sorts of dishes to impart its wonderful flavour along with its pungent (but delicious) odour left on the breath!
Garlic will grow in good soil and is easy to grow as its pretty much plant and forget. Plant it in the autumn and harvest when the flowers die down. It can be grown in pots also. There are many varieties of Garlic available with different flavours and sizes, just make sure you pick a good tasting variety. Buy some different varieties from an organic shop or market and try them out.
When buying garlic from the supermarket or grocery shop be wary. The cheap, pure white Chinese garlic is best avoided. It is apparently sprayed with chemicals banned in other countries because they are harmful to humans and it’s also probably irradiated. Until that changes my advice is don’t buy it! Unfortunately it is the cheapest and seems to be the most common garlic available here in Australia. Some supermarket chains sell only Chinese garlic so hunting for a better option might necessary!
The best way to use is garlic is in your food - every day if possible! I use it in most dishes that I cook and I try to use it raw as often as possible. Use it raw in things such as garlic butter, dressings, aioli, guacamole, hummus and fresh vegetable juices. I use it sometimes by scraping it over hot toasted sourdough bread and then spread the bread with avocado and add salt and pepper - delicious!
If you worry about the smell of garlic on your breath just chew on some parsley after as it gets rid of the smell apparently. I don’t tend to worry too much - I’ve smelt much worse smells on peoples breath than garlic and for a garlic lover the smell is not offensive at all, but delicious instead!
I also make guacamole, or my version of it. My version of guacamole is truly simple - crushed garlic, avocado, salt and pepper. Just mash it up and voila - done. (Note: when I say salt I’m of course talking about pink Himalayan salt or unprocessed Celtic salt - not the pure white, mineral deficient, processed sodium chloride found in the supermarkets!)
Garlic has incredible properties. It is a natural broad spectrum antibiotic that your body does not appear to build up a resistance to, which means its antibiotic effect continues over time to help keep you healthy. Garlic kills bacteria, virus’s, fungus, as well as intestinal worms. It has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides while increasing the good HDL cholesterol levels. It also removes heavy metals such as lead from the blood as well as preventing accumulation in the first place. It helps to lower blood pressure and is used by some cultures to control diabetes.
Garlic boosts the immune system which in turn helps to prevent many illnesses from the common cold to cancer. Many studies point to garlic’s anti-tumour effects with one study showing residents in one area of China who don’t eat garlic having 1000 times the rate of stomach cancer than a neighboring area where garlic was consumed regularly. (Stomach cancer is one of the most common cancers found in China).
Garlic was used in the first and second world wars, to prevent gangrene in wounds; it is also used to treat conditions of the retina, hepatitis, and almost all lung conditions.
Garlic is an amazing herb and a must have! If you don’t like it then work on learning to like it! Add a little to your food and build it up. That’s what I’ve always done with things that I know are going to be good for me, but that I didn’t initially like - just keep at it.
I’ve known people who take it every day by cutting it into smaller pieces and swallowing it whole like a pill. That can work, but remember that the cutting is necessary as it changes the alliin to allicin which is the active constituent. Garlic is also high in a good number of vitamins and minerals as well as organic sulphur which are all essential to our health.
A slice of garlic placed over a wart and covered with a band aid and then replaced regularly will help to get rid of the wart.
Garlic (along with some other natural products) can cause ‘problems’ with some medications. An example being blood thinning medications - however to me, the problem is not with the garlic, but the medication. Doesn’t it make sense to use something natural and health promoting such as garlic to thin your blood if necessary, rather than expensive, toxic medication with its side effects? Speak to your doctor and if necessary get him or her to monitor what’s happening and change whichever makes sense to you - with regard for your doctors advice of course!
The occasional person may be allergic or sensitive to garlic. Too much garlic can cause indigestion in some people and can irritate the skin in a few sensitive individuals, but don’t let that keep you from using this wonderful herb if possible. You’re body will thank you for it.