5 Powerful Healing Properties of Garlic
It’s not as colorful or alluring as many fruit and vegetable superfood varieties, but garlic is actually one of the most powerful healing foods that you can include in your daily diet. I’ve written about garlic in the past, specifically covering the many ways in which this common food can protect against cancer and infections. While significant (and extremely easy to take advantage of), these are only a few of the key benefits garlic has to offer.
Here are the top 5 healing properties of garlic that put many pharmaceutical drugs to shame:
1. Boosting Immunity to Fight Disease
If you’re serious about your health, it is absolutely essential to boost your natural immunity. After all, your immune system is responsible for crushing biological threats before it turns into a manifested form of sickness. Always getting the flu, a cold, or suffering from a condition that decreases immune function? It’s time to get your body in check before a more serious condition takes advantage of this weakness. Garlic has been used for over 5,000 years as a medicinal food, with the Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Greeks revering the food for its ability to fight off illness.
Rich in vitamin C and potassium, garlic can also aid your digestive processes. We have known for quite some time that not only is your digestion integral when it comes to your overall immunity, but your mental health as well.
2. Garlic Naturally Reduces Your Blood Pressure
Pharmaceutical blood pressure drugs come with a host of side effects, many of which are deadly. Garlic comes with a long list of additional and most likely unexpected benefits. Thanks to the unique way in which garlic is able to affect the smooth muscles of the arteries and therefore cause them to relax and dilate, garlic can directly lower your blood pressure naturally.
“American scientists first tried garlic against high blood pressure in 1921. Garlic consistently lowers blood pressure in laboratory animals.” – The Food Pharmacy: Dramatic New Evidence That Food Is Your Best Medicine by Jean Carper
3. It Beats Antibiotics in Fighting Common Illnesses
While it has been known (and acted upon) by many traditional systems of medicine for thousands of years, Washington State University has confirmed that garlic is actually more effective than pharmaceutical antibiotics in fighting the highly common bacteria known as campylobacter bacterium. It may not mean much when read out loud, but this bacteria currently infects around 2.4 million Americans per year with stomach-related illnesses.
As one leading expert explained:
“People have known garlic was important and has health benefits for centuries,” said Dr. David W. Kraus
4. It Effectively Combats Cancer
Perhaps the most well-known benefit of garlic is its ability to fight off cancer both effectively and without any side effects. This is believed to be due to the fact that garlic enhances the production of what is known as hydrogen sulfide. This increased production is thought by scientists to be effective in preventing the development of cancer — particularly prostate, breast, and colon cancer. It is truly a rare find that mainstream government organizations will recognize non-patented, natural foods for their anti-cancer effect. In the case of garlic (and
“Several population studies show an association between increased intake of garlic and reduced risk of certain cancers, including cancers of the stomach, colon, esophagus, pancreas, and breast.”
5. It Can Detoxify Your Body
Did you know that garlic can help in the elimination of toxins from your body? Toxins, of course, are unwanted contaminants that cover everything from chemicals and heavy metals to parasites. Containing multiple sulfur-containing compounds, garlic is able to stimulate liver enzymes responsible for removing toxins from the body. This is in addition to the allicin and selenium content of garlic, which are two vital nutrients that also assist the liver in fighting off toxic elements.
This article leaves out how to get the antibacterial properties. You must first finely chop the garlic, mix together, and wait 15 minutes for the 2 main compounds to come together and create the antibacterial properties.
Yes, the article forgot to mention crushing it, and waiting……actually 5-10 minutes will suffice.
The best way to eat garlic (especially if sick or have serious health issues) is to crush it in a bit of sea salt, wait, then mix it in with tomato paste, organic if possible…..add a tiny bit of high quality olive oil and you got yourself an intense lycopene/anti-oxident cocktail. I put it in fridge and consume about a tablespoon a day. Double up on it if you are sick.
I am writing about crushed garlic cloves. I was incarcerated for a year in which during the whole time I got ringworm (fungus) and staph (bacteria) in the same spot on my face. For the whole year the medical personnel gave me cream and pills. I got out and saw a dermatologist who said it was folliculitis. He also gave me more pills and said I might have this permanently. I went online and read about crushed garlic and within 4 days the fungus/bacteria was completely gone.
I have a friend who had a garlic anemina given to here by a herbologist and that cured her Colorado rick fever. She had suffered the annual bouts for three years before this treatment.
I would like to know if swallowing a clove of garlic without chewing it, do its benefits remain the same??? thnx!
No, I think it is not a good idea, and honestly "why" would you do it anyway? Why take a chance it will stick in your throat, and in my unprofessional thinking, cause harm to your digestive tract. It may not get properly digested in the stomach as well. You wouldn't have crushed it before hand, which releases the antibacterial properties. I use a mortar/pestle all the time. To be quite frank, chopping a clove of garlic is a pain in the butt, Before I begin a recipe, I do my pounding of the garlic, and set it aside. First of all your hands are dry, if they are damp, the little garlic papers stick to them. I always do this before I start chopping the onions.
I've been using fresh raw garlic for various ailments since the 80's. it has cured me from hayfever and kept my son from having asthma attacks. I live in a cold climate so when the seasons begin to change I up my garlic intake, and have not had a cold or flu in many years now. All of the suggestions given are good, the only thing missing is how to neutralize the odor from coming out of your pores. For that you need to follow your garlic intake with real peppermint. I usually use the tea and it's ok to put raw sugar, honey and or lemon in it. This way no one knows your taking garlic.
Just wondering when you say real peppermint, where do you get it? At a health food store or any grocery store? Or do you just buy the peppermint tea? I was taking garlic last year but only a spoon full at breakfast, and I had 3 colds. I'm taking a lot more of it now. I don't think I was getting enough of it. So far this fall, no colds or Flu's. Vitamin D3 and oregano oil are also good for helping against colds and Flu's. Just started taking them the end of last year!
Great idea, but to be quite honest, I don't care and if I can't smell it, I'm ok with that. My grand daughters love garlic and we have "hummus tea parties" and my son (their dad) knows when we have them….the girls are fragrant with garlic! LOL, not only do I eat it, I also take Kyolic dried garlic capsules. Google Kyolic, it's a supplement.
BRAVO CRAWFORD!
What an excellent combination. I was looking to increase my intake of lycopene through supplements but this is much better. Add some tomato juice and vodka and you get a Lycopene Libation.:-) lol A little fresh basil too. YUMMY.
Another easy way to eat fresh garlic is if you have a good healthy firm bread, I like sourdough or Tuscan,
toast it, peel the clove and just rub it on. I`ts a very simple way to make garlic bread, the kiddies might like it too. I was reading putting a clove in the microwave for a few seconds makes it easier to peel. Fresh garlic can be used in anything, everyday.
LOL, I like your "combo" never thought about the vodka before, but I better not do it, I'm a busy gram, and the girls will wonder why gramma is falling asleep on the sofa after eating garlic and tomato paste…..the 6 year old loves my tomato paste garlic combo too.
A little tip, being the garlic lover that I am….take the garlic apart from the bulb. Cut off those little ends that were attached to the root. Now take a heavy knife or a "hammer" you use to tenderize a piece of meat, and give it a quick hit. IF using a knife, use the palm of your hand on the blade, the blade will be flat, duh….not pointed up or down…..LOL
Here is the reason you crush or chop garlic………"Fresh garlic, when cut or crushed, develops a component called allicin from the precursor component alliin. Allicin has antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. The UMMC recommends taking herbs only with the supervision of a health-care provider qualified in botanical medicine."
http://www.livestrong.com/article/329968-what-are…
whatch out Monsanto might hear about this and GMO it sooo shhh
i have planted about 70 cloves up this year so i will be able to preserve some
1 cup butter
2 heads garlic
soften butter,peel garlic and chop finely
mix together should look lumpy
if not add more garlic
(Optional pinch dill)
I seldom cook with garlic; instead, I use my handy crusher to add one or two cloves onto my meal.
Bitter Brew
2 peeled garlic cloves in a mug of water.
Nuke for 2 minutes.
THEN sprinkle with cayenne pepper, sip, eat cloves.
Repeat as necessary.
Go to bed.
This has worked on every ailment that's come my way. Take it if you feel tired, which is when you're vulnerable to illness. If I take it soon enough, whatever it was that was trying to get me never happens. If I feel really badly, I make a cup and sip it while running a hot tub bath, prepare a second cup and sip it in the hot bath. Go directly to bed–do not pass go! Next day I feel great–like Lazarus risen from the dead and dancing a jig! You can't OD on it. Just listen to your body to know if you need more.
I love garlic tea. I add lemon to mine and love it. Works for most everything. I also drink warn sea salt water. I also use garlic cloves in my ear if needed. Wrap in cotton or gauze and use as an ear plug.
I read all youre great ideas about garlic soim sharing mine….I take tea …your choice add fresh lemon slices and some juice , honey, crush two cloves of garlic toss them in…and a couple teaspoons of vinegar…you can add ant fresh herbs tooif you want . this will help you get better from a cold and prevent it and other ailments if you already have one drink a few cups a day
Great Ideas About Garlic. I suffer from persistent attacks of flu. I will try out garlic for starters
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. A few cloves of garlic a day keep everyone away 🙂
Is pickled garlic as effective as fresh garlic
About 25 years or so my mother was helping my brother lift the bed of his truck which was stored in garage. While doing
This she felt what she would describe to me later on was as if she had been given an injection. She decided it was
Best to be safe than sorry and head to the kitchen. She crushed garlic, applied it to her finger and wrapped
it securely. Eight hours later we find our mother foaming at the mouth and incoherent. We rush her to hospital
Where she is treated and informed she was bitten by a black widow. The attending doctor said to my sister
" I wouldn't recommend crushed garlic after being bit by a black widow but it saved your mother.
The great knowledge about potential benefits of Garlic in the treatment of many serious diseases has been transferred from our ancestors to next generation. Although many people don't like the taste of garlic, its high medicinal value could not be neglected by most of them. At the current scenario the most significant property of the Garlic in the treatment of cancer has been discussed by many researchers. Garlic plays a vital role in boosting our immune system and which may act as a preventing shield for many diseases. I would like to suggest one factor at this moment is to increase the allowance of garlic in your food preparations, which may protect your family from many threatening diseases.
they sell some italian grater plate with a rubber sleeve. you peel the garlic with the sleeve rub the garlic on the plate and itturns the bulb into paste…let it sit for 5 then add some honey scoop it up …swallow like a pill. do it at night. wake up no sign of garlic breath. do that 3-5 times a week. I guarantee you wont get sick. cant say anything about cancer, but i have not been sick in years….its simple people..
Dear readers if your are worried about the odor after taking Garlic drink Milk.
Hippocrates believed greatly in the healing properties of garlic.
“let food be our medicine and medicine be our food” he was known to have said.
Doctors are not trained in nutrition and food health, which is a shame since over 50 million people worldwide come to hospitals with food related illnesses, and in comparison, only 20 million worldwide come to hospital for diseases and accident related problems.
Garlic is loaded with sulfur, a well known healing nutrient.