I love garlic.  I remember driving through California, through vast artichoke fields and smelling the garlic wafting from the roadside stands where they were roasting the artichoke in garlic.  The smell made my mouth water, and it makes my mouth water writing this! 

Garlic is really, truly a cure-all to me.  I eat it every day, no joke.  Garlic is one of a few items that I try to include in my daily diet.  This one is vital to me, and here’s why:

Garlic has been shown to lower blood pressure. Yes, it is true:  studies have shown that eating garlic can reduce hypertension.

Eating garlic can reduce cholesterol levels: eating ½ to one clove daily can reduce levels to 9%.
Garlic can protect your heart and kidneys, and the sulfur containing amino acids can help protect the digestive tract.

Garlic is a natural antibiotic, antiseptic, antifungal and anthelmintic (meaning it will fight against worms).  It can help support you when you have cold symptoms, sinusitis, vaginitis, bronchitis, tonsillitis, and with many other conditions.

Garlic is helpful topically in support of insect bites, stings or even pimples.  (Don’t leave it on for too long, or it can blister the skin, though, it is potent!)

An old cold “remedy” (really a sore throat syrup) has been to put crushed cloves (about 4) into honey (about 4 tablespoons) and sip on the mixture every half hour to ease a sore throat.

I always eat a few cloves of garlic when I feel like I may be getting a cold, fishing them from the bottom of a bottle of roasted pepper and garlic olive oil (they are more potent raw).  I follow this up with my A$$kicker tea, made with ginger, black peppercorns, and cayenne, among other things…my husband loves this one.

It is important to note that if you have a sluggish, diseased, or degenerative liver, bile duct, pancreas or gallbladder you should avoid garlic in large quantities.  Garlic can increase the risk of bleeding and can interact with blood thinners.

*Always check with your primary healthcare physician prior to vastly changing your diet, and check with him/her to be sure that there are no contraindications.  It should also be noted that I am an herbalist, not a nutritionist/dietitian and cannot make suggestions as to changes in personal diet plans.  Please consult your personal nutritionist/dietitian for further information.

Petersen, D. (2015). Herb 101: Basics of Herbalism. Portland, Oregon: American College of Healthcare Sciences. 
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Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2017 at 8:18 AM

    Garlic has so many uses! Thank you for sharing- I will use these the next time to prevent illness or combat any that comes into our home.

    ReplyDelete

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