How does raw garlic work for your health?
When garlic is chopped or crushed, this action produces two sulfides, allicin sulfides and diallyl sulfides. These sulfides are what produce all the health benefits of raw garlic. Roasted garlic has no medicinal value because it is whole and it has been cooked to a high temperature. Diallyl sulfides will survive cooking, but its medicinal value is not as high as the allicin sulfides. Cooking chopped garlic will degrade the allicin, and microwaving it will destroy it all together. To get the best garlic health, chop the garlic or press it into some olive oil and leave it for about 15 minutes. Add it to the meal at the very end of cooking, or even to the plate once its been served. The smaller the pieces of garlic, the more sulfides produced and the more medicinal value it will have. Also, organic garlic bulbs will have a stronger taste, which means more sulphur content resulting in more medicinal value.
What does garlic cure or treat?
The allicin sulfide that is produced acts as an antibiotic more powerful than penicillin and tetracycline in destroying bacteria. It can kill strains of bacteria that have become immune to other antibiotics. Because garlic does not remain in your system constantly, bacteria cannot become immune to it.
Garlic fights infection and stimulates the immune system. It can kill microbes and bacteria that cause the common cold, whooping cough, tuberculosis, botulism, vaginal and bladder infections, gangrene, diarrhea, staph infections, dysentery, and typhoid. It has been known to treat a staph infection very effectively by rubbing crushed garlic into the infected area. It will undoubtably burn, but that is a small price to pay for the result.
Studies have shown that raw garlic boosts the power of your immune system’s own cancer-fighting cells by 140-160%. The sulfides contain cancer-preventative chemicals. It acts as an anticoagulant, reducing the tendency of blood to form dangerous clots and enhancing the body’s ability to dissolve clots. Garlic also contains a high level of selenium, which has anti-tumor properties. It may help remove heavy metals from the body as well.
Diallyl sulfides help the immune system and cholesterol. It reduces blood presure, cholesterol, and unhealthy triglycerides. Garlic also acts as a strong antioxidant – it reverses the precancerous damage done to cells by oxygen-free radicals. It can prevent or relieve chronic bronchitis as well.
Home Garlic Remedies
Garlic acts as a decongestant and an expectorant, clearing excess mucus that may be clogging your system. If you have a cold and are very congested, try this remedy: Boil a large piece of onion in water, then let simmer for 10 minutes. Add some cayenne pepper, and fresh ginger root if youd like. Then add chopped or pressed garlic to the water. Strain and drink the broth. For a quick fix, try just chopping up some raw garlic really fine and inhaling its fumes. That should clear your airway pretty quickly.
If you suffer from athlete’s foot, a good garlic antibiotic will help you. Chop up some raw garlic and let it sit for a few minutes. Then add it to some water for a food bath. Soak your feet for about 15 minutes. You can save the water you use to reuse again later.
For an earache, crush a clove of garlic and let it sit in some warm olive oil for about 15 minutes. Strain the liquid. Soak a cotton ball in the liquid and put it over the ear. The garlic can fight off the infection. The same works for a toothache. Just chew on some raw garlic in the infected area. It will burn at first, but will improve your condition overall.
Have you ever heard the myth that garlic eaters repel mosquitos? Well that is false. Just because a person eats a lot of garlic does not make them less susceptible to mosquito bites. A more useful way to use raw garlic as a mosquito repellent is to actually rub fresh garlic on your skin. You can rub it right on a mosquito bite to prevent infection. Or, if you dont mind smelling like garlic, rub fresh garlic on exposed skin when you are outside. If any mosquitos are brave enough to land on you, they wont be there for long!
Garlic is wonderful for first aide uses too! To activate the garlic antibiotic, just crush and wait fifteen minutes. You can rub it on some meat that could contain bacteria. It will kill off the bacteria, making the meat safe to eat. If you are out camping and have no source of clean water, add crushed garlic to unclean water and leave it overnight. The water will taste a bit like garlic, but it will have killed off any dangerous bacteria. When bitten by a snake, you can rub garlic into the bite. The venom spreads through teh lymphatic system – so do the garlic sulfides. It is important to note that garlic is not an anti-venom, but it can help fight off the venom while you get to a hospital.
Garlic Breath Remedies
There are many garlic lovers out there, I myself am one of them. But garlic breath isnt for everybody. If you are interested in trying out all the medicinial uses for garlic, but are afraid of offensive breath, there are some remedies you can try. There are odorless garlic supplements you can buy in your local natural foods store. If you do want to eat garlic though, eating a slice of lemon afterwards or drink some lemon juice to help with the garlic breath. If you are cooking with garlic, add some parsley to counteract the odor effects. Or chew on some parsley while eating. The simplest solution is sometimes the easiest – after eating a garlicy meal, just brush your teeth!
To get the maximum medicinal benefits from garlic it must be raw and finely chopped or pressed.
