As winter chills take hold and we catch more coughs and colds it’s time to get serious about natural alternatives to prescription antibiotics. One natural remedy that’s been around for thousands of years to fight winter viruses is garlic.
The humble garlic has enjoyed a long and illustrious reputation as a heal-all, and rightly so. Garlic has been used for health since the time of the ancient Egyptians. Now science has confirmed that garlic deserves its status and is indeed the medicinal giant it has always been held to be.
As a culinary herb garlic is relatively new and throughout history was more likely to be used for its medicinal properties. For a plant that offers so much to invigorate your palate, it seems almost too generous for it to have powerful healing properties as well.
Allicin is the active ingredient that carries all the healing power, and that is the same component that gives that strong garlic odour and taste. It is only produced when the clove is exposed to the air after it has been cut or crushed. To benefit your health garlic needs to be raw and smell strongly garlic-y. Odour-free garlic won’t do much good.
If you are going to cook with garlic make sure it is cut or crushed and left to sit for a while first. Eat more foods containing fresh raw garlic such as hommus or guacamole.
How Garlic Heals
Respiratory: Garlic is a useful treatment for asthma and bronchitis, as well as being very effective in reducing the duration of the common cold by up to 70%. Use it to ward off colds and other viruses.
Immunity: This wonderful bulb is a true superfood, containing many trace nutrients that strengthen immune function.
Cardiovascular: Garlic acts powerfully, helping to lower hypertension and regulate cholesterol. A 2013 study* found that aged garlic extract was as effective as the hypertensive drug Atenolol in reducing blood pressure.
Skin: Although you won’t find garlic in your skin cream it’s a strong acting topical treatment for acne.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: In ancient cultures labourers were given garlic to reduce fatigue and improve their capacity to work longer and harder. Today it relieves the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome as well as improving physical endurance.
Detox: In high doses garlic can protect against, and reduce the signs of, heavy metal toxicity.
Hair Loss: Garlic contains keratin to strengthen hair and stimulate growth.
Other health uses:
- Allergies
- Candida
- Vaginitis and candida
- Hypoglyceamia
- Liver problems
- Haemorroids
- Tumours
- UTI
- Plus many, many more ailments from the prevention of tick bite to diabetes.
Garlic For Colds
When a cold starts one of the easiest ways to fight it off is to swallow pieces of raw garlic that’s been left to ‘air’ until it smells. Cut the clove open and leave to sit in the air for a few minutes before you eat it. The response can be quite dramatic!
Some people have no problem eating cloves of raw garlic but for others it’s not so easy. When I need a dose of garlic, I crush it and use it raw on top of my meal. The raw garlic is easier to take with a mouthful of food.
Don’t shy away from taking raw garlic.
It only affects your breath if you chew it so swallow chunks without chewing. Or go for foods like fresh hommus or guacamole that contain lots of raw garlic instead.
Absorb Your Garlic
Another way to take your garlic is through your skin. Your skin absorbs whatever is put on it and this goes for garlic as well as expensive skin products.
Crush a few cloves of garlic and cover them with some suitable carrier oil such as coconut, jojoba, olive or other food grade oil. Allow the mix to steep for at least half an hour. Don’t heat the garlic as even short-term heating reduces the anti-inflammatory effects. After steeping the carrier oil holds the allicin from the garlic.
Once the oil has finished steeping apply it to the soles of your feet. Put on some socks to protect the oil and relax while the oil is absorbed through the pores of your skin. Once absorbed it is carried throughout the body.
Alternatively you can rub the cut garlic clove directly onto the soles of your feet. It will still be absorbed through your skin. But be warned. You will probably develop a garlic taste in your mouth, or your breath may start to smell of garlic about twenty to thirty minutes later. This confirms the garlic has been absorbed and carried through your body.
To get the health benefits you need at least two to three cloves each day.
Don’t be afraid to use this smelly treasure as the body can tolerate up to four grams or about four cloves each day.
Garlic Supplements
If you simply can’t face raw garlic take it as a supplement. It comes as a powder, extract or oil. However there’s a big difference between garlic supplements because the amount of allicin they contain depends on how they were prepared. And unfortunately allicin isn’t stable and can quickly change, reducing the effectiveness of the preparation. If the supplement is odourless its effectiveness is reduced.
Warning
Some people are allergic to garlic. And you need to be careful with garlic if you suffer from a bleeding disorder or are taking blood thinning medications.
*Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Studies