Garlic (Allium Sativum) is an excellent herb for creating and maintaining overall health, but it also has some more specific health benefits that are not generally known about. Available in pills, capsules, liquid and it’s natural raw form, garlic is one of the most popular healthy herbs of today. It is also an extremely strong antibiotic which is very effective against toxic bacteria, viruses, and fungus.
Allicin Antimicrobial Effects
The most important part of garlic is called allicin which is a naturally occurring antibiotic. It is claimed that one milligram of allicin has a potency equal to fifteen standard units of penicillin.
The only slight drawback of this antibiotic is that it is the allicin which causes garlic to smell the way that it does. The more popular versions of garlic supplements available in health food stores unfortunately tend to be the “odorless” pills and capsules.
Since the most important part of garlic is the allicin, buying odorless garlic ends up being a waste of money. It does not have much of an effect at all as an antibiotic or general health promotion herb if it does not have it’s odor.
Garlic also contains germanium which is an anti cancer agent and garlic has more of it than any other herb. In some lab tests, garlic was fed to a group of mice. Those that received the garlic showed no cancer development while those who were not fed garlic showed at least some. In some parts of the world, garlic has also been shown to retard tumor growth in human subjects.
Garlic is a great herb for many other health problems including it’s ability to help regulate the body’s blood pressure. Consequently, if you have problems with low or high blood pressure, garlic can help equalize it.
Garlic can also help strengthen your body’s defenses against allergies as well as helping in loosening plaque from the artery walls. It is also useful in helping regulate your blood sugar levels and is the best choice for killing and expelling parasites such as pin worms from the human body.
In addition to having all these health benefits, like most herbs garlic is packed with vitamins and nutrients. Some of these include protein, potassium, Vitamins A, B, B2 and C, Calcium, Zinc and many others.
Garlic is very cheap to buy at grocery stores, so that is probably the best way of keeping it on hand. Here are a few ways it can be used in its natural raw state.
Sore Throats
Put a small slice of garlic in your mouth and suck on it for fifteen minutes. You can put it between your teeth and cheek, then scratch it with your teeth a little to help stimulate juice from the garlic slice. This juice slides down your throat and removes the pain.
Ear Infections
Wrap a small piece of garlic in tissue, then insert into the ear. Leave there overnight if possible. Pain is almost immediately removed and the infection tends to start clearing up overnight, gone fully in just a few days.