Garlic

by Gudrun Maybaum

Common Name: Garlic
Botanical name: Allium sativum
Family Name: Liliaceae or Lily

History

We first find mention of garlic in scriptures from the Sumerians of Abraham’s time. They were followed by the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. During the building of the pyramids the Egyptians spent what would be today about 30 million US dollars to feed garlic to the workers who built the pyramids so they would remain strong and healthy and control the spreading of epidemics. It was also the treatment of choice for the nobles of Egypt.

We find it mentioned by such great Greek physicians like Dioscorides and Hippocrates. The Greek poet Homer (830 B.C) mentions garlic just in his ‘Iliad’ for the treatment of 147 different wounds.

Pliny the Roman physician and naturalist mentions 62 disease, which can be treated with garlic. In the roman empire it was given to the soldiers for strength, to the gladiators for endurance, nobilities used it in their wine as antidote against poisoning, physicians used it during surgeries as disinfectant, it was given to the animals to prevent gas if eaten to much grain.

The Vikings always took it with them on their lengthy voyages. For centuries, Danish, Irish, and Russians have used garlic for colds and coughs.

Garlic is mentioned in several Old English vocabularies of plants from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. During world war II garlic was used by the British and Russian to control infections and speed the healing of wounds.

Nutrition

Garlic is a tremendously nutritious health food and a miraculous healing plant. Incorporated in the daily diet it is one of the most beneficial and natural seasonings and flavor enhancers, there are on this planet. It enriches the diet and improves health, prevent disease and prolong life. It fulfills more then any other food the requirement of Hippocrates’ that “our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food”. Extensive studies around the world on people over the age of 100 that are in excellent health, conclude that they use garlic extensively in their daily diets.

Garlic research is taking place in almost every developed country. Areas of interest include cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, antibacterial properties, antifungal use and much more.
This studies have shown that garlic is almost miraculous of preventing a variety of disease. The studies were made with raw garlic, juice and an extract made from aged garlic.

People with low blood pressure should limit the intake of garlic to not more than one clove a day, because of its blood pressure lowering effects.

Healing

So far research and clinical observation have identified the following active factors in garlic:

Allicin is believed to be responsible for garlic’s antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect. It is also the factor that causes the typical garlic smell. Alliin is a sulfur containing amino acid, which according to Russian studies gives garlic its antibiotic effect.

Diallyldisulphide and allylpropyldisulphide are the ingredients that give the cholesterol and lipid lowering effect to garlic.

Anti-hemolytic factor found in Kyolic, an aged garlic juice from Japan. is beneficial in anemia treatments (not found in fresh raw garlic) Japanese studies have also shown that Kyolic is effective in protecting the body from the toxic effects of metal poisoning.

Allithiamine is formed by the action of vitamin B1 on alliin. Garlic is a source of biologically active compounds of vitamin B1.

Selenium normalizes blood pressure , protects against infection and prevents platelet adhesion and clod formation, which gives garlic the anti artherosclerotic properties.

There are also anti-arthritic, sugar-regulating, antioxidant and anti-coagulant factors found in garlic.

Garlic has altogether 35 sulfur containing compounds, plus ultra violet radiation (Gurwitch rays), which have a rejuvenating effect on all body functions.

The fungus Aspergillus flavus, found in such foods as rice, grains, corn, beans and sweet potatoes can cause aflatoxins. This fungus is known to cause cell mutations that eventually lead to cancer. The components ajoene and diallyl sulfide found in raw garlic and Kyolic neutralize the fungus and prevents it from binding to the cell DNA matter.

Some scientific literature testifies that the high amount of sulfur protein found in garlic protects the liver from the damage industrial chemical poisons.

Garlic is the only antibiotic that can actually kill infecting bacteria and at the same time protect the body from the toxins that are causing the infection. Even the forefather of antibiotic medicine Louis Pasteur acknowledged garlic to be as effective as penicillin and late studies showed similar activity to a more modern antibiotic, chloramphenicol.

Another once common, and apparently returning disease, tuberculosis was treated with garlic very successfully as the invading organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis is sensitive to several of the sulphur components found in garlic. The vapor from freshly cut garlic can kill bacteria at a distance of 20 cms!

The Japanese did a study in which they found that Kyolic protects the body from the toxic effect of metal poisoning.

Cultivation

Garlic likes moist sandy soil, but can also be grown in sandy, loam or clay. It like sunny places and should be kept free of weeds. When planted in February or March, the bulbs should be ready for harvest in August. In cold and wet areas it will take about a month longer.

References

The Healing Benefits of Garlic by John Heinerman, Ph.D
The Miracle of Garlic by Paavo Airola, Ph.D
The Complete Garlic Book by Peter Josling
Herbal Medicine by Sharol Tilgner, N.D.

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/garlic06.html#his
http://www.mistral.co.uk/garlic/6th_int.htm