GARLIC FOR IMMUNITY AND HEALTH

March 11, 2005

by Robert SarverKnoxville, TN

Eating garlic helps protect from diseases by boosting the immune system and by directly destroying harmful viruses, bacteria and fungal infections. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, and the ancient Egyptian physicians prescribed garlic for illness. Garlic was ground into a paste that was applied to battlefield wounds during World War I, before the discovery of modern antibiotics. Modern medical researchers have begun to understand the function of garlic compounds in health.

In the US, commercial livestock (cattle, hogs, chickens) operators routinely add modern antibiotics to animal feed in order to prevent diseases, improve health and promote rapid growth of their livestock. This overuse of antibiotics contributes to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In Europe the routine feeding of antibiotics is prohibited by law. Instead, livestock operators add garlic preparations to animal feed. (1) Garlic contains over a dozen sulfur compounds that are antibiotic, and disease-causing microbes cannot develop immunity to this combination of compounds.I take garlic because garlic is antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal. It protects against cardiovascular disease (2), helps prevent cancer (3) and is an antioxidant. While the foundation of my personal immunity program is vitamin C and the supplements listed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v3n7.txt , I use garlic to provide an extra boost. This program produces an inhospitable environment for disease-causing microorganisms.

Parasites such as fleas, mosquitoes and ticks dislike the odor that consumption of garlic produces in the skin. Eating garlic discourages these insects from biting and reduced insect bites mean less transmission of the diseases that these parasites can carry. Your dog and cat will thank you. (4)I prefer aged garlic extract and fresh garlic bulbs to soft gels. If using soft gels, buy standardized products that have a content of at least 5000 units of allicin (a major garlic antibiotic compound) per soft gel. During the six months of cold and flu season I take 600 mg of aged garlic extract each morning and each evening. Year-round after one meal each day, I peel two to four medium cloves of garlic, crush them with the flat side of a knife blade, take a sip of liquid, hold the liquid in my mouth while I pop in the garlic, and then swallow. I chase the garlic with more liquid.

During periods of infectious illnesses, some people increase their fresh garlic consumption to 10 or 12 cloves per day. As eating large quantities of garlic leads to offensive breath and skin odor, most people do not routinely consume more than four medium sized cloves a day. A little experimenting will determine the quantity you can eat without producing a noticeable odor.MORE INFORMATION is available by searching for "garlic" at www.lef.org (over 100 entries), http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/, and www.mercola.com , which has over 300 entries, including these:

1) http://www.mercola.com/2001/mar/17/garlic_infections.htm "Allicin slowly (breaks down) into other molecules which themselves react with each other to form molecules which may be very active against protozoa like giardia and trichomonous."

2) http://www.mercola.com/2004/feb/28/garlic_health.htm Garlic to avoid insect bites, for preventing cancer and heart disease, and effective against fungal and viral infections.

3) http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/29/garlic_cancer.htm Garlic prevention of colon and stomach cancer.4) http://www.mercola.com/2000/aug/27/garlic_tick_repellent.htm Many pet supply stores sell garlic capsules for dogs to reduce mosquito, flea and tick problems during the summer. A capsule swallowed by a dog makes the dog's skin less attractive to insects.

(Editor's note: I, too, am a garlic fan. I grow it in my gardens, and then peel, cut and soak it in a closed container of cider vinegar for a few months. The resulting concentrated "garlic vinegar" is good for cooking, salads, and, to quote my great-uncle, "good for what ails you." And now you know why!)

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