Garlic--Nature' s Antibiotic

[Guest guest]

Garlic-- " Nature' s Antibiotic "

JoAnn Guest.

 

Glorious garlic! It is one of the world's most healing foods. It was

being used both as a favorite food and as a powerful medicine

centuries before Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and

into the wilderness.

 

During their forty years in the wilderness, Moses' followers

lamented: " We remember the fish we did eat in Egypt freely; the

cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions and the

garlic. " Numbers 11:5

 

The magic and medicine of plants states that garlic is " …a good

friend to mankind. Besides the savor it adds to foods, garlic is

said to have given strength to the pyramid builders, courage to the

Roman legions, and fighting spirit to English gamecocks…garlic' s

medicinal uses have been documented for centuries. It was always a

popular remedy for colds,

sore throats and coughs - - either eaten raw or taken as a syrup,

which was made by boiling garlic cloves and water for half a day.

 

Physicians and herbalists prescribed garlic as a diuretic and for

intestinal disorders and rheumatism… " Colonists arriving in America

discovered that the Indians knew about

the healing powers of a native species of garlic and relied on the

plant to treat a variety of medical problems, from snakebites to

intestinal worms.

 

" Garlic may have helped to cure many diseases because it is a potent

antiseptic. It was used in both World Wars. "

 

Garlic and its cousin, the onion, were regarded for both health-

giving and magical qualities in ancient cultures. Garlic was one of

the first foods to be deliberately cultivated, although wild

varieties grew in abundance.

 

Evidence of its healing powers is detailed in 4,000 year-old records

from the ancient kingdom of Sumeria. Depictions of garlic bulbs have

been discovered on the walls of Egyptian tombs that date back to

3200 B.C. -centuries before Joseph and his brothers settled in

Egypt. During that same period, ancient records reveal that garlic

was the

principal ingredient in many remedies that Egyptian healers

prescribed for headaches, sore throats and other complaints.

 

By the time of Moses, garlic was already being used as an

anticoagulant, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agent,

as a relief for flatulence, a diuretic, a sedative, a poultice, and

as a cure for internal parasites.

 

At least 67 different varieties of garlic and onions have been

identified as growing in the Holy Land, so it's little wonder that

the ancient Israelites developed a fondness for it centuries ago. It

may be for health reasons that the Talmud specifies that several

different foods are to be seasoned with garlic regularly.

 

At various times, it has been recommended as a cure-all for a vast

array of ailments: arteriosclerosis, arthritis, asthma, athlete's

foot, bronchitis, cancer, candida, catarrh, chickenpox, cholera, the

common cold, constipation, dandruff, diabetes, dropsy, dysentery,

dyspepsia, epilepsy, fits, gangrene, hypertension, influenza,

jaudice,laryngitis,

lead poisoning, leprosy, malaria, measles, meningitis, piles,

rheumatism, ringworm, scorpion stings, scurvy, septic poisoning,

smallpox, snakebite, tuberculosis, and typhoid.

 

Research suggests that garlic may help protect against heart disease

and stroke by lowering blood pressure. It contains allylic sulfides,

which may neutralize carcinogens. In fact, garlic has been linked to

lower rates of stomach cancer.

 

The Environmental Nutrition newsletter published evidence from five

clinical trials showing that one-half to one clove per day lowered

cholesterol levels an average of nine percent in people with

borderline and high cholesterol.

 

Scientific interest in the healing power of garlic has exploded so

much over the last decade that the National Library of Science now

lists nearly 150 papers published on garlic's ability to maintain

good health!

 

In various studies, garlic powder, aged garlic extracts and fresh

garlic all have had positive effects in preventing cancer in

animals; improving diabetes management; slowing the growth of human

cytomegalo-virus (often seen in people with AIDS); preventing

fatigue; and relieving stress more effectively than the addictive

tranquilizer, Valium!

 

As little as half a raw clove will boost the body's natural

protection against blood clots, which cause heart attacks and

strokes. It takes only two raw garlic cloves a day to lower

cholesterol levels in heart patients.

 

The ingredient that gives garlic its strong smell, a chemical called

allicin, is also what makes it such a potent antibiotic. In hundreds

of experiments, allicin extract from raw garlic has destroyed the

germs that spread such diseases as botulism, tuberculosis, diarrhea,

staph, dysentery, and typhoid.

 

One scientist reports: Garlic has the broadest spectrum of any anti-

microbial substance we know of. It's antibacterial, antifungal,

antiparasitic, antiprotozoan and antiviral. " Some researchers say

that one medium-sized garlic clove has as much antibacterial power as

100,000 units of penicillin.

 

Japanese scientists have distilled an antibiotic medication

called " kyolic " from raw garlic. Because it was used so commonly as

an antibiotic by Russian army medics during World War II, it became

known throughout all Europe as the Russian " Penicillin "

 

An astonishing 500 tons of garlic were trucked into Moscow to combat

one influenza epidemic in the 1950s. European doctors still

prescribe garlic to ward off colds, pneumonia, whooping cough and a

wide array of intestinal disorders.

 

A natural ingredient in garlic called alliin is changed into the

antibiotic substance, allicin, when it is chewed, chopped or crushed.

 

Western medical experts are now studying reports that the Chinese

used high doses of garlic to cure cryptococcal meningitis, a disease

that is often fatal. The Chinese doctors way that it works by

boosting the body's natural immunity.

 

In the U.S. several researchers are studying exactly what effect

garlic does have on the immune system. In one study, AIDS patients

who ate at least a clove of garlic a day for three months

significantly improved their immune functions, which the disease

severely damages.

 

In some patients, chronic herpes sores were completely eradicated;

in others, cancer cells were destroyed.

 

Animal tests in Japan indicated that fresh garlic might be an

effective weapon against a form of breast cancer. Another finding

from the same study suggested that garlic was probably a better

antioxidant than Vitamin E, one of the top antioxidants known to

slow the aging

process.

 

At the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas,

investigators looked at sulfur compounds from both garlic and onions

and concluded their ingredients blocked the formation of carcinogens

that lead to colon cancer. Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute

has announced that the sulfur in garlic is high on its list of

potential natural " chemopreventatives . "

 

A study at Bombay Hospital's Research Center in India, found that

those who ate several garlic cloves daily (depending on the size of

the person) significantly reduced the risk of potentially deadly

blood clots -even in patients who already suffered from coronary

disease.

 

In even smaller doses, garlic drastically reduced cholesterol

levels -on the average from 305 to 218 over a 60-day period.

Researchers at Loma Linda University in California achieved equally

dramatic results when they tested Japan's garlic extract, kyolic. An

ounce a day (approximately eight to nine cloves) reduced dangerous

LDL cholesterol from 10 to 50 percent and boosted the production of

HDL cholesterol, which the body needs for good health.

 

Hypertension is a modern affliction that the people of biblical

times probably didn't have to deal with. There is now ample proof

that garlic has a near-miraculous ability to lower high blood

pressure. The British Medical Journal " The Lancet " , recently

reported that studies

conducted in Eastern European laboratories showed that garlic

produces a

systolic blood pressure drop of 20 to 30 points and a diastolic drop

of 10 to 20 points. That's more than enough to bring even the most

severe hypertension to manageable levels without drugs.

 

Dr. Eric Block, head of chemistry at State University of New York at

Albany, recently extracted a compound from garlic which he

named " ajoene " . In Spanish, " ajo " is garlic. He found that ajoene

prevents blood clots from forming. " As an antithrombotic agent,

ajoene is at least as potent as aspirin, " he said. For years medical

experts have prescribed limited doses of aspirin to prevent or

dissolve dangerous blood clots. Early test also indicate

that ajoene has few of the unwanted side effects of anticoagulant

drugs.

 

Many doctors are now going back to ancient folklore and home

remedies that call for garlic as a decongestant and an expectorant

in the treatment of common colds and chronic bronchitis.

 

Like chili peppers and other hot, pungent foods, garlic works by

turning on the body's natural " fire-fighting " faucets to cool the

heat. This provokes the lungs and bronchial tubes to produce more

fluids - which in turn thin the mucus and help flush it out of the

body.

 

While cooking may destroy or reduce the allicin and weaken the

garlic's potential, most of its therapeutic benefits remain. Cooked

garlic still lowers blood cholesterol, for example, and works as a

decongestant and cough medicine.

 

Whether in cooked, raw or in extract form, garlic may be one of the

most potent natural healing foods we have. The ancient people of the

Bible knew that basic fact of life. Some of our scientists are just

rediscovering it!

[Guest guest]

On Sat, 2007-01-06 at 20:59 +0000, Guru K wrote:

> Garlic-- " Nature' s Antibiotic "

> JoAnn Guest.

>

> Glorious garlic! It is one of the world's most healing foods. It was

> being used both as a favorite food and as a powerful medicine

> centuries before Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and

> into the wilderness.

 

Very interesting. I've been reading a book on Auyervedic theory which

makes similar claims to the effect that garlic is good for whatever

malady ails you.

 

peace and blessings,

ben

[Guest guest]

Thanks Guru, I make strong garlic soup as soon as I

think I'm catching a cold. It also keeps everyone

from annoying me the next day at work (:-O

Donna

--- Guru K <greatyoga wrote:

 

> Garlic-- " Nature' s Antibiotic "

>

 

The candles blew then disappeared

The curtains flew then he appeared...saying don't be afraid

Come on baby...and she had no fear

And she ran to him...then they started to fly

Source: The Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hello !

Vegetarian_group I like to thank you for this massage it is inspirational as

well as good to know , good research I appreciate this information good work

librown

 

 

 

Guru K <greatyoga wrote: Garlic-- " Nature' s Antibiotic "

JoAnn Guest.

 

Glorious garlic! It is one of the world's most healing foods. It was

being used both as a favorite food and as a powerful medicine

centuries before Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and

into the wilderness.