A feast is not a feast unless to begin
Each guest is given ample Toes of Garlic,
That finest aphrodisiac
To whet his appetite for later revelry

Quintus Horace (65-8BC)

Garlic has been used for thousands of years all over the planet for health, strength and protection in man and animal. If this doesn’t prove it’s power what does? It’s antioxidant properties help to keep away cancer of the digestive system, keeping the blood clean and the toxins moving out of our system. Also good for respiratory–detoxifying our lungs and strengthening our mucous lining with beneficial bacteria.

Digesting our food is key to being healthier and happier, bacteria and yeasts help us to do this and garlic helps to keep the balance. The smell is also a part of the key to garlic, as people used to merely hang garlic from their rafters, over their beds, or around their necks for protection from vampires and evil bloodsucking creatures that drain your life force….

Interestingly many people with candida and other infestations of the digestive tract have chronic fatigue which drain’s your life force. This smell is the smell of organosulfur substances being formed as the garlic is crushed. These compounds come through your skin and lungs and onto your breath. This often drives your loved ones away. My sister has such a love for raw garlic. On one occasion her room-mates didn’t and begged her to stop eating it. These days I sometimes wonder…maybe she would have been better off if her smell had driven them away, perhaps they were draining her life-force…hummmm….

It seems to me, when your digestive system has good micro-floral balance, the smell that garlic creates going through your system is different than that of the smell of garlic going through a toxic system. I am not sure if this is a scientifically proven fact or not, but in my experience garlic is a bit like chilis, which also affect the digestive system in the same sort of way.

Similarly to eating a super hot chili, it is best not to eat a whole clove of garlic all of a sudden if you never eat raw garlic. It is best to work up to it, especially if your digestive system is in really bad condition. Keep at it, just nibble on a clove over a day every couple days. Or you can mash it, pound it up and put it in your salads, mix it with avocado, or add it to a soup the last minute before you eat it, in a few weeks you will find you can happily chew on a clove of garlic and feel it burning pleasurably as it goes down your gullet and into your belly, knowing it is helping to keep your system clean and strong, and life-sucking vampires at bay.

Garlic is also full of enzymes which are probably the reason for it’s ancient reputation as a giver of life and vitality. Personally I think cooked garlic still has a lot to offer in it’s own right and I love the way the Burmese use it — creating a garlic and turmeric oil which they use in their freshly hand tossed delicious salads.

This article Garlic, The Bountiful Bulb, by Carmia Borek, Ph.D is a very comprehensive readable overview of the benefits of garlic.

For an in depth overview of garlic please see Gotta Grow Garlic.

Medicinal Garlic Preparations.

Links

Wikipedia Garlic
Oprah Garlic
UCLA Medicinal Spices Exhibit
Medline Plus
Properties of Garlic Oil
Garlic Central

Books:

• Herbs, Partners in Life by Adelle G. Dawson
• The Ancient Cookfire by Carrie L’ Esperance
• Hygiea: A Woman’s Herbal by Jeannine Parvati
• Building Healthy Gardens by Catharine Osgood Foster
• The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody
• Herbal Remedies by Christopher Hedley and Non Shaw