Garlic: One Food Loaded With Benefits

Garlic is a Medicinal Wonder

Garlic belongs to the family Alliaceae and is a close relative of the onion, shallot and leak. It has a pungent, ‘hot’ flavor that mellow and sweetens during the cooking process. The most common part of the garlic that is used is the head of the garlic with the cloves that make it one complete unit. The young floral stem of the garlic is also used for many purposes.

Garlic is believed to have originated in Central Asia. It is now grown all over the world, but it is most popular in China, the Mediterranean, and Latin America.

For more than 5000 years garlic has been valued for its healing properties and its ability to increase the body’s strength and energy. It is said that the builders of the Giza pyramids in Egypt ate garlic to rejuvenate their bodies after the back-breaking work of daily building.

Garlic’s essential oil has antiviral, antifungal, and antibiotic properties giving it many benefits, including:

* Lowers blood sugar
* Natural mosquito repellent
* A natural blood thinner
* Retards blood clotting
* Fights the common cold
* A natural blood purifier
* Is a heart tonic
* A natural diuretic
* Lowers the “bad” cholesterol and raises the “good”
* Helps with insomnia
* Relieves coughs
* Kills bacteria
* Relieves bronchial congestion
* Blocks cancer
* Is a great immune booster
* Promotes secretions from mucus membranes

Garlic can be used medicinally and as a part of your daily health regimen. While many are not crazy about the taste of raw garlic, it is the best for medicinal purposes. You can take a clove or two of raw garlic, finely chopped, and swallow it for an immune boosting blast.

Here are a few more ideas for using garlic in healing:

* Make an antibiotic tea with garlic, lemons, grapefruit, and onions.
* Take raw garlic and add to water. Let is sit for about 5 hours and sip a glass of garlic water every morning.
* For athlete’s feet, warts, skin infections and acne, place a freshly mashed garlic clove in a piece of gauze. Rub it over the affected areas.
* Make an ointment with garlic for wounds, cuts, and fungus.
* Make a tincture with garlic for daily maintenance and immune function power.
* Make a cough syrup with garlic. Slice 1 pound of fresh garlic and pour one quart of boiling water over it. Let sit for 12 hours, then add organic unrefined sugar until you reach the consistency of a syrup. Add honey for better taste, if desired.

Of course, you can always eat your garlic with your meals. That’s an excellent way to get its health benefits without having to plan on taking capsules or tablets. Be aware that cooking it causes some of the nutritional value to be lost. So go out and get some garlic. Every home should have some. Better yet, plan on growing some of the old world varieties for a real treat. Garlic…it does the body good.