Fwd: Glorious Garlic! Nature's Antibiotic

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Glorious Garlic! Nature's Antibiotic JoAnn Guest Jul 05, 2003

12:46 PDT

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 ph

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 abilityto 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. 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 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. 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!

Taken from " Healing Foods of the Bible "

By Bernard Ward

JoAnn Guest