For many years now, garlic has been considered both a tasty addition too many foods and also a powerful healing herb. Many will swear by its power to fight infection and I can attest to the fact it seems to aid in the avoidance of at least the more common bacterial infections. Being of Mediterranean descent many relatives have eaten garlic regularly and when I think about it, they are rarely if ever ill with common colds and flu viruses. Perhaps it is just luck or maybe the almost daily use of garlic in their diets.
The smell alone is enough to turn my nose up to it but the evidence is mounting that garlic has some curative abilities. With that in mind, it was time to dig a bit deeper into this garlic herb and not for cooking ideas but curative.
Garlic has been used a healing tool in humans for some time now. As far back as ancient Egypt, garlic was recognized as a valuable healing medicine, there was even a strike by slaves to have their garlic ration increased. Not their bread ration or milk or anything else – but garlic ration! Famous Physician Albert Schweitzer readily utilized garlic as a means of treating dysentery, cholera and typhus at his clinic in Africa in the mid nineteen hundreds.
During World War II, garlic was used as a means of disinfecting ravaging wounds and as a way to defend against gangrene in wounded men. Antibiotics were still a novel means of infection control at the time, effective yes but still relatively new to medicine.
Today, scientists are doing research that shows how garlic is a defensive tool against several of the most dangerous age associated illnesses of our time – heart disease and cancer.
There is an argument spreading that because previous generations consumed a diet that was high in many plants and herbs that are absent from today’s diets, perhaps we should be getting more phytonutrient-rich flora, like garlic in our diets and consider them essential to our health. Many believe this would be an excellent idea and there is nothing preventing us from adding garlic to our diet routine. Even someone like me who does not care for the taste can get the benefits from an aged garlic supplement.
The Basics Of Garlic
Garlic is part of the lily species of plant. This species [Allium] also consists of onions. Garlic has an ingredient called alliin that is an odorless sulfur like compound that transforms to allicin when it is chewed, crushed or mashed, hence, the odor. It is this ingredient allicin that has been feverishly investigated and seems to hold the primary medicinal worth. Allicin innately disintegrates into other elements that include daily sulfide and ajoene, which many believe, are the cornerstone of the healing powers of garlic.
Garlic Is A Natural Blood Vessel Cleanser
Garlic has shown an ability to significantly decrease the “junk” that builds up in the arteries, This ability to reduce plaque in blood vessels is secondary to its tendency to reduce the “bad LDL cholesterol and increase the “good” HDL, though more recent studies conflict in their conclusions. There is little doubt that it is useful in reducing plaque in arteries.
One trial conducted on one hundred fifty two participants measured the quantity of plaque in two main arteries while patients consumed garlic for a four year period. Researchers concluded that the plaque buildup was reduced by five to eighteen percent and the deposits actually reduced in size in some people.
One a few studies were conducted on non human subjects the same conclusions were evident. The strong belief is that garlic safeguards the heart by means of its powerful antioxidant capabilities. Oxidized LDL, not simply LL is responsible for plaque buildup in arteries. One trial after another shows garlic has greater prevention potential when pitted against LDL oxidation. Garlic is also effective at safeguarding against plugged blood vessels by reducing the inclination of blood to clot or mass.
Garlic Is Effective At Preventing Many Infections
Garlic is an effective fighter against bacterial, viral, fungal, and even parasitic contagion. In vitro studies and animal trials showed that garlic is quite deadly against Helicobacter pylori – the ulcer causing bacteria – and also the salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus and Listeria bacteria’s. Bacteria also cannot develop a resistance to garlic which in itself is a great reason to use it instead if antibiotics.
Phytochemicals rampant in garlic are known to be great for thwarting colds, flu, herpes virus’s dead to rights. This was not news to me given my earlier mention of relatives who swear by its healing powers though it did validate my suspicions.
Evidence shows that other infections, namely the fungal varieties Candida albicans that cause vaginal yeast infections and also intestinal candidiasis, are impeded by garlic. Parasitic invaders like Giardia and Entamoeba, which are responsible for chronic diarrhea, are effectively killed by garlic.
Thwarting Cancer with Garlic
When studies were conducted on gastrointestinal, colon and breast cancer, they concluded that those groups who ate the most garlic had considerably lower incidences of cancer. It seems those phytochemicals in the garlic cloves obstruct the development of various forms of cancer cells.
Garlic is also laden with selenium; this is a cancer battling mineral agent, and also sulfur that sustains detoxification progression. A number of studies have revealed that carcinogenic toxins are detoxed more effectually right through the system when garlic is included in the process. Garlic aids in regulating the production of free radicals, which are known architects in the causation of cancer.
Garlic And The Quirky Memory
There was one enlightening study published in the journal Experimental Gerontology that spoke of the outcome of garlic extract and its effect on learning and memory failure in older mice. Special rodents that were bred to age more rapidly than the ordinary variety of mouse were used for the study.
Roughly fifty percent of the mice were provided with a two percent garlic diet for up to nine months. Researchers discovered that the garlic eating mice more readily preserved their learning capability and memory than did their non garlic eating peers.
There is little doubt that garlic has anti aging potential and the curative properties make it a useful addition to anyone’s diet. People should be cooking with garlic at every opportunity whether using fresh cloves or the powder type makes no difference. It is also a good idea to ingest garlic supplements as well as cooking with it. The studies show that researchers used aged garlic extracts containing a minimum of 0.6 percent Allium most frequently, in their testing.
Anti Aging, Anti Aging Supplements, Health And Aging, Longevity
Thu, Jan 7, 2010
Anti Aging, Anti Aging Supplements, Health And Aging, Longevity