Garlic: Powerful Protection

Garlic is one of the world’s oldest medicines, and it is still among the best. If the term wonder drug can be applied to any food, garlic deserves that distinction. Garlic appeared prominently in the world’s oldest surviving medical text, the Ebers Papyrus, written somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1500 B.C. It was an ingredient in 22 remedies for headache, insect and scorpion bites, menstrual discomforts, intestinal worms, tumors and heart problems. Modern science has validated several of these ancient prescriptions.

Cancer. Tantalizing evidence suggests garlic plays a role in preventing and treating cancer. In one study researchers separated mouse tumor cells into two groups. One was left alone. The other was treated with allicin, a major component of garlic. Then both batches of tumor cells were injected into mice. Those who received the untreated cells quickly died, but in the garlic-treated group, there were no deaths. Since then, other animal studies have shown similar results. Of course, animal findings do not necessarily apply to humans, but another study suggests that garlic helps prevent human stomach cancer. Researchers analyzed the diets of 1,800 Chinese, including 685 with stomach cancer. Those with the cancer ate considerably less garlic. The researchers concluded that a diet high in garlic can significantly reduce risk of stomach cancer.

Lead Poisoning. Studies show that garlic helps eliminate lead and other toxic heavy metals from the body. Lead interferes with thinking and causes other serious health problems, and children are particularly susceptible to lead effects. Add garlic liberally to spaghetti and pizza sauces and other foods children enjoy. The only downside to garlic is garlic breath. If this is a problem for you, check your health food store for deodorized garlic.

Infections. During World War I, doctors treated infected battle wounds with garlic juice. They also prescribed garlic to prevent and treat dysentery. Shortly after the war, the Swiss researchers isolated alliin from the bulb. By itself, alliin has no medicinal value, but when garlic is chewed, chopped, bruised or crushed, its alliin comes in contact with an enzyme and becomes allicin, a powerful antibiotic. Garlic kills the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, food poisoning and bladder infections and the fungi that cause athlete’s foot and vaginal yeast infections. For minor skin infections, garlic juice may prove sufficient, but unless you are an experienced herbalist, do not rely exclusively on garlic to treat infectious diseases. Instead, take it in addition to standard medication. You must chew the fresh cloves to transform alliin into allicin. One medium-size garlic clove packs the antibacterial punch of about 100,000 standard units of penicillin. Depending on the type of infection, oral penicillin doses typically range from 600,000 to 1.2 million units, or the equivalent of about 6 to 12 cloves.

Heart Disease. Garlic contains chemicals that reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, and they help prevent the blood clots that trigger heart attack. Studies dating back to the 1920s confirm garlic’s ability to reduce blood pressure in animals and humans. More than a dozen medical journal reports document garlic’s ability to reduce cholesterol. In one experiment, researchers had volunteers eat a meal containing about four ounces of butter, which raises cholesterol. Half the group also ate about nine cloves of garlic. After three hours, the average cholesterol level in the nongarlic group increased 7 percent. But in the garlic group, it decreased 7 percent. The researchers concluded that garlic has a very significant protective action against high cholesterol. I call garlic as potent as aspirin, which is now widely used to prevent the blood clots that trigger heart attack. To prevent heart disease, it is recommended eating at least one clove of fresh garlic a day.