If I were allowed only one herbal remedy to treat medical conditions, it would be raw, organic garlic.
Garlic is nature’s antibiotic and more. Garlic kills (removes, eliminates, reduces) bacteria, colds, flus, viruses, parasites, inflammation, warts, fungi, and plagues.
The Benefits of Garlic
- Kills kidney infections
- Kills urinary tract infections
- Inhibits leukemia
- Kills and expels worms
- Increases insulin production
- Kills athletes foot (apply externally and take internally)
- Dramatically lowers cholesterol
- Helps with weight control and weight loss
- Reduces and regulates blood sugar
- Reduces high blood pressure
- Kills cancer cells (has been proven in numerous lab studies)
- Treats acne (apply externally and take internally)
- Soothes psoriasis (apply externally)
- Kills cold sores (apply externally)
- Removes heavy metals from the body
- Strengthens the immune system
- Kills strep throat
- Kills tooth infections
Things to Know when Using Garlic
Garlic Breath
If you stink when consuming raw garlic this should quit happening when the digestive system gets healthier. Garlic + toxins = stink.
When the toxins are all gone, so is the stink. It is very beneficial when your eyes water while cooking with garlic or onions. The properties that make your eyes water actually cleanse and help kill eye infections. Garlic is great for just about every health condition.
Related: How To Heal Your Gut
Chopping Garlic Before Eating
Two components of garlic, a sulfur-based compound called alliin, and the enzyme alliinase, are kept separate within garlic. But when the cells are ruptured these elements are released, allowing them to come in contact and form a powerful new compound called allicin. This compound is responsible for many of the health benefits garlic is known for, along with its pungent smell and bite. The more the garlic is chopped (minced, pressed, etc.), the more allicin is produced. After cutting the garlic, let it sit for a couple of minutes to allow the chemical process to take place.
Personally, I take a different approach to receive the same results. To maximize the effectiveness of garlic, try chewing it for at least one minute while breathing in and out of your mouth. Chew for as long as you can, continuing to let the air in as you go.
How Cooking Affects Nutrients
Heating garlic without letting it sit has been found to deactivate the enzyme that is responsible for the formation of alliicin. However, if you have allowed your garlic to sit for 5-10 minutes, you can cook it on low or medium heat for a short period of time (up to 15 minutes) without destroying the alliicin. This is because letting it sit not only ensures the maximum synthesis of the alliicin, but also makes it more stable and resistant to the heat of cooking. – The Worlds Healthiest Foods
Cooking for:
- 5-15 minutes — minimal loss of nutrients
- 15-30 minutes — moderate loss of nutrients
- 45+ minutes — substantial loss of nutrients
Garlic Burns
Yes, it can actually burn you. When using garlic topically, be cognizant of this and remove garlic when finished with treatment. Don’t leave raw garlic pieces on the skin too long. When using garlic to remove a splinter for instance (see below) you may want to check every 15 to 20 minutes to make sure the skin is not burning.
Garlic left on an open wound can burn within a few minutes.
Personal Story from Michael Edwards
In Los Angeles there was a spider with a bad attitude in our apartment. He bit me nine times over the course of four nights. I do not know what kind of spider it was, but he was nasty, and five of those bites got very infected. I’m not one to get infections easily, but the spider that bit me was a potent little bastard! The bites were on my left arm near my elbow. I couldn’t move my elbow and I was starting to look like an Ebola virus victim. One of the bites was so bad that there was almost a third of a cup of green and greenish yellow, thick, oozing puss that I spent 5 hours carefully extracting, only to have it fill up the next day. I was taking tons of supplements and eating well; I was doing everything I could to ensure I did not get an infection, but this toxin the spider bit me with was unrelenting. I was also using some of the most potent herbs I knew of, putting them directly into the huge hole left behind from the puss extraction. During the third time (seven days after the bite) of removing the puss (I was cutting open my arm and literally digging into the infection, scooping out this nasty pussy junk), I noticed streaking. Blood poisoning. So I decided to take drastic measures. I knew it would burn me badly, but I filled up the hole with garlic. I shoved a total of four large minced cloves into the infection, which gives you an idea of the massive size of the hole that was there on my arm just below my elbow. Then I bandaged the wound.
It itched so badly that night, but my whole arm hurt and itched so much already that the garlic itch didn’t matter to me. I taped my hands in my sleep so my fingers wouldn’t claw off the bandage while scratching in my sleep.
The next day I awoke to a huge purple welt. It was three times the diameter of a quarter, and it looked like something had eaten a huge chunk of my arm. It was ghastly! But it was also uninfected! I had no itch, and very little pain right there, unlike the other bites.
The other bites had to be drained for infection a few times, even well after the wound closed. I did not do the garlic trick with them, as the scar that I thought might be permanent was massive and disturbing to look at. It took a month for the other spider bites to heal, and it took 6 weeks for the garlic wound to completely heal leaving a very large scar.
But here is what I found most interesting: today, one year later, every single spider bite left a scar, except the big one. The one I put the garlic into is less visible than the others. As massive and nasty as it was during the slow healing process, the permanent damage done was less than that of even the relatively insignificant other bites.
Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
Growing Garlic
This amazing herb is easy to grow and is the best organic pest repellent you can have in your garden. Growing it interspersed throughout your yard will keep away unwanted visitors. In the fall, plant cloves with the tips pointing up, four inches deep, and six inches apart in direct sun. Watch them pop up in the spring and harvest when the tops start to turn brown. Hang them in bundles or braids in a dry place. Next year, plant the biggest cloves to keep improving the strain, and then eat the smaller ones.
Companion Planting
Garlic, in close proximity, will benefit cabbage, cane fruit, fruit trees, roses, and tomatoes. Keep away from beans, peas, sage and asparagus.
When planting garlic around vegetable companions, scatter the onion and garlic plants to minimize infestation by onion/garlic pests such as onion maggots.
The Garlic Game
When everybody in the house is sniffling, coughing and blowing their noses constantly, its time to play the garlic game. First you get the game materials together. Every player needs one large glass of water and a handful of peeled garlic cloves. Spin a clove to see who goes first. The first player puts one clove of garlic in their mouth and chews as fast as he or she can, then swallows it down with a sip of water. Player 2 does the same. The first one to refuse garlic loses and has to eat 3 cloves or stay sick as a penalty.
Whoever eats the most garlic wins. Anyone who eats an entire bulb is the ultimate winner. However, I do recommend you have some food in your stomach before playing this game, as raw garlic on an empty stomach can cause nausea and vomiting.
You may think that chewing raw garlic is intense and hard to do, but try it. It’s not as bad as you think, and it’s nowhere near as intense as our chili pepper contest.
Recommended: How to Cure Lyme Disease, and Virtually Any Other Bacterial Infection, Naturally
More Things Garlic Can Do
This miracle herb has a few more tricks up its sleeve:
Treat Alopecia
Thanks to the allicin, garlic (and onions for that matter) have been shown to reduce hair loss and help regrow hair. Slice garlic and let it set for a couple of minutes to maximize the allicin. Take the sliced garlic and rub on the scalp, squeezing as you go for the most benefit. You can also infuse oil with garlic and massage it into your scalp.
Remove a Splinter
Place a slice of garlic over the opening of the splinter entry and cover with a bandage.
Glass Repair
For cracked glass, rub some crushed garlic clove juice on the crack. Wipe away any excess.
Got Any Other Garlic Tricks?
It’s a powerful substance. Be careful, use common sense, and listen to your body when treating ailments and conditions with garlic. It’s an amazing herb and should be treated with the respect it deserves. If you know of anything else we should include in this garlic article, please let us know by leaving a comment.
Recommended Reading:
- Cinnamon – Ceylon Vs Cassia, Health Benefits, and Other Interesting Facts
- Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
- Cayenne and Capsaicin, Natures Miracle Medicine