Garlic is powerhouse herb! It has been used medicinally as far back as the first written record from ancient Egyptians! We may now just think of it as something to spice our meals with, but most of our culinary herbs were originally added to meals for their medicinal benefits. Garlic is a prime example of this and coupled with its tasty flare, it’s no wonder it continues to be cultivated still found in almost every household around the world today. Why should you add garlic and then even more garlic into your life? Here are 7 reasons to go out and get some garlic today.
Eating garlic daily can help prevent cold and flu symptoms before they even appear! This is due to a combination of garlics qualities. First, garlic is an immune stimulant. The constituents in garlic will alert our immune response to get busy, go out to patrol, and clear the body of unwanted microbes. It does this by stimulating white blood cells, which is our bodies army to fight off infections.
Kills Viruses, Bacteria, and Fungi on Contact
When we get sick, we usually do not know what kind of pathogens we are dealing with. If we have a virus, antibiotics will not help us in the least bit. Oftentimes, sinus infections have a fungal component. It is also quite common when we are infected by one microbe, a bacterial infection for example, a virus or fungus will take advantage of our weakened defenses and will join the party.
This is not a problem for garlic because garlic is effective at fighting all three of these types of microbes. If you are already taking an antibiotic or another type of cold and flu medication, add garlic into the mix as well. The great thing about garlic is that it is not one or the other.
Garlic works best when it is worked with at the first signs of cold and flu. Notice a tickle in the back of your throat? Maybe you were in an elevator and a coworker sneezed. This is the time to grab the garlic.
Its medicine is most potent when it is peeled, and then crushed or cut, and eaten 15 or 20 minutes after. It does not need to be grated or chopped. Simply take the side of a knife and gently push down or cut the top part a few times like you would a potato before putting in the oven. Eat raw. You can eat a clove every few hours until symptoms disappear.
Not everyone can stomach raw garlic, and that is fine. Raw garlic may even irritate some people, so if you fit into that group than choose a different method. Feel free to cook the garlic in a pan or with other food before eating. The longer you cook it the less potent it will become.
Another option is to infuse it in vinegar and take it as a shot of Fire Cider, a popular folk remedy made popular by Rosemary Gladstar.
Did you know we have trillions of bacteria that live in our guts? Wild right? It’s like a whole world down there and is called our gut microbiome. When we are eating right and drinking all of our healthy teas regularly, the majority of the bacteria living in our digestive tract is friendly and there to help us live our best and healthiest lives.
However, sometimes or microbiome may get out of whack and a disbalance can occur. Bad bacteria can grow and the helpful bacteria may lower in numbers. This can happen for a variety of reasons like the food we eat or taking antibiotics for example. When we have a disbalance of bacteria, we need to get things in check. Garlic can help with this!
The trick is getting the garlic down to where it needs to go so it can help fight the bacteria deep down in our guts. The best way of getting garlic down into our guts is by taking it powdered in capsules. By taking it in capsules, we are able to get it down to our lower gut so it can work its magic!
Garlic breath… ugh right? Well, garlic breath is actually part of its magic! Our body expels garlic from the body through the respiratory tract. As you breathe out the garlic you have eaten, all of these antimicrobial agents are going to work by fighting of bacteria, fungus, and viruses throughout the lungs, nose, nasal passages, and mouth!
Embrace the garlic breath and just know it is fighting unwanted bacteria and such in the lungs. Don’t want your partner to be grossed out? Give them some garlic too.
FUN FACT: You do not need to eat garlic to get garlic breath. No matter how you take garlic in, it will always be expelled through the respiratory system. Test this for yourself! If you take a foot bath filled with garlic, you will in fact still get garlic breath.
Circulation is one of the body’s most important functions for overall health. Good circulation increases overall vitality, energy, and benefits your muscles, heart, and other vital organ function. By eating garlic, we are promoting the circulation of our blood and our overall health and vitality. This goes to show that garlic should not just be reserved for when you feel a bug coming on. Incorporate garlic into your meals regularly to support your body and help it function at its best.
Garlic thins the blood and improves circulation. This helps reduce risk of further serious diseases stemmed by diabetes. Research has shown that garlic lowers blood glucose levels.
Herbs can be a very helpful ally when someone is prediabetic, diabetic, or merely trying to prevent diabetes. If one has diabetes and is on medication, make sure to talk to your doctor before adding herbs into your protocol.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide. This information should make us want to care for our hearts and make them as strong as possible! Luckily, there are a ton of herbs that promote a healthy heart, and garlic falls on that list!
There has been a ton of research done on garlic’s positive impact on hearth health. Garlic lowers total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and vascular inflammation. Incorporating garlic and other heart healthy herbs and food into your diet can be a helpful way to help keep your heart beating strong, blood moving, and cholesterol down.
Cancer is something that we would prefer to prevent rather than fight. Many herbs and foods can help us do just that. Garlic stimulates aspects of immune system that is responsible for identifying and disposing cancerous cells. Multiple studies show that consuming garlic can reduce rise of lung, prostate, and stomach cancers. Recent studies suggest there could also be a risk reduction in breast cancer and garlic intake.
As you can see, it is no wonder garlic has been used as apart of most traditional systems around the world for as long as we know. It is so powerful and delicious, it makes it easy to incorporate into our lives. The next time you are spicing your meals, think to add a little garlic to zest up your dish while circulating your blood and promoting your health.
What are your favorite ways to work with garlic?
Raw garlic should be avoided for people with ulcers.
Talk to a doctor about eating or taking garlic when on pharmaceutical blood thinners or two weeks before scheduled surgery. If garlic causes you discomfort in GI tract, heartburn, bloating, nausea, and diarrhea try cooking, coating in oil, or pickling it, or avoid altogether.
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2 Responses
Everything is very open with a precise clarification of the challenges. It was really informative. Your website is useful. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your kind words! I am so happy you found it informative and useful! =) If you are interested in being notified, I try and send email updates when there is new information on the site. If you subscribe, you are automatically sent my 10-Day Diet Reset, which is full of fun information about fruits and vegetables!
Wishing you well!
Samantha Lee