Garlic: Not Just For Cooking

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  The good answer would be garlic.After all, it has been used a long, long time ago by the builders of the Egyptian pyramids for strength and endurance.An Old Welsh rhyme states, Eat leeks in March and wild garlic in May, / And all the year after physicians may play.

  In fact, it is hailed as nature’s herbal wonder drug.

In the past, garlic was said to strengthen the heart; protect against the plague; cure colds, athlete’s foot, toothache, and snakebite; repel vampires and demons; grow hair; stimulate sexual performance; and rid the dog of fleas.

  But the therapeutic qualities of garlic are nothing new. Sanskrit records reveal that garlic remedies were pressed into service in India 5,000 years ago, while Chinese medicine has recognized garlic’s powers for over 3,000 years. Even Louis Pasteur, who solved the mysteries of rabies, anthrax, chicken cholera, and silkworm diseases, recognized the anti-bacterial powers of garlic way back in 1858. 

 When cloves are chewed, crushed or cut, they release a sulphur-bearing compound called allicin — the chemical that gives garlic its pungent aroma. And it’s the allicin that scientists have discovered is the magic ingredient thought to be responsible for garlic’s therapeutic qualities. 

  It seems to even fight some infections that are normally resistant to antibiotics.’But allicin is unstable and sensitive to heat, the editors remind. Cook the garlic lightly, if at all, and always mince it to release the most allicin.

  Antioxidants reportedly block free radicals, the potentially harmful elements that circulate in the body and may lead to cancer and heart disease.

  Get a health kick from garlic.Researchers have long known that large quantities of raw garlic can reduce harmful blood fats.But here’s a word of warning from Duke Robert I of Normandy: Because garlic has the power to save from death; / Endure it, though it leaves behind bad breath.

In 1993, the ‘Journal of the Royal College of Physicians’ reviewed data on cholesterol and found that after just four weeks there was a 12 per cent reduction in cholesterol levels in the research groups that had taken garlic. 

  He recommends two to three oil-free capsules three times a day.

  When a sore throat is caused by a virus infection, as opposed to bacteria, eating garlic can bring quicker relief, suggests Dr Yu-Yan Hey, a nutrition professor who researches on the healing properties of garlic.Dr. Eleonore Blaurock-Busch, the physician behind ‘The No-Drugs Guide to Better Health,’ recommends taking garlic-oil capsules six times a day.She advises though that if the prescription causes you any adverse reaction, try another remedy.

  Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia found that mothers who ate 1.5 grams of garlic extract two hours before nursing got an odor in their milk that prompted infants to suck longer and possibly ingest more milk.Besides that, the babies experienced no abdominal cramps or other problems associated with spicy foods.

  Pennsylvania State researcher Dr. John A. Milner exposed rats to huge amounts of chemicals that cause cancer.Then he gave some of the rats chow full of garlic.The rats that ate garlicky chow had 50 percent fewer precancerous changes in their breasts.

  Garlic should not be taken with warfarin, antiplatelets, saquinavir, antihypertensives or hypoglycemic drugs.

 Each bulb is made up of 4-20 cloves, and each clove weighs about one gram. 

A dormant period of 4-5 months at 7 degrees Centigrade is necessary to hasten the germination of the cloves.The cloves must be soaked in water for 12 hours before planting.To reduce leaf growth and producer larger bulbs, the neck is broken so that the top would like on its side.Mulching is needed in garlic cultivation. — ###