Garlics secret cure all

We cultivate garlic for its taste, as it adds flavor and seasoning to our cooking. However, the earliest civilizations, the Sumerians, were cultivating it purely for its healing properties.

Used by healers from the oldest civilizations, if there was an epidemic, they brought out the garlic. Before the discovery of antibiotics, epidemics such as influenza, typhus, and cholera, were treated with garlic. In fact, inscriptions regarding garlic were found in Egyptian crypts. Clay sculptures of garlic bulbs were found in the tombs of these tombs, including that of King Tutankhames. He actually had garlic in his tomb! If you’re a garlic consumer, you’ve already been benefitting from this pungent root’s medicinal qualities. The scientific studies investigating garlic’s medicinal qualities are voluminous. Garlic has been found to have potency in fighting off infections from bacteria, viruses, fungus and parasites, as well as lowering cholesterol and heart disease. The ancients may have had it right, when ancient Greek army leaders fed garlic to their army before battle to give them strength. Greek Olympic athletes ate garlic prior to competition, and garlic was also used by the Greeks to treat snakebites. esearch has focused on garlic’s qualities in reducing heart disease and cholesterol. Its ability to reduce cardiovascular disease is complex, and the pathways in which garlic benefits our bodies is still not completely understood. The evidence does point to garlic’s ability to reduce platelets from clumping together as well as enhancing the breakdown of clots. Properties in garlic extract demonstrate that it improves the movement of blood flow through the vessels. All of these effects reduce the risk of plugging arteries. That being said, garlic seems to reduce blood pressure, and relax blood vessels. Its cholesterol lowering effects on average in a compilation of studies was a total cholesterol reduction of 9.9%, LDL reduction of 11.4%, and triglycerides by 9.9%. That’s good medicine coming from a plant! Garlic is also actively being studied for it cancer preventative properties. Garlics ability to reduce free radicals and oxidant stress, reduces cancer cells ability to grow. Any way you dice it, garlic will enhance your health. So those of you already enjoying the benefits of garlic, keep it up, and if you haven’t yet incorporated a daily clove (which would be the recommended amount for healthy benefits) try an easy recipe, and make it part of your daily habit. In fact, Holly will tell you that Garlic is the quintessential cure-all for any ailment. She’s Italian, so it’s in her blood. But anytime she feels a cold coming on, she chops up one clove of garlic, adds it to a tablespoon full of honey, and takes it down. Cold be gone!