Reprinted from Sunshine Sharing
A clove a day keeps th doctor away!

The more we learn about garlic, the more we see that a clove of garlic a day will probably do more to keep the doctor away than the proverbial apple. People have known of the healing powers of garlic since the beginning of recorded history. The Egyptian slaves used it to prevent illness and increase strength. The great Greek physician Hippocrates praised garlic's healing properties. In Medieval Europe, four thieves used a mixture of garlic and other herbs to ward off the plague while they robbed its victims. Reportedly they were set free in exchange for the recipe.

In WWI Dr. E. Marcovici gave a bulb of garlic a day to his patients suffering from dysentery. The British also took advantage of garlic during the war, using it as a healing cover for the wounds of the front line men. Garlic juice was squeezed on pieces of moss and used to dress wounds. It is reported that no wound dressed in this manner ever became infected.

In modern scientific studies, garlic is proving its historical reputation.
Research has demonstrated that garlic is effective against bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Studies have also demonstrated its usefulness in combating heart disease. Garlic helps to lower high blood pressure and to prevent (and possibly even reverse) hardening of the arteries. Research also suggests garlic is useful for parasites and even cancer.

Louis Pasteur was the first scientist to use garlic in scientific experiments. He found that by putting a bit of garlic in a petri dish full of bacteria, that the bacteria quickly died. This experiment has been repeated by Dr. Byron Murray who says that he has watched the allicin properties of garlic kill 90% of a virus in a lab dish in thirty minutes. Studies done at the New Jersey Medical University found that a half hour after eating garlic, a sample of the person's blood would have the same destroying affect on bacteria in a petri dish.

Garlic High Potency Allium satvum Garlic is one of the most important herbs; it has a broad range of well-documented healing Properties: antimicrobial against bacteria, fungi and worms, fights blood clots, stimulates bile, lower blood sugar and cholesterol, improves blood LDL/HDL ratio. Garlic has been found to be effective in treating a myriad of conditions in the circulatory, urinary, respiratory and digestive systems largely because of its aromatic sulfur-containing oils. Chlorophyll-rich herbs are used to absorb the odor of garlic on the breath. The High Potency Garlic has a special chlorophyll coating that controls the garlic's potent strong odor. The tablet does not break down until it reaches the small intestine, so you get full nutritional value without the garlic taste. When garlic is chewed, chopped, or smashed its alliin (a substance with no smell or taste) mixes with the enzyme allinase to create allicin (a sulfur compound which gives garlic its pungent smell and taste.) Allicin is the property in garlic that kills bacteria and fungus. It has been shown that the allicin of garlic aids persistent coughs, asthma, ulcers, colds, acne, and fungal infections such as athlete's foot, eye infections, ringworm, and candida. Taking a clove of garlic a day can not only help you rid your body of bacteria and fungus, but it can also help prevent common heart diseases. The average diet, high in fat and cholesterol, is causing diseases such as atherosclerosis and hypertension. Studies show that when garlic is taken with the typical fatty meal, the blood fat and cholesterol levels stay low as compared to the sky-rocketing affect which occurs after a fatty meal minus the garlic. In fact, taking garlic helps increase the HDL's or good fats in your blood.

How does garlic prevent heart disease?

The liver takes on the burden of cleaning the blood of fat and cholesterol. Garlic strengthens the liver's cleaning ability by stimulating the flow of bile.
Garlic also interferes with the sulfur or thiol catalysts that aid the liver in making it's own fat and cholesterol. Therefore, the garlic helps the liver cut the fat and cholesterol two ways, one, by helping the liver take them from the blood, and two, by preventing the liver from making its own. The heart and the liver are stronger when they don't have the hardship of fats and cholesterols.

In India a study was done comparing the blood fat and cholesterol levels in three different groups of people. The first group consumed at least 17 garlic cloves weekly. The second group had no garlic in their diets. The third group fell between the two in garlic consumption. They found that the first group's fat and cholesterol levels were very low. The second group had high levels and the third group fell in between the two.

Garlic helps the heart in another way. It reduces the clotting ability of blood. Even the smallest of clots can prevent the free flow of blood, sometimes causing a stroke. Because people of today usually have blood that clots easier than it should, garlic is an excellent aid in preventing stroke.

Today's need for controlling the high rate of heart disease is coupled with the need for an aid for the high rate of cancer. Cancer is caused by prostaglandins which stimulate cell division. When prostaglandin is too high, cells divide at a tremendous rate. Garlic aids the body's fight of cancer by interfering with prostaglandins and keeping cell division at a regular pace.

Garlic has been shown to inhibit and even reverse the growth of tumors. The Chinese did a study of garlic's correlation to stomach tumors. They questioned the people of two cities, Cangashan and Qixia. The Cangshans ate four cloves of garlic per day and had a rate of 3 people with stomach tumors per 100,000 people. In Qixia, the people rarely ate garlic. They had a rate of 40 people with stomach tumors per 100,000 people.

There are many suggestions as to how much garlic to take daily. With garlic, it seems the larger the amounts the larger the affect, but Dr. Robert Lin feels that just one clove a day will bring about desired health benefits. People with stomach problems and hernias should be careful taking large amounts of garlic.

Note from Christian at Four Winds Nutrition
Ideal combination: Garlic High Potency and Probiotic Eleven.

Why Probiotic Eleven?
* Our GI (gastrointestinal) tract is foundational to your health. It is the starting place for building health and no other organ or system can fully heal until the gastrointestinal tract is supported. If you want to regain your magnificent energy, feel good allover and achieve long term health then start by fully understand the "Gut Connections".

* Your GI tract is responsible for 70% of your ability to resist disease (Immunity is responsible to prevent diseases!).

* The "Gut" is also being considered as a key player in regulating inflammation (as we all know, inflammation is the common factor for virtually all diseases in the body)

* Your intestines produce numerous neurotransmitters that influence your mood, which is why some researchers have referred to them as the gut brain or second brain.




More about garlic
With garlic's wonderful preventative properties, why aren't we eating it as much as we eat apples? One thing that cannot be argued is the smell and flavor of garlic versus an apple. Named stinking rose, most people would prefer the fresh, sweet, clean taste of an apple as to the pungent, bitter taste of garlic. Garlic's sulfur properties not only affect you as you are eating the garlic, but for hours or days later. Garlic is so strong that just by putting slices of clove on your feet you will be able to taste garlic in your mouth.

When studying garlic, the USDA stopped the research even though the findings were very positive, because they decided that Americans would never accept constant garlic breath. Yet many societies have taken garlic into their lifestyle with only positive affects. Will we give up the stigma of garlic? The knowledge of garlic's strength in killing bacteria and fungi, of garlic's ability to help the body prevent heart disease and of garlic's slowing affect on cancer and tumor cells, could add to our garlic desires. But maybe just a hot slice of garlic bread could help us change our minds.

This information is for educational purposes only. Consult with a qualified health practictioner for all serious or persistant illness.
Copyright 1999 by Robinson & Horne, L.C., P.O. Box 1028, Roosevelt, UT
This material may be duplicated for educational purposes only (not for resale) provided it is not altered in any way.