Benefits of Eating Garlic
One scientist reports: "Garlic has the broadest spectrum of any antimicrobial substance we know of. It's antibacterial, anti fungal, anti parasitic, anti protozoan and antiviral." Some researchers say that one medium-size garlic clove has as much antibacterial power as 100,000 units of penicillin.
Because it was used so commonly as an antibiotic by Russian army medics during World War II, it became known throughout all of Europe as the "Russian penicillin." An astonishing 500 tons of garlic were trucked into Moscow to combat one influenza epidemic in the 1950's. European doctors still prescribe garlic to ward off colds, pneumonia, whooping cough and a wide array of intestinal disorders.
Another natural ingredient in garlic called alliin is changed into the antibiotic substance, allicin, when garlic is chewed, chopped or crushed. Animal tests in Japan indicated that fresh garlic might be an effective weapon against a form of breast cancer. And another finding from the same suggested that garlic is probably a better antioxidant than vitamin E, one of the top antioxidants known to slow the aging process.
At the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, investigators looked at sulfur compounds from both garlic and onions and concluded their ingredients blocked the formation of carcinogens that lead to colon cancer. Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute has announced that the sulfur in garlic is high on its list of potential natural "chemo preventives."
Garlic is also heart-friendly. Scores of studies around the world have focused on garlic's astonishing ability to fight hypertension, prevent embolisms, or blood clots and lower bad cholesterol. A study at Bombay Hospital's Research Center in India found that those who ate several garlic cloves daily significantly reduced the risk of potentially deadly blood clots - even in patients who already suffered from coronary disease.
In even smaller doses, garlic drastically reduced cholesterol levels -= on average from a high of 305 all the way down to 218 over a 60-day period.
While cooking may destroy or reduce the allicin and weaken garlic's potential, most of its therapeutic benefits remain intact. Cooked garlic still lowers blood cholesterol and works as a decongestant and cough medicine.
Before the birth of Christ, the Israelites were using garlic as a major ingredient in their food, as well as a medicine. In fact, they were so fond of garlic and consumed so much of it that in the Mishnah they proudly called themselves "garlic eaters."
Whether cooked, raw or in extract form, garlic may be one of the most potent natural healing foods we have. The ancient people of the Bible knew that basic fact of life while some of our scientists are just rediscovering it.
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