Garlic - Stinky Rose
The universal recognition of garlic as a medical healer of all things big and small brings into question is it hype or fact? People are taking garlic pills for this problem or that issue. Stuffing their faces with 10 to 12 bulbs of garlic a day to ward off this disease or that aliment. Does it work? Depends on who you ask. But for sure garlic is a hot product.
Garlic (Allium sativum) a herb is recognized in both the medicinal and culinary arts as a product of benefit to the human being. The true origin of garlic is not specifiably known although possibly from India or Central Asia. Garlic is among the oldest known cultivated plants, having been grown and cultivated in Mesopotamia around 3,000 BC. Garlic is a member of the lily (Liliaceae) family. As part of the Liliaceae famile, garlic is closely related to onions, leeks, and chives. The garlic plant, like most lilies type plants, have long narrow grass-like leaves that ends in a bulb. Usually the garlic bulb is the only part of the plant used, but sometimes one finds the grass-leaves as part of some special culinary dish in a fancy restaurant (Eat it if you like; it won't hurt you). The garlic bulb is a sac that can be whitish, reddish or grayish in color and has numerous bulblets "called cloves" enclosed in individual membranes that form the bulb at the end of the stalk of the garlic plant. The bulb is what is used and has from ancient times always been a food and a medicine.
The popularity of this "stinky rose" that some called garlic has received great praise from such as Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher (around 300 B.C.) , who relates that garlic was placed at crossroads on stones to celebrate the feast of Hecater asking the god for protection for travelers. Galen a Roman, the medicinal genius of his time in eulogizes about garlic says that garlic is the "theriac" the healer of all things. The name garlic is an Anglo-Saxon word that is derived from the word "gar" meaning spear and the word "leac" meaning lily-leek plant. Thus the word "garleac" means lily-leek with spearheads. Other names one might see garlic listed as American field garlic, American wild garlic, British field garlic, British wild garlic, Elephant garlic, Field garlic, Rocambole, Sand leek, Wild garlic.
Garlic has been extensively researched with modern analytical methods to determine its medical benefits. It has been determined that a compound known as alliin (diallyldisulfide-S-oxide), a pungent compound that is released when the garlic bulb is crushed or cut is the substance that provides the beneficial benefits. Garlic also contains potent oils, mucilage, amino acids and vitamins, but it is the alliin that produces the primary medical benefits for many common ailments like dermatitis, eczema, and ringworm. Alliin helps ward off infections with its antibacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal abilities whether used internally or externally in dealing with common health problems.
When garlic is take internally, it assists the digestion of foods and promotes the increase of bile. Garlic also is a mild antispasmodic that helps dispel gas built up in the stomach, easing indigestion and stomach pain. Garlic aids the good natural bacteria present in ones system thus helping prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in the stomach and the intestines.
In the treatment of respiratory issues like sinusitis, rhinitis and respiratory infections, garlic has proven to be an excellent remedy for treating these issues. Bronchitis, emphysema, and viral or bacterial infections still needs further research to prove the ability of garlic to act as a remedy or a treatment for these issues.
Presently, major research is being done to determine if garlic can help reduce high cholesterol, high blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. One recent finding is that garlic may help when take over a long period of time to reduce high blood pressure. If this proves to be true, then people with cardiac, kidney, and renal eye issues may be helped by lowering the blood pressure with a natural product like garlic.
"Note: Much of garlic's reputation is based on observation and tradition. While numerous animal and human studies have been carried out to test garlic's effectiveness for a wide range of health conditions, many of the studies have been small and short. Not all of the studies used the same or even comparable garlic products or similar dosing schedules. Therefore, comparing the study results is difficult and many of them are unreliable. However, taking garlic appears to have few or no serious side effects, and it may be a useful addition to conventional treatments for certain conditions.
In the United States, oral garlic supplements are sold mainly to reduce the risk of heart disease. They have been studied most to treat high cholesterol. Results of numerous animal and human studies show that garlic does seem to be better than placebo (sugar pills with no medical effectiveness) for lowering high blood levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides. Garlic does not lower blood cholesterol as much as dietary changes plus prescription drugs known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (HMGs). Also called statins, HMGs include Crestor, Lescol, Lipitor, lovastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin. In general, these medications in combination with low-fat diets may produce a 28% to 60% reduction in total cholesterol. Garlic may be responsible for cholesterol reductions in the 6% to 12% range. Additionally, several studies appear to show that garlic's cholesterol-lowering effects may be only short-term. Lower cholesterol--generally seen after one month of treatment with garlic--may return to near pre-treatment levels after 6 months to 12 months of garlic therapy. One study of 30 children with an inherited type of high cholesterol known as familial hypercholesterolemia found no effect from garlic on their cholesterol levels.
While garlic also appears to have a small effect on lowering high blood pressure, overall results from a number of studies were generally not considered to be significant. On average, individuals who participated in several small clinical trials of a powdered garlic product had blood pressure reductions of 5% to 7% more than other participants who took an inactive placebo. It is believed that garlic may affect blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels, causing them to widen and allowing blood to flow more easily.
In addition, the thickness of the blood may be reduced by taking garlic, which may block the body's production of thromboxane, a chemical involved in blood clotting and blood vessel tightening. Garlic has also been proved to reduce the stickiness of platelets. Platelets are blood components that are partly responsible for forming atherosclerotic plaques--the cholesterol-associated deposits that can block arteries. In several studies conducted in laboratory animals, garlic appeared to stop or delay the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Two separate human studies that each lasted for four years, also showed that existing plaques could be reduced in size by garlic supplementation. (1) http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/h-234.html
The final answer on does garlic heal all is still out. In most cases, the garlic pills don't seem to hurt. The stuffing your face with garlic should not hurt you as garlic is not high in nutrition or fat calories. Healing cancer or stopping HIV, modern medicine is still your best bet. What ever you decide talk with your health care person, who should be an accredited doctor. This is not to say that garlic can't help. Garlic probably helps even if nothing but as a placebo effect.
Research From:
(1) http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/h-234.htmll
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