Garlic Myths.
Garlic falls under the ‘alterative’ classification of herbs. Alterative herbs are used to alter the blood to cleanse & purify. Alteratives are very powerful herbs which are used in combination with other herbs to help elimate toxins/infection from the body. Using one herb for a long period of time can have adverse effects on the body.
when cleansing is happening in the body the channels of elimination must be working correctly to eliminate the waste, if not the system can back up with toxins and this will cause issues.
Garlic has been an important part of life for centuries, across cultures and millennia. In fact, no other single food has had as many applications as this pungent plant. Garlic has been used to spice food, protect against vampires and witches, prepare soldiers for war, cure colds, heal infections, and treat ailments ranging from heart disease to cancer and even the plague.
Garlic is now second in sales only to Echinacea as a best selling herbal supplement. As it grows in popularity, mixed reports and controversy continue to surround claims of its medicinal properties. It has been, in fact, probably the most studied herbal product, with about 1,200 medical and pharmacological reports, and an additional 700 or so chemical studies, now published. With that much scientific attention, one would think that we would be able to clearly sort out fact from myth!
Today, after close to 6000 years of folklore, scientific research shows that garlic is an amazing resource of phytochemicals (botanicals) whose wide range of actions can benefit health. Studies show that garlic protects against infection and inflammation, lowers the risk of heart disease, and has anticancer and antiaging effects.
One component of garlic, allicin attacks more than 23 kinds of bacteria, including staph and salmonella, as well as 60 types of fungi and yeasts, is effective against all of 17 most dangerous fungi (Candida albicans included) expels tapeworms, and restores sensation in areas affected by leprosy. Dr. Byron Murray, Professor of microbiology at Brigham Young University has seen allicin immobilize 90 percent of a virus in a laboratory dish within 30 minutes. Allicin is known to destroy viruses that cause herpes and upper respiratory infection.
Let’s get down to the burning question of the day, Heinz body anemia!!
Wendy Pearson conducted a study that explores the use of garlic being feed to horses “two horses received the garlic as a top dress in their feed; the others were feed a garlic free diet. Increasing the daily amount of freeze dried garlic to a maximum of 5 cups per day over a 71 day period. She found that the garlic eaters showed changes in their blood work on the third week, when garlic was feed at a rate of 4 cups per day. Their red blood cell count fell and the cells developed Heinz bodies, they became clinically anemic at the highest dose. Most owners are currently feeding with one-tenth of the maximum amount of garlic feed to the research horses. There is minimal risk of toxicity at theses amounts, she says and contrary to an earlier claim that 5 grams of garlic a day could be toxic, she estimates a horse would have to eat more than 100 times that amount before experiencing ill effects”. Also I would like to point out that a lot of the studies are conducted with onions and not garlic.. Feeding up to 4lbs of onions a day and basing their results on this!
Garlic in its natural form incorporated with a healthy diet is beneficial to health especially when an infection is being fought, garlic or no other herb should be used continually for long periods of time.
Do I use garlic daily? No.
Do I use garlic when fighting an infection or in part of herbal worming programme? Yes.
I like to add it to my external applications like my natural fly spray which has many other ingredients in the team not just garlic.
I wouldn’t consider a poultice with out it and when it comes to my herbal antiseptic I could not imagine leaving it out. I have seen first hand how garlic has worked internal and externally I have my self cured infections in my own body and used its healing qualities for so many things, I am so grateful for this herb, its health giving qualities far out weigh any myths or ridiculous over dosing studies.
My advice is use it when needed, when fighting an infection in the body.
If you have fly problem look at the bigger picture, feed/manure management/environment and so on and keep in mind a few flies are ok they keep the herd moving and anything in excess even water can harm you!!!
R.Kelly Keep it real
