For thousands of years garlic has been hailed as a food, a medicine, and in folklore, as a powerful herb, capable of mystical feats such as warding off vampires, or keeping away evil spirits.

Most of us are familiar with the white papery type found in grocery stores, but actually there are over 600 varieties of garlic grown around the world. A member of the onion family, it will add a lovely flavor, either raw or cooked, to most any dish, and is both inexpensive and bountiful year found.

Health Benefits

• Antibiotic- combined with Vitamin C, it’s antibacterial and antiviral, boosting the immune system and helping ward off colds, flu, and yeast infections.
• Blood thinner- similar to aspirin, it can reduce the risk of blood clots.
• Reduces the chance of atherosclerosis, a cause of heart attacks and stroke.
• Reduces cancer risks.
• Anti-inflammatory, that can reduce the severity of asthma attacks, and ease the pain of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis .
• Natural mosquito repellent.
• Can assist in managing high cholesterol levels, though this last has conflicting studies.

Composition

The main therapeutic benefits of garlic come from a sulfer containing compound Allicin. A break down product of the amino acid alliin, it is activated when the cloves are finely chopped or crushed. This action activates a protein enzyme, allinase, which performs the chemical breakdown.

The finer you chop, the more Allicin is formed. After chopping, you should wait a few minutes before cooking to allow time foe the chemical conversion to occur.

History and Folklore

“One must be very suspicious of anyone who does not eat garlic.”

Roman Proverb

Garlic is rich with folklore, and well documented in history.

“The entire ancient world loved garlic - particularly the Egyptians, who used to swear on garlic in much the same way as we swear on the Bible today. Egyptian slaves were given a daily ration of garlic, as it was believed to ward off illness and to increase strength and endurance. During the reign of King Tut, fifteen pounds of garlic would buy a healthy male slave. Indeed, when King Tut’s tomb was excavated, there were bulbs of garlic found scattered throughout the rooms. When Moses led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt (around 1,200BC), they complained of missing the finer things in life - fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.

The Greeks had ideas of their own on the virtues of garlic. Greek athletes would take copious amounts of garlic before competition, and Greek soldiers would consume garlic before going into battle. It became custom for Greek midwives to hang garlic cloves in birthing rooms to keep the evil spirits away. As the centuries passed, this ancient custom became commonplace in most European homes.

Hippocrates (300BC) recommended garlic for infections, wounds, cancer, leprosy, and digestive disorders. Dioscorides praised it for its use in treating heart problems, and Pliny listed the plant in 61 remedies for a wide variety of ailments ranging from the common cold to leprosy, epilepsy and tapeworm.”

Soldiers of the Roman Empire in 200 A.D. were paid part of their salary in garlic. They were made to eat it daily, much like we take vitamins today. Of course, during that same time period, lawyers and judges believed eating walnuts would increase their brain power, soley because the walnut meats are shaped like tiny brains.

During World War 1, the Russian army used garlic to treat wounds incurred by soldiers on the Front Line. Although Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928 largely replaced garlic at home, the war effort overwhelmed the capacity of most antibiotics, and garlic was again the antibiotic of choice. The Red Army physicians relied so heavily on garlic that it became known as the “Russian Penicillin”.”

It’s clear that, regardless of what future studies find, garlic is a keeper in the diet. Not only does it taste great, it’ll help keep you healthy, and, when worn in a string around the neck, safe from evil.

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