The Might of Garlic

Last year my friends' dad and his workmate went drinking,since it's a tradition for Filipinos to have a pulutan (dishes eaten while drinking) they have lot of fat and cholesterol loaded foods such as chicharon, litson manok and pork lechon. After 3 hours of drinking, my friend's dad, felt fainting, and aching at the lower backpartof his headnear the neck. Also his face was very red and seems to be swollen. Since, he has a maintenance  for high blood pressure and cholesterol( taken on call only) they suspected that his blood pressure fluctuated. Unfortunately there's no more medicine in for his high blood pressure and the nearest hospital and drugstore are 30 minutes away (with a car) from there small village. Fortunately a Barangay based health worker passed by and he administered first aid to the patient. And he crushed an clove of garlic, and let the old man drink the extracted juice. And not more ten minutes, he started feeling well again. The reputation of garlic as an immediate alternative remedial treatment for high blood pressure is highly circulated.

   Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium.

Its close relatives include the the onion, shallot, leek, chive and rakkyo.  With a history of human use of over 7,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent seasoning in Asia, Africa, and Europe. It was known to Ancient Egyptians, and has been used for both culinary and medicinal purpose.

Garlic contains sulfur, iron, potassium, calcium, and iodine. It is one of the foremost antibiotics known to science because of its allicin content which is able to kill the germs streptococci, staphyococci and the germs of typhoid. 

According to Dr. Dmitry Kutnezov, chief of Foodstuffs Chemistry  Laboratory, institute of Nutrition, U.S.S.R. academy of Sciences, it is used as a "spectrum antibiotic" and cure for the following ailments: highblood pressure, gallstones, and liver complaints, chronic lund diseases like asthma, emphysema, colds, and chronic disorders of the stomach like indigestion, flatulence, distention of the abdomen, and colitis. 

According to researches garlic has the ability to prevent coronary thrombosis because of its allicin, adenosine and sulfur compounds. The knowledge of garlic's ability to normalize the blood pressure is widely known. Garlic has been proven by experiements to inhibit the growth of cancers and tumors. In one particular experiment, garlic was able to prevent the onset of polio.

Eat raw garlic more often for a more youthful and rosy complexion. To encounter-act the irritating smell and taste, eat together with raw parsely, celery or peppermint.

According to Li Shih-chen, garlic has a special effect on the spleen, stomach, and kidneys, acting also as a sedative and removing poisons. It also remove the noxious effect of putrid meat and fish. It also prevents goiter and pestilential diseases.

Extract the juice of garlic by pounding the fresh bulbs and diluting in a little water. Take 3 tablespoons a day for sore throat, coughs, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other respiratory compalints. Rub on the skin in case of ring worm, insect bites, dogbites, snakebites, and other venomous bites.

Now a days, garlic pills had been developed which promises not to leave pungent smell in the mouth. So why not try to have a daily intake of garlic? Use great quantities of garlic in flavoring your foods like soup, mushrooms, vegetables, etc. or better yet take a capsulated garlic.