Garlic health benefits and uses

Garlic health benefits and uses

by Sanjay B

Garlic therapy
Also called Lehsun or Rashun in colloquial parlance in india, botanically it is called Allium sativum. It is a bulbous perennial plant of the lily family which is generally used for flavouring foods. Its aroma is powerful and taste is pungent. Its bulb contains antibiotic allium and it has antiseptic properties. It is also an expectorant and intestinal antispasmodic. Garlic has been in use since hoary past and the oriental Haqueems called it Lehsun Badshah (the emperor). It is believed that there are only six possible ‘Rasas’ and it alone contains five of them. It is probably one of the most powerful antiseptic known to man. Catarrh simply can’t persist against garlic. All kinds of worms get destroyed by garlic. Garlic contains Vitamin A, B, C and D in plenty. Chemically it contains calcium, iron, phosphorus, iodine acrolein (which kills germs) crotonic aldehyde, allyl sulphide and volatile terpenes.

According to pauranic legends, Lahsun originated from drop of nectar dropped from sky in a scuffle between Indra and Garuda and so it is also called Amritodbhava. It is called Rasas because it contains all Rasas except the Amla-rasa (bitter sour flavour). Lahsun plant is a delicate plant 1 to 2 ft. in height, with long, cylindrical leaves which surround the stem bearing white flowers (inflorescences).

Composition :

  • Carbohydrate    29.00%
  • Protein    6.3 %
  • Fat    0.1%
  • Mineral Salts    1.0%
  • Volatile Oil    0.06%
  • Phosphorus    0.31%
  • Lime    0.03 %

Health benefits of garlic

Asthma

  • Lahsun juice taken with hot water twice a day.
  • One fried shellot (Kali of Lahsun) with little salt twice a day
  • 10 drops of Lahsun juice with 2 teaspoon of honey is reputed to be curing asthma. It can be attacked at the time of attack also.

TB (Tuberculosis) of Lung
Lehsun or Garlic should form the staple diet of such patients because garlic is rich in sulphuric acid which has the capacity to destroy the TB germs chewing 10 shellots of garlic boiled in 250 gnis of milk and then having that milk immensely helps in curing TB. Also swelling cotton wool soaked in Garlic juice would take the aroma to the lungs to help them get rid of TB.

Heart Problem
Garlic is especially helpful in dissolving the cholestrol. Having milk with a few garlic shellots (kali) boiled in it plus having garlic in your food is especially helpful. In case your system is not very hot, you can have two shellots of garlic on an empty stomach. This can be easily done in winters and rainy seasons. Avoid it in case of hot temperament during the summers.

Paralysis

Having garlic kheer (shellots of Lehsun boiled in milk till it grows thick. Then add sugar, cool it and have it) regularly brings quick relief. Also apply garlic juice on the affected part/parts. The oil for this massage is prepared the following way. Boil 250 gms. ground garlic shellots with 500 gms mustard oil in an iron Karhahes (pan) till it is burnt. Put some camphor in it. Cool it, and keep it for massaging the body every morning and evening.

High Blood Pressure
Hypertension gets reduced if 6 drops of garlic juice is mixed with fresh water and the potion is drunk every morning.

Bronchitis
Paste of garlic with onion applied on the chest as pontice roots out all the infection of the bronchal chord.

To quell the tridosh disturbance
Tridosh means all the three basic humours of the body (bile, phlegm and wind) getting disturbed. For bile-use ground garlic paste with sugar added as chutney with your food for quick relief.

For phlegm-add garlic juice with honey and lick the mixture twice or thrice a day.

For windy problem-Have garlic juice mixed with ghee (especially during rainy season).

For any kind of cough and cold problem, including the whooping cough

  • Regular intake of 3 to 5 shellots of garlic cures common cold and cough troubles.
  • To get rid of whooping cough mix 6 to 7 drops of garlic juice with a cupful of pomegranate juice and have the mixture for a few days. This treatment will automatically cure all kinds of cough and cold troubles.
  • Whooping cough is also cured by having one shellot of garlic with soaked, peeled and ground almonds (2 pieces) and Misri (sugar candy) in the morning.
  • All kinds of coughs get cured by having 8 to 10 drops of Lehsun juice with half spoonful of honey at least three to four times a week.
  • Five drops of garlic juice mixed with a cupful of hot water quells even the most violent cough bouts.

Garlic as a Natural Antibiotic : Researchers have found that allicin, the active compound in garlic, is an effective, natural “antibiotic” that can eradicate even antibiotic-resistant bugs like MRSA. An added benefit is that the bacteria appear incapable of developing a resistance to the compound.

Keep in mind that the garlic must be fresh! The active ingredient is destroyed within one hour of smashing the garlic, so garlic pills are virtually worthless and should not be used.

Sore Throat
Gargles with hot water with few drops of Lehsun mixed in it would cure this problem quickly.

Sneezing
5 to 7 shellots of Lahsun with hot water taken once stops frequent sneezing.

Malaria
Application of garlic juice on nails of hands and feet before fever and taking 1 tsp garlic juice with 1 tsp fresh water thrice a day cures malaria.

Jaundice
4 ground shellots of garlic mixed with half cup hot milk for 4 to 5 days helps curing jaundice.

Impotence
Keep 200 gms. ground garlic mixed with 600 gms. pure honey in a bottle, which should be kept in a wheat of sack for about a month time. Then have regularly chapatis made of this flour. Alternately take 10 gms. of garlic paste and wash it down with lukewarm milk. Continue that treatment for about a month to get back your manliness. Also, chewing 4 shellots of garlic slowly early in the morning followed by drinking luke-warm milk or taking ghee-regularly in winters give extraordinary strength to men and it also removes fertility in women.

For men having problem of involuntarily or uncontrollable discharge, chewing 1-2 shellots of Lehsun with one cup hot milk before bed-time thickness their semen and cures the trouble.

Migraine
Paste of garlic applied on forehead or near the ears for 3 to 4 minutes and putting a couple of drops of garlic juice in the nostril (of the affected side) considerably relieves the pain of migraine.

Earache
Boil garlic juice (a few drops) with half teaspoonful of mustard juice instantly relieves earache if it is caused by cold winds or even some infection.

Gastric ulcer and acidity
Taking a tiny ball (about ½ cm. in diameter) of the ground garlic paste after you have taken a few sips of plain water following your meals would remove acidity and heal up ulcer. But remember to drink more water after taking the garlic paste.

Diarrhoea
If the diarrhoea conditions have set in due to any infection taking 2 to 3 shellots of garlic with water has a soothing effect on the various types of diarrhoea.

Flatulence, Sciatica
Small dose of decoction of garlic, given three or four times a day cures both the problems. The decoction is made by straining and boiling together 6 ounces of garlic with 2 pints of water and 4 pints of milk till the liquid remains half of its quantity. Once its water has evaporated and can be strained and cool. Have a spoonful of its at six hourly interval.

Worms
Taking a garlic shellot with water following your food relieves this trouble speedily.

Urinary Problems
Paste of garlic applied below the navel relieves strangery and induces profuse urination.

Pynorrhoea
Boil garlic shellots (4 to 5) in a cupful of mustard oil. When garlic gets fried-strain the oil, cool it and mix it with fried and ground 30 gms. of ajwain seed and sendha salt. Use this liquid to brush your teeth with.

Baldness
Apply a little of garlic juice on the bald head. Then have it to get dry. Do so at least thrice a week. This would not only stop the falling of hair but shall revitalise the hair growth on the bold patch.

Dog-bite and similar problems
Paste of garlic applied on the better part quickly counteracts the poison. Also grind 5 to 7 shellots of garlic and mix with ½ pint of milk. Make the victim drink it as soon as venomous bite takes place.

General precaution about using all the decoction pastes etc. made with garlic is the quantity of garlic in it. Use only the recommended quantity. In case it becomes more it may produce flatulence headache, nausea, vomiting etc. As a local stimulant and irritant, it reddens the skin and may cause vesication. So don’t leave it applied on the skin for more than a couple of minutes.

Garlic might cause some problems to a pregnant woman as it has a tendency to charge the body. Hence garlic or its preparation should be administered to or applied on a pregnant woman under medical supervision of a competent practitioner.

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