Are you worried yet about your health? Are you anxious about your heart, or about the possibility of contracting cancer? If so, you are not alone, and your concerns are quite valid. Cancer and heart disease are today's major killers, and as of now, we are yet to find a safe and effective drug, that can prevent these diseases. Some will argue that taking one or two aspirins a day can reduce the risk of heart disease, and it saddens me to see how many people are doing this, because I know the problems brought by aspirin over use, if these people knew about the long term damage caused by this drug, they would think twice, before popping another one into their mouths. Maybe they would give up that harmful habit if they learn that there is a better answer to preventing these and other diseases. What is the answer? The herb called Garlic, but don't just take my word, even scientists are supporting its properties.
A lot of people use garlic in cooking without knowing that this herb has quite a few medicinal uses. Although Garlic has been around for several thousands of years, its origins are quite obscure. It is thought to have come from Russia making its way to the Mediterranean countries. Garlic was known to be used in the diets of ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks. Garlic is known to aid digestion, ward off colds, infection, expel worms, ease chest congestion, help alleviate rheumatism and cleanse the intestines. In World War I, garlic juice was used on the sterile bandages to prevent infection. Garlic has also been known to help hardening of the arteries, sinus problems, skin complexion, and hay fever if taken in capsule form on a regular basis.
This herb has been study, and the results are amazing, garlic contains a large number of sulphur compounds. One of these compounds is diallyl disulphide, which has remarkable anti-cancer properties. This compound prevents two early stages of carcinogenesis, initiation and promotion, from developing. The anti-initiator activity is the result of two complementary mechanisms:
- diallyl disulphide prevents certain carcinogenic substances from being activated
- moreover, this molecule stimulates enzymes capable of neutralising the activity of carcinogenic substances
These two mechanisms reduce the toxicity of carcinogens to cell DNA. Diallyl disulphide is metabolised in the liver into an oxide compound that may be behind the effects described.
In both cases, these studies have dealt with cancer prevention in rat liver, but the mechanisms brought to light give reason to believe that their scope is much wider: effects on other cancers, potential extrapolation to humans.
As fruit and vegetables are rich in minor constituents, nutritionists have increasingly shown an interest in their role in the prevention of cancers, cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory diseases over the last decade.
One the most interesting stories of the properties of garlic, came to me from South Africa, Professor Sid Cywes, a former paediatric surgeon at University of Cape Town was having trouble hybridizing his orchids seeds. The trouble was a fungal infection in his culture medium. Mr Peter De Wet, a chief research technologist and Prof Cywes hatched a plan that entailed a dose of garlic. To their astonishment administering garlic to their orchid culture medium killed the mould. They then went on to test garlic's ability to combat the yeast Candida. At that time one of Prof Cywe's patients, a baby at the Red Cross Hospital had a serious Candida infection down the entire length of its oesophagus and gastro-intestinal tract. A garlic solution added to the baby's milk cured the child within 48 hours.
Since then about thirty very sick infants, where broad spectrum antibiotics failed to bring improvement, have been given fresh allicin enterally. The allicin treatment brought about a significant success. However, this was not a controlled clinical study.
One of the active ingredients in garlic is a compound called allicin. On crushing fresh garlic, an enzyme called alliinase is released which rapidly converts the odorless compound alliin into allicin bearing the typical odor of garlic. Allicin is highly unstable and rapidly converts to other sulfur-compounds such as ajoene. It is however allicin and ajoene which have been the main subject of research. These compounds block the enzymes which are necessary for metabolism of the micro-organisms. They have been shown to inhibit the growth of more than 23 organisms. A very interesting point is that no resistance to allicin has been found up to date.
Garlic and its compounds, have been tested against the bacteria Helicobacter pylori and it had tremendous success. Allicin has also been shown to inhibit Campylobacter- universally recognized as the most common cause of gastro-enteritis in very young children of low-income families. These findings are of much interest as bacteria including Helicobacter and Campylobacter are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
I just hope that more people are exposed to this information, so they can make a wiser decision when it comes to preventing diseases like the ones we discussed here. Please send this article to your friends and loved ones, share with them the information you have, help them keep their health.
Until next time,
Charles Silverman N.D.
Is the author of ?The Homemade Medicine e-book First Edition? and owner of http://www.homemademedicine.com
e-mail: http://www.homemademedicine.com
Vitamins & Minerals are essential to sustain life. Its what... Read More
Numerous reports have recently appeared in both the lay and... Read More
Your Non-Conscious Mind is 98% of your full power. Over... Read More
If you're suffering from constipation, you are no doubt looking... Read More
According to the renowned research scientist and inventor of the... Read More
These are questions we have to ask ourselves? because after... Read More
Fats have been unfairly lumped together as being all bad... Read More
This is such a busy time of year, isn't it?... Read More
Health food or heart attack on a plate? Eggs had... Read More
Glucosamine is readily produced in the human body and is... Read More
For any kid who grew up eating doughy, thick Wonder... Read More
Eating orange mean absorbing vitamin C to our body, is... Read More
"Organic" has some quite specific legal definitions in most developed... Read More
The topic of food additives is not quickly addressed in... Read More
Oats (botanical name Avena sativa)An oat is a grass that... Read More
Acid reflux disease, or GERD, is a common compliant of... Read More
Nutrition usually only comes up when people are finally deciding... Read More
Eating healthy is fast becoming a way of life. American's... Read More
How well do you know about vitamin K? This vitamin... Read More
Chances are you may have had a food product that... Read More
Mannatech's patent-pending glyconutrients complex, Ambrotose, is perhaps the greatest wellness... Read More
Imagine you're a cell.Inside your body runs the machinery that... Read More
One of the biggest mistakes many new bodybuilders make is... Read More
I would like to raise a question: Is Rejuvenation possible... Read More
The proliferation of fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and vending... Read More
disinfecting cleaning services Winnetka ..If you do not take time to stand back at... Read More
Constipation is the passing of dry, hard faeces fewer than... Read More
The factors that affect the nutritional requirements of an individual... Read More
NutrientsFat, Sugar, Sodium and CarbohydrateThe sections on a food label... Read More
Finding simple ways to reduce my waistline is always a... Read More
People who consume too much alcohol have good chance of... Read More
Nutrition has everything to do with health. This isn't news,... Read More
With all the news about Splenda of late and the... Read More
Water is the single most important element for human existence,... Read More
According to the National Institute of Health, Magnesium is needed... Read More
Remember the old adage, you are what you eat? The... Read More
All of my life I believed the best way to... Read More
You say you don't know what glyconutrients are? You are... Read More
Tired of having stare-downs with those boxes of Krispy Kremes,... Read More
Diets don't work. If they did the U.S. of A.... Read More
There are a lot of very good reasons to eat... Read More
Here is a continuation of the light and darkness metaphor:... Read More
Information on potassiumWhen you read about potassium and senate document... Read More
Instead of Butter: Use top quality, cold pressed, extra virgin... Read More
A flood of scientific evidence about fish oil points to... Read More
Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are essential to the development... Read More
Do you allow pleasure from food? Are your senses throughly... Read More
What I am also going to point out is the... Read More
Although many realize that the liver has its own cleansing... Read More
Fibromyalgia is a chronic and potentially life-altering disorder with symptoms... Read More
Nutrition |