For centuries the use of Garlic is not just limited to cooking, garlic is also respected for a very different sort of magic, its possible protective power against many types of disease. The first benefits you get when you chew on a clove of garlic is nutrition. When using garlic for medicinal purposes, remember that its odiferous constituents are its most active parts. Eat it fresh or freeze dried for best results.

Nutritive Values of Garlic: Per 100 gm.

• Vitamin A: trace
• Vitamin B: Thiamine .25 mg.;
• Niacin: .5 mg.
• Vitamin C: 15 mg.
• Calcium: 29 mg.
• Iron: 1.5 mg.
• Phosphorus: 202 mg.
• Potassium: 29 mg.
• Protein: 6.2 mg.
• Fat: .2 gm.
• Carbohydrates: 30.8 mg.
• Calories: 137

Active Components of Garlic which is responsible for many of it medicinal benefits:

• Alliin - is an odorless substance in whole garlic bulb which when ground or chewed turn into allicin. Allicin is a substance that carries the strong odor most of us associate with garlic, as well as the healing powers of the herb.
• Allicin is a substance in garlic that inhibits or totally destroys many types of bacteria and fungi; in many cases this substance is stronger than penicillin and tetracycline.
• Anti-hemolytic factor - It is claimed that this is responsible for the beneficial effect of garlic in the treatment of anemia.
• Anti-oxidant factor - garlic has been shown capable of helping to prevent foods from getting rancid.
• Anti-coagulant factor - garlic contains certain active substances, which appear to prevent blood from coagulating therefore benefiting certain heart conditions.
• Saponin - a compound which helps lower blood pressure, thus preventing strokes.
• Fructose - this carbohydrate helps stimulate the immune system.
• Di-Sulphides - these are believed to have cholesterol lowering effect which helps to control cholesterol and other fats within the arteries and blood vessels.

Health Benefits of Garlic:

• Garlic can help in the normalization of body functions. This means that it can lower the blood pressure in high blood pressure sufferers and can increase it in cases of low blood pressure. The same appears to be true of different body functions not just blood pressure.
• Garlic can stimulate your immune system. In one study, people who ate two to three heads of garlic a day for three weeks show significantly more activity in special white blood cells that fight tumors.
• Garlic acts as a great lung decongestant helping to loosen the harmful, infection secretion of bronchial tubes.
• Garlic contains a lot of iodine which helps people who suffer from hyperthyroid.
• Garlic can help cure tuberculosis, it has been claimed to be specific for tubercle bacillus and for tubercular process no matter what part of the body is infected.
• Garlic aids weak digestion because it stimulates the secretion of gastric juices.
• Garlic is powerful against tumor-formation (including cancer) due to its sulfur and selenium content.
• Garlic prevents platelets clumping and stickiness thus prevents thrombosis.
• Garlic acts as a heart relaxant; garlic regulates the cardiac rhythm, helping to avoid arrhythmia. This is beneficial for people that have accelerated heart rates and cardiac arrhythmia.
• Studies found that garlic even offers protection against the influenza virus.
• Garlic can help against vaginal infection, either bacterial or fungal.
• Garlic is effective in relieving nicotine poisoning.
• Garlic normalizes blood sugar as in diabetes mellitus.

Other Ailments where garlic is beneficial: Bronchial asthma, Whooping cough, Spasmodic cough, Hemorrhoids, Middle ear infection, Tonsillitis, Menstrual cramps, Rheumatism, Leg cramps, Diarrhea, Scarlet fever, Skin diseases and Allergy.

Recommended Dosage: One clove of garlic weighs more or less 1.5 gm.

• Adults: one clove of fresh garlic, two to three times a day.
• Children: ¼ to ½ clove, one to three times a day.
• Therapeutic Dose: The therapeutic dose of garlic is four to ten grams per day, to be divided into three equal doses, taken once you are half-way in your meal to prevent stomach distress. Hypertensive may require higher dosage. Reduce the dose if it is exerting too much of its carminative effect.

You don't have to chew it. Cut one clove cross-wise into five or six pieces, then swallow with water once you are half-way in your meal to avoid gastric discomfort.