Garlic is not just a natural remedy but a food. It can be taken continually without losing effectiveness. You can learn to eat it without annoying your friends with the tell-tale aroma.
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Garlic, Wonder Drug or Wonder Food?
My other articles on garlic are linked below.
How long can you safely take garlic?
Many herbs need to be taken with caution because they lose their effectiveness once the body gets used to them. I have asked myself whether we can safely continue to take garlic without fear of diminishing its effectiveness. I have no way of testing the effectiveness of garlic in performing its best advertised function which is to improve the circulatory system by cleaning out blood-vessels. I can, however, test effectiveness in performing a medicinal function which I need desperately.
Garlic has become a real lifesaver for me when I have breathing problems, and if it were to lose its effectiveness with continual use, I would be in serious trouble. There are situations where garlic is the only remedy which is able to keep me breathing. During the annual spring clean-up of city streets, for example, my respiratory system closes down time and again, not from the dust, but from the petroleum products deposited in the dust. Each time that happens, I take a chopped or crushed raw garlic clove. This can occurs as often as once an hour, 24 hours a day. Invariably, I am able to breathe easily within 10 minutes. This remedy has been my main resource for many years, sometimes for as long as 4 weeks at a time. I also continue to take at least one raw garlic clove daily throughout the year.
In spite of this continued reliance on garlic, I have never noticed any decrease in its effectiveness. I have therefore concluded that the body does not develop a resistance to it as it does to relaxant and antiseptic herbs. It acts as a nutritional supplement rather than as a drug. I would like to call it a food rather than a medicinal remedy. Maybe we could call it a medicinal food.
Various Forms of Garlic
Raw garlic, cooked garlic, garlic supplements, I am not even going to name all the different forms available. I have tried too many of them. None of them ever had the slightest effect on my breathing problem, so I am not going to spend any more money on them. If they work for you, fine. They don't do a thing for me.
I do know of one good use for garlic oil, though, and that is as an earache remedy. It is described in the first garlic article as well as in the article "Natural Earache Remedies."
Garlic as a Deodorizer
I do cook with garlic, but not for health reasons. Garlic and onions neutralize the unpleasant odors of cooking animal proteins like meat or fish. Strange as it seems, garlic is a great kitchen deodorizer. I used to visit an apartment block where university students did their cooking. Many of them were not in a habit of adding garlic or onion to meat dishes. The cooking smell in those buildings was overwhelming, especially to a person like me who rarely eats red meat. The taste of the meat was not the greatest either.
