The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Colds
Posted by Laura (Seattle, WA) on 10/16/2007
★★★★★
I've been using garlic for years for a variety of things. Usually I use it for colds. At the first sign of a cold, chop up 4 cloves of raw garlic and eat. I prefer to use it as a garnish on an already garlicy type food like soups or spaghettie, it helps make the taste not so obvious. Keep up with 4 cloves a day, then reduce the number as your symptoms decrease. This can stop a cold from manifesting, or it will shorten and weaken your colds. I used to have chronic bronchitis after every cold, now I haven't had it in years. I also only get one cold a year usually. Yeah, I don't smell great but I'm not missing so much work!
I will also use raw garlic juice on rashes and bug bites. It stops the itching immediately, and I pretty much use it for anytime I might need a phytoncide.
Eliminate Garlic Breath
Posted by Shane (Melbourne, Australia) on 08/16/2007
★★★★★
For those who don't want the smell of raw garlic on their breath try this method. Crush a clove or two onto a dessert spoon then add olive oil and down the hatch. you get the benefits of raw garlic with none of the breath issues. Best taken with meals.
Angina - Warning
Posted by Pat (Burlington, Vermont) on 07/10/2007
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
Although many of you believe you have been cured of angina by taking garlic and flaxseed, I am afraid that is is not true and you are in a dangerous situation. These supplements are very useful and strong if used correctly...as prevention. However, they cannot unclog arteries. Please be good to yourself and reasonable. Use all available treatments and advice together! There are plenty of wonderful cardiologists who have a holistic approach.
Angina - Warning
Posted by Kathy (Benton, Ar) on 01/07/2012
Garlic. Since my last post I have been crushing the garlic instead of chopping it. I allow it to sit for 10 minutes for the Allicin to work and take it in one teaspoon with water. I do this 2x daily. Heating the garlic removes its potency. Taking crushed or chopped garlic too soon after crushing or chopping prevents the allicin from doing its job. There are many places on EarthClinic to read how to take garlic. There are many websites to read how to take garlic.
Chewing Raw Garlic
Posted by R Smith (LONDON) on 01/02/2006
★★★★★
You can simply chew a peeled clove of raw garlic in the mouth, making sure you chomp it sufficiently into small pieces. The juices will be absorbed by your tongue almost immediately into your system, and is a fast way of getting it into the body. You can spit out the pieces without swallowing them, once the juice has been absorbed.
Colds
Posted by Samin (Monroe, LA)
★★★★★
When I feel a cold coming on with symptoms of a sore throat & or sniffles, I blend 1-2 cloves of fresh crushes garlic & 1/2 cup of spring or distilled water. I drink it once in the morning on an empty stomach & again in the evening for at least a week. Bye , bye cold & discomfort. Oh by the way, it is disgusting but oh so good for U.
History of Garlic
Posted by Susan (USA)
Garlic has a long history in folklore as a protector from disease and evil spirits (such as vampires). For these reasons, garlic is not only consumed as a healthy food and medicine but it is also worn to fight various ills. Many native cultures throughout the Caribbean use garlic in religious rituals and divinations. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used garlic in infectious diseases and particularly prescribed it for intestinal disorders.
12th century German mystic Hildegarde von Bingen recommended simmering garlic in water for twenty minutes and drinking the "tea" for bronchial problems like asthma. This treatment is still in use in many cultures. Three cloves of garlic in boiling water is also recommended as a topical cure for athlete's foot. Additionally, garlic was used extensively in the battlefields during World War I (1914-1918) to treat and dress wounds and infections. Being a natural antibiotic and widely available, it was the most effective antiseptic available at the time.
HEALING POWERS OF GARLIC:
Garlic has been used in herbal medicine to treat asthma, deafness, leprosy, bronchial, congestion, hardening of arteries, fevers, worms and liver and gall bladder trouble. Herbal books list it being useful in Leucoderma, leprosy, piles, worms, catarrhal disorders and cough. Additionally, it is reported that garlic is good for the heart, stimulates appetite, and is an energy tonic.
Garlic's unpleasant odor is due to its sulphur content. This mineral is contained to a greater degree in its volatile oil, which has remarkable medicinal virtues.
Juice of garlic has a most beneficial effect on the entire system as it helps dissolve an accumulation of mucus in the sinus cavities, bronchial tubes and the lungs. It also helps expel poison from body through pores of the skin.
History of Garlic
Posted by Charlotte (Essex, Clacton, England) on 03/01/2012
Am sure garlic is wonderful and have been taking it for a while for sinus but I found that after a bit I ached, was lacking in energy, was totally worn out some days, had headaches, brain fog etc and in some ways felt worse. I then investigated and found that garlic can cause under active thyroid of which these are the symptoms So now taking it again but with an iodine supplement of natural kelp to counter act that. Also trying ACV with mother every day and tinctures of goldenseal, eyebright, mullein and licorice. Yes others might try one thing for a bit and then try something else but I have had this blessed problem for ages and am sick of it, and unable to work while like this.
Summary
Posted by Kathryn (Raleigh, North Carolina, Usa) on 12/02/2011
WARNING! I had an upper respiratory bacterial infection (green and yellow mucus secondary to a virus) and read a number of posts here about raw garlic and, not wanting to chew it, I put raw garlic packs under my feet (chopped several large cloves and put them on plastic wrap and wrapped each foot, put socks over) and left the first pack all afternoon. I didn't notice a problem. I decided to do it again and leave them overnight. The next morning I awoke to find that the mucus was clear again, BUT I had very itchy, swollen, bright red feet. The itching nearly drove me crazy and I scratched... Big mistake. By the next day the arches of my feet were covered in large blisters, the itching is even worse, and my feet look and feel almost identical to when I had an emergency room level drug reaction to Keflex last year (before it was over I looked like I had third degree burns in all the intriginous skin areas and it took five months to heal -- the dermatologists at Duke had never seen anything like it... they thought it was a fungal infection and only a skin biopsy confirmed the drug reaction).
I came back here immediately and read more about garlic and saw somewhere a post from a mother who said her daughter's skin blisters when it's exposed to garlic. Since I've eaten raw garlic in green smoothies every day for the last year I didn't think it could be the garlic; perhaps a reaction to the plastic wrap (I'm multiple chemical sensitive and react to all sorts of things). So the night before last I put one slice of garlic on my forearm and covered it in paper tape for sensitive skin. In the morning it seemed fine... At first. By evening a red patch had appeared and I felt a slight itch. By the next day the spot was swollen and red and definitely itching. I've been treating my feet with ACV, magnesium oil, and triamcinolone acetonide (prescription topical steroid I was given for the Keflex reaction), so I put that on the arm spot that day each time I did my feet (every three hours). This morning the arm spot is still red, swollen, and itches and has a small blister.
Never again will I put raw garlic on my skin. When asked if I have allergies I will list a topical allergy to raw garlic.
My QUESTION is: Should I continue to eat raw garlic? I'm not certain yet, but it seems to me that I have a fit of intense itching shortly after drinking even a small glass of green smoothie with raw garlic.
High Blood Pressure
Posted by jake (chicago) on 04/14/2024
★★★★★
garlic - fresh pressed - I recently started with yogurt 1-3x per day for valley fever. Dr. Weil of Arizona suggests garlic as it is strongly anti fungal.
What I have found additionally is that it is cure for high blood pressure. Art's recommendation - carditone - took me down from 160 - 180 systolic to 130 - 140 range, but the garlic has brought my level down to 100 - 115 systolic. Of course the 100mg nattokinase I started a month back undoubtedly has contributed as well.
Raw Garlic Side Effects
Posted by Gertjr (Madison) on 08/30/2020
I know that when I eat lots of raw garlic, I will bleed more than usual. If I'm getting bloodwork done, I avoid it for a week prior. If I don't, the simple gauze pad on the site doesn't stop it from bleeding and I need to apply pressure for quite some time or it'll bleed right through the dressing. So, for me, it thins my blood. Who knows what that does to my blood pressure.
Garlic Side Effects
Posted by Marty (FL) on 03/19/2023
I have found when we do most things in extreme, we may end up with a healing crisis. All the uncomfortableness in the body is in the lymphatic system and toxins not having a way out of the body so all kinds of things can happen until it does. If your kidneys are not filtering, then all the waste in the lymph is being held somewhere. That can be dangerous when all of a sudden a big load gets dealt with and then it can't go anywhere, make sense?
Slowly build up to more and more but listening to the body is important and using kinesiology on yourself is helpful too.
Colds
Posted by Susan (California) on 01/16/2016
★★★★★
For colds, I take the minced garlic without chewing it. That way you have no garlic smell on your breath or between your teeth. Just brush a little after swallowing, just in case.
Colds
Posted by Tinyx (South Bend, Indiana) on 03/28/2015
★★★★★
I put 1 clove of crushed garlic for each of my baby's socks when he had colds. I put 1 pair of socks on his feet then the socks with garlic next. This is the only remedy that I have tried for his colds from 1 month to 1 year old. It only took 2 applications for him to recover from the early signs of colds.
Garlic and Blood Thinning
Posted by El (Al) on 12/20/2013
Hi. I felt I was coming down with the flu, so ate lots of garlic. Next day, I had a horrible nose bleed. Since then, I've had bruising. Apparently, the garlic thinned my blood too much. So, if I want to take garlic for the flu or whatever, what should I take with it so I won't bleed? I've always been a free flowing person, so when I donate blood they have to do extra wraps. Low BP, too. Suggestions?
Garlic Side Effects
Posted by Maria (Silver Spring, Md, Usa) on 12/15/2010
Garlic side effects
The same thing that happened to Lin from QLD, Australia happened to me. I got horrific blisters on my toes from eating 3 raw cloves of garlic. It took a long time to cure. But, the most important thing is that I realized that the blisters were a manifestation of my candida, as the garlic is a fungicide that attacks the yeast inside the body. The problem is not the garlic, but starting with garlic at such a high dose that the body cannot handle the toxins that emanate when the garlic kills the yeast. Start slow and increase gradually.
Garlic, Horseradish, Honey Remedy
Posted by 1rose (Sacramento, Ca) on 12/02/2010
★★★★★
Greetings to everyone. I'm very grateful for this site, I've used the information I found here and it has helped greatly, I'm writing now my 1st post because I want to give back as a thank you. :)
I have this amazing recipe that's actually a tremendous antibiotic, antiviral, anti critter remedy. I've used it for 3 years now with GREAT results. A friend told me about it when I was very sick with the flu in 2008, I have lost my voice, my whole body ached and I was half dead in bed for 4 days. She came over and brought this jar with stuff (I'll tell you in a minute) and I took a tablespoon of it and in 20 minutes my voice came back and I felt 75% better. I was stunned! By the next day I was fully recovered. Last year I got the swine flu and I got rid of it the same day by taking this remedy.
Here is what you need: equal amounts of fresh garlic and fresh horseradish, for ex. 3oz fresh peeled garlic and 3oz fresh horseradish. You will need a small food scale for weighing the stuff. Use a small grater and grate both the garlic and horseradish. Put them in a glass jar and add enough organic, raw honey to make a paste that will keep both the horseradish and garlic paste together. Close the jar and let it macerate for at least 3 days and then take 1T every 4-5h for at least 3 days or so...
I felt my body coming down with the flu again this year and I just made this mixture real fast and took 1T right away and in 1h I was sweating buckets... It does miracles... It kills infections of all sorts, etc. I've told everyone and their mother about this :) some do it and are amazed, some laugh. I have a jar with the stuff already made in my cupboard for emergency, :) the stuff doesn't expire because of the honey and it doesn't lose its potency either. To me it tastes good because I know what it does to my body, it kills the viruses, bacteria and it strengthens the immune system, it can't get any better than that! I pray that this post will go around the world and will save many people from misery. Thank you Earth Clinic for this wonderful site,
God bless. 1Rose
PS: It's safe for the kids, the dose is smaller 1t every 4-5h. The problem is that they complain about the taste, :)
Garlic Tea
Posted by Kelly (Cincinnati, Oh) on 01/15/2010
★★★★★
a great way to ingest garlic for multiple ailments is using it in a broth. It can be any kind of broth (no solids) so as to give your digestive system a break. Personally, I love the taste of roasted garlic. So I either sautee/bake fresh garlic and add it to the broth,then finely chop fresh garlic and add it as well (after heating-stir in and let sit a couple of minutes). The amount depends on ones tolerance for garlic. But that way I get the best of both worlds. The flavor of the roasted garlic and the allicin (the enzyme in garlic that fights disease) as well. cooking garlic kills most of the allicin so this is a good way to get it raw in a larger quantity. God Bless!
Fungus
Posted by Jenn (Vancouver, Bc ) on 11/28/2009
★★★★★
Garlic, garlic, garlic!!!
It's cheap.
It's convenient.
It works!
I've had a fungal/bacterial infection on both of my index fingers for 5 years and I tried all the remedies suggested but nothing worked so I gave up. Shortly afterwards I started cooking with garlic a lot and noticed the fungus on my left hand was clearing up fairly quickly. I did some research and found out garlic has powerful anti-fungal and antibacterial properties. I stared using it on my right hand and it worked! All you have to do is split a clove in half and rub the juices in and around where the fungus is for a few minutes (3-5). Do this every other day before you go to bed. Don't rub the juices in vigorously for more than 20 minutes or make a paste out of crushed garlic and wrap it around yor finger because it will burn, literally. A little goes a long way. You should start seeing results within 4 weeks if the fungus isn't too bad, 8 weeks for extreme cases. Toenails can take up to 3 months because they grow much slower than fingernails.
Garlic Tea
Posted by Ermila (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) on 06/16/2009
★★★★★
GARLIC DO WONDER.
I was suffering from fever and flu, the Company Doctor prescribe medecine and anti biotic. All the medecine had been finished and yet my fever haven't gone, and worst of all i also suffer from tonsilitis.
I've been a regular reader of Earth Clinic and try this garlic soup 'walla' the fever is gone and so with the tonsil ache. Whenever my kids suffer from sorethroat, this is the best remedY.
