Garlic: an excellent medicine
Garlic deserves to be the darling of pharmacologists. Indeed, it acts on the main risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes: arterial hypertension, cholesterol and sugar levels that are too high… It also excels in preventing cancer. But beware of fragile stomachs! Garlic can cause burns. To get an idea, remember that it is also used on the skin to remove warts.
Another downside is the bad breath it causes. To be truly effective, it must be taken daily and over a sufficiently long period. Also herbal medicine does not hesitate to use the leaves of wild garlic, a wild species that resembles lily of the valley. If it is less powerful, especially on high blood pressure, its side effects are easier to avoid.
Garlic fights hypertension
You must use fresh or macerated garlic. It is acilin, the enzyme that is released when it is cut or crushed, that we owe its action on hypertension. “It helps to dilate the wall of the blood vessels”, explains Franck Dubus. The caliber of the arteries increases, which lowers the blood pressure. Since garlic is also a diuretic, it reduces the volume of water in the body, hence blood volume and blood pressure.
Garlic works against excess cholesterol and sugar
The formation of deposits in the arteries is usually due to the oxidation of excess “bad” cholesterol (LDL). Then, the platelets (responsible for coagulation) come to aggregate there, risking to block the vessels. Fresh or macerated garlic (and wild garlic) prevents the oxidation of cholesterol and thins the blood by reducing the aggregating power of platelets. If these are already attached to the wall, another anticoagulant (ajoene) activates their separation. “Garlic is also recommended in the prevention of type 2 diabetes, because its main active ingredients help the liver to regulate excess sugar in the blood,” notes Franck Dubus.
Garlic prevents certain cancers
“By acting on certain enzymes, fresh or macerated garlic eliminates carcinogenic molecules in the colon and liver”, explains our expert. Molecules capable of damaging the DNA of cells and, through this mutation, of causing cancer are called “carcinogens”. Garlic also has a preventive action on other tumors (stomach, cervix, etc.), because it helps the liver to break down these carcinogenic molecules and to eliminate them.
Garlic stimulates the immune system
If it is used to prepare hot drinks supposed to fight against winter infections, it does not really cure the flu. On the other hand, as a preventive treatment, when the epidemic begins, fresh or macerated garlic and wild garlic are effective. “It is a very good stimulant of the immune system”, specifies Franck Dubus.
Garlic gets rid of corns and warts
This is its only known dermatological use. “We apply a piece of fresh garlic on the horn or plantar wart (never directly on the skin), recommends Frank Dubus. Placed under a bandage two or three hours a day, for three weeks, it reabsorbs the horn and burns the skin. wart.”
Garlic destroys intestinal parasites
It is used as a dewormer for people over 3 years old. But pay attention to the dosage and the duration of the treatment. Garlic also gives results on amoeba (intestinal parasites). “Six to twelve pods are equivalent to a penicillin tablet (antibiotic)”, summarizes Franck Dubus. It is for this reason that it was popular in Egypt on the construction sites of the pyramids: it made it possible to treat dysentery due to stagnant water.
