The Health Benefits of Garlic: Using Garlic as a Home Remedy for Acute Health Problems

Garlic has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries, dating as far back as ancient Egypt and the pyramids. The ancient Romans took advantage of the health properties of garlic by using it to treat the wounds of their soldiers during battle, a practice that continued up into our modern age with the Russian government using the herb on their soldiers after running out of antibiotics during World War II. Modern research has discovered the therapeutic benefits of garlic extend to preventing heart disease and cancer.

Below are five ways to make use of the health benefits of garlic as a home remedy for acute health problems.

The Health Benefits of Garlic: Fighting Colds and Flu
The sulfur-compound allicin is responsible for the antiviral and antibacterial therapeutic benefits of garlic. British researchers conducted a study involving 146 people who were followed over the course of 'cold and flu season' between the months of November and February. Some were given one daily capsule of an allicin-containing garlic supplement and the rest were given a placebo. The group who took the garlic supplement had significantly fewer colds (24 versus 65 for the placebo group) and the duration of their cold symptoms was shorter (1.52 days as compared to 5.01 days for the placebo group). In all, those who took the garlic supplement had a combined total of 111 sick days, as compared to 366 days for those who did not take garlic.

Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D., founder of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, suggests consuming two cloves of raw garlic at the first sign of cold or flu symptoms. Remember, a clove is an individual segment, not the entire bulb. Dr. Weil suggests mashing or mincing the garlic and mixing it with food, if needed to make it palatable. Alternatively, you can cut the cloves into small chunks and swallow them as if they were pills.