The Wonderful Health Benefits of Garlic

When I decided to write this article I had known about some of the wonderful benefits of garlic for years but not all. For instance, long time ago, I remember hearing that garlic was a natural antibiotic and in many ways was even better than Vitamin-C in helping in not only preventing, but shortening the length of time of the common cold.

I was also curious however, as to the history of this most used herb and how far back the use of garlic went. I was surprised to learn that garlic, which is known in the Latin as Allium sativum and part of the onion family, had been cultivated and used as far back as 6,000 years ago, and was first grown in the Central Asia area. In fact, most of our garlic that we buy in stores even today, is still predominantly grown and comes from the Asian countries. During the early millenniums of civilization, and as trade became more and more popular between other regions of the world, it was quickly adapted and used in Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean areas. In many cases, garlic was so highly prized and considered so valuable that it was even used as currency.

The most amazing fact I learned was that while garlic had been used for thousands and thousands of years in these regions of the world, it didn't become popular or used much in America, except of course by immigrants who came from Europe or Asia countries until the earlier part of the twentieth century. (1) This fact is something that I think would surprise most of us today. I had just naturally assumed that garlic had always been used here in America. I mean can you imagine not having that wonderful garlicky taste on one's pizza, pasta meals, or in soups, to only mention a few foods that we add garlic to? And how about that delicious mouth-watering taste of buttery garlic bread itself? Since I love the taste of garlic in food, I practically add a bit of garlic in all my meals, I even sprinkle a bit of garlic powder on my hamburgers to enhance the burger's flavor.