How Allium Sativum (Garlic) Is Used In Medicine

Other Common Names: Ail, Ail De Cuisine, Ajo, Bawang Poetih, Bawang Puteh, Cropleek, Cultivated Garlic, Hsiao Suan, Lai, Lasan, Poor Man's Treacle, Rosina, Samersaq, Sarimsak, Sir, Suan, Thum, Allium sativum

Range: Original habitat is obscure. Austria; Britain; Bulgaria; Canada; China; Cuba; Dominican Republic; Egypt; France; Haiti; India; Iraq; Kurdistan; Malaya; Mexico; Pakistan; Panama; Paraguay; Puerto Rico; Russia; South Africa; Spain; Trinidad; Turkey; USA; Venezuela

Habitat: Not known in a truly wild situation. The soil may be sandy, loam or clay, though Garlic flourishes best in a rich, moist, sandy soil. Garlic beds should be in a sunny spot.

Composition: Root (Dry weight)- Water: 0 Calories: 360 Protein: 13.5 Fat: 0.7 Carbohydrate: 82 Fiber: 3 Ash: 3.5 Calcium: 65 Phosphorus: 400 Iron: 4.3 Sodium: 53 Potassium: 1250 Thiamine: 0.7 Riboflavin: 0.2 Niacin: 1.25 Vitamin C: 35

The Common Garlic a member of the same group of plants as the Onion, is of such antiquity as a cultivated plant, that it is difficult with any certainty to trace the country of its origin. De Candolle, in his treatise on the Origin of Cultivated Plants, considered that it was apparently indigenous to the southwest of Siberia, whence it spread to southern Europe, where it has become naturalized, and is said to be found wild in Sicily. It is widely cultivated in the Latin countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Dumas has described the air of Provence as being 'particularly perfumed by the refined essence of this mystically attractive bulb.'

Garlic has been used as a medicine and a food since the time of the Egyptian Pharaohs and the earliest Chinese dynasties. When Garlic cells are crushed, they release allicin, the active ingredient responsible for Garlic's characteristic odor. To be effective, Garlic preparations must smell of allicin. It is a sulfide of the radical Allyl, present in all the onion family. This oil is rich in sulfur, but contains no oxygen. The peculiar penetrating odor of Garlic is due to this intensely smelling sulphuret of allyl, and is so diffusive that even when the bulb is applied to the soles of the feet, its odor is exhaled by the lungs.

It was largely consumed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, as we may read in Virgil's Eclogues. Horace, however, records his detestation of Garlic, the smell of which, even in his days (as much later in Shakespeare's time), was accounted a sign of vulgarity. He calls it 'more poisonous than hemlock,' and relates how he was made ill by eating it at the table of Maecenas. Among the ancient Greeks, persons who partook of it were not allowed to enter the temples of Cybele. Homer, however, tells us that it was to the virtues of the 'Yellow Garlic' that Ulysses owed his escape from being changed by Circe into a pig, like each of his companions.

Garlic is mentioned in several Old English vocabularies of plants from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, and is described by the herbalists of the sixteenth century from Turner (1548) onwards. It is stated to have been grown in England before the year 1540. In Cole's Art of Simpling we are told that cocks which have been fed on Garlic are 'most stout to fight, and 50 are Horses': and that if a garden is infested with moles, Garlic or leeks will make them 'leap out of the ground presently.'

The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, being derived from gar (a spear) and lac (a plant), in reference to the shape of its leaves.

Garlic has a very long folk history of use in a wide range of ailments, particularly ailments such as ringworm, candida and vaginitis where its fungicidal, antiseptic, tonic and parasitic properties have proved of benefit.

The plant produces inhibitory effects on gram-negative germs of the typhoid-paratyphoid-enteritis group, indeed it possesses outstanding germicidal properties and can keep amoebic dysentery at bay. It is also said to have anticancer activity. It has also been shown that garlic aids detoxification of chronic lead poisoning. Daily use of garlic in the diet has been shown to have a very beneficial effect on the body, especially the blood system and the heart. For example, demographic studies suggest that garlic is responsible for the low incidence of arteriosclerosis in areas of Italy and Spain where consumption of the bulb is heavy. Recent research has also indicated that garlic reduces glucose metabolism in diabetics, slows the development of arteriosclerosis and lowers the risk of further heart attacks in myocardial infarct patients. Externally, the expressed juice is an excellent antiseptic for treating wounds.

As an antiseptic, its use has long been recognized. In the late war it was widely employed in the control of suppuration in wounds. The raw juice is expressed, diluted with water, and put on swabs of sterilized Sphagnum moss, which are applied to the wound. Where this treatment has been given, it has been proved that there have been no septic results, and the lives of thousands of men have been saved by its use.

The fresh bulb is much more effective medicinally than stored bulbs, extended storage greatly reduces the anti-bacterial action.

The bulb is said to be anthelmintic, anti-asthmatic, anti-cholesterolemic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, cholagogue, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, stimulant, stings, stomachic, tonic, vasodilator.

Bulb - raw or cooked. Widely used, especially in southern Europe, as a flavoring in a wide range of foods, both raw and cooked. Garlic is a wonderfully nutritious and health giving addition to the diet, but it has a very strong flavor and so is mainly used in very small quantities as a flavoring in salads and cooked foods.

Leaves - raw or cooked. Chopped and used in salads, they are rather milder than the bulbs. The Chinese often cultivate garlic especially for the leaves, these can be produced in the middle of winter in mild winters.

The juice from the bulb is used as an insect repellent. An extract of the plant can be used as a fungicide. It is used in the treatment of blight and mould or fungal diseases of tomatoes and potatoes. If a few cloves of garlic are spread amongst stored fruit, they will act to delay the fruit from rotting. The growing plant is said to repel insects, rabbits and moles.

Known Hazards: There have been cases of poisoning caused by the consumption, in large quantities and by some mammals. Dogs seem to be particularly susceptible.

Taking large quantities of Garlic may cause stomach problems, and will lead to bad breath and body odor. Although the problem is rare, frequent hand contact may cause eczema (itching and weeping rash).

Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
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