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Famed for chasing away fictional monsters such as vampires, garlic nevertheless can protect the body from even scarier heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Garlic is easily available and one of the cheapest natural remedies you can take.

You can eat garlic raw, cooked or take garlic oil capsules if you are not used to eating it raw. Even with the capsules, expect to have a garlicky aftertaste. But please do not use this article in the place of your doctor's diagnosis, especially if you are taking blood thinning medication.

Garlic Wild And Tame

Garlic, Latin name Allium satvium, is usually found as white bulbs of teardrop shaped cloves surrounding an inedible core. Sometimes these cloves are called "pearls". It originally came from Asia, Middle Europe and Egypt, but can easily found worldwide. The capsules are made from steam-distilling the crushed pearls.

There are also many species of wild garlic, which are more related to chives but still have medicinal benefits. They grow in large odiferous patches that have spread over most of the world. They often look like thick, curving grass blades topped with a head of tiny white blossoms, which are also edible.

You can identify the wild plants easily by the smell, which is exactly like the white bulb garlic. They taste wonderful to garlic-lovers, sort of a cross between cabbage and garlic. They can be eaten raw or cooked like other green vegetables. Don't eat a whole bowlful for your first experience with wild garlic. To avoid any digestive embarrassments, gradually acclimate your body to wild garlic.

A Pearl A Day

Although it has not been scientifically proven, it is traditionally believed that garlic can get rid of any internal and external parasites, which is probably where the vampire-protection theory came from. Other benefits have been medically backed up, but remember, you might have a different reaction than another person. Treat garlic like any other medication.

Taking garlic oil capsules or eating plenty of garlic (at least a pearl's worth a day), helps the body get rid of any excess mucus, can give more energy to the tired, can help prevent blood clots, and keeps the circulatory system running smoothly. Because of its blood thinning abilities, garlic is to be avoided if you are already on blood thinning medication.

Garlic is also considered a great aphrodisiac, although that hasn't been scientifically proven, either. Since it gives the body a tonic that helps it revitalize, this might lead to you feeling friskier than usual. Many Hare Krishnas will refuse to eat garlic on the grounds that it promotes desire. Worship of Krishna has been around for thousands of years plenty of time for much unscientific research in India's ashrams.

Learn more about this author, Rena Sherwood.
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