by Adebowale Ajose

Created on: April 08, 2009

Garlic is a scented herb of the lily family with six-part, whitish flowers borne on umbels. Garlic belongs to the family Liliaceae and is classified as Allium species. The garlic bulb has a strong characteristic taste and odour, it is covered by skin and is divided into cloves. Whole or grated cloves of Garlic is used as a flavoring in cooking and pickling, it is also used in making sauces and salad dressings.

Garlic has quite a lot of medical values. The first of all these medical values is its diuretic ability; that is garlic has the ability to eliminate water accumulation in blood, cells and organs, thus increasing the flow of urine. This diuretic ability thus makes Garlic helpful in controlling blood pressure, especially when taken regularly. In alternative therapy, a lot of high blood pressure (hypertension) patients are advised to eat raw garlic regularly and it has worked for more than seventy percent of patients who have taken this advice.

Another value of garlic is antispasmodic properties; that is the ability to control or reduce involuntary muscles movement or contraction especially spasm. Spasms are common in people with irritable bowels. This property also makes garlic useful in treating Prostatitis (inflammation the prostate), which is common in men. Prostatitis causes contraction of muscles around the urinary system, thus making it difficult for such a patient to urinate. Garlic helps in relaxing the muscles around the urinary system, thus making it easy for men with Prostatitis to urinate.

Garlic also posses antibiotic properties, with the ability to fight against fungal infections as well as fighting against certain bacterial infection. It is effective in fighting the common cold infection.

With the current rate of cancer development worldwide, it is also advisable for individuals to inculcate garlic into their nutrition. This is because it also posses anti-carcinogenic properties thus fighting against cancer in different forms.

It has also been proven that garlic helps to lower cholesterol (a fatty compound known for causing heart disease by blocking arteries.)

It is also use to stimulate digestion. Especially in cases where digestion is not fast.

Garlic is also a recommended dietary supplement to ward off plagues including myrrh, saffron, and pepper, along with servings of onions, garlic, and leeks.

In combination with some other fruit as juice, garlic serves different roles to ensure combating some diseases or internal disorder. All you need to do is to use a juice extractor to extract the juice of the fruit mentioned and mix all together. The juice of onion, carrot, apple and garlic helps in preventing arterial sclerosis, insomnia and rheumatism. The juice of garlic, potato, cabbage, spinach and carrot is effective in treating gastric ulcers, infant undernourishment, diarrhea, skin allergy and obesity (if you really need to reduce your weight then you need to try this juice).

The importance of garlic in healthy living cannot be undermined. Although it has an unpleasant taste and odour, it has an important role in keeping consumers healthy. You too could give it a try.

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