Wednesday, September 14, 2011

"Breath ..."

"Oh, tonight began with anything.
Shaft of a light. A warm breath and a scream...
Oh, tamper if you like between the doors...
A breath and a..."
~ Pearl Jam ~ Breath ~ 
***


Who would have thought that those little cloves of garlic provide some amazing health benefits.  Some of you may be familiar with the Gerson diet and all it's restrictions (for valid reasons), but one thing I am SO thank-ful for is GARLIC.  Ahhhhhhhhhh a stinking rose it is really?!  You see I use to eat a lot of garlic prior to my diagnosis, but it was usually in some sort of pasta dish, smothered with cheese, cream and cheese.  Other times my garlic was mashed to pieces within an authentic East Indian dish.  Looking back, I think the other "stuff" in these rich foods negated the true benefits of garlic.  But now when I use garlic, in lentil dishes, as a green sauce (my absolute fav!!!), in Gerson soup, I just LOVE the flavour!!

So what is the big deal about garlic?  Well for one, garlic is known to fight infections and kill bacteria.  In raw forms, some tests have shown it to be more powerful than penicillin.  According to one account, seventy-two separate infection agents are defeated by garlic.  A researcher said: "Garlic has the broadest spectrum of any antimicrobial substances we know of. It's antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antiprotozoan and antiviral"


As well, garlic boosts our Immune System.  According to the Akbar Clinic and Research Center in Panama City, Florida, garlic in raw and extract form called Kyolic, dramatically increase the powers of the immune system's natural killer cells.  These killer cells are the first line of defence against infectious disease and cancer.  It seems that the killer cells derived from the blood of those eating garlic or garlic extract were mixed with cancer cells and were able to destroy 140 to 160% more cancer cells than did killer cells from non-garlic eaters.  Awesome news for all of us whether we are with OR without an serious illness.  Think of preventative measures that you and your family can take NOW by simply adding more garlic to your diet.

Now some of you may be concerned about how to rid the smell of garlic breath, considering not everyone is going to be eating loads of garlic ... well besides the usual breath mints and gum which contain aspartame and is deadly, consider chewing ...... parsley.  Yeah, you heard me, parsley.  And just in case you are considering garlic pills, capsules or garlic oils instead, well unfortunately experts warn that many of them have none or very little of the active garlic compounds.

So my advice, enjoy it with your family and friends, so nobody will notice the smell and sure to warn off any lurking vampires in the neighbourhood!







No comments:

Post a Comment