Health benefits of garlic

 Been a while, sorry :P hungover to shit so been doing some research whilst feeling sorry for myself

The cold weather of the winter months can bring some awful winter bugs such as the common cold and flu, the weather itself is not a cause of these common illnesses, it does, however, cause other factors to change,such as people staying indoors, increasing close contact with others, we naturally become more lazy in winter (due to our instincts preparing us to hibernate) and a lack of regular exercise weakens the immune system substantially,these factors mean that viruses are easily spread from person to person, as a result of which big pharma have introduced many different types of injections and medications to “prevent” these illnesses being spread, or to deal with the symptoms when they arise. Companies such as nurofens’ net revenue increased by 7 percent to £2.5 billion in the first 3 months of 2013 due to the prolonged winter.

However, Garlic has been used for over 3’000 years as a medicinal vegetable to treat respiratory problems, parasites, poor digestion and fatigue, even Hippocrates (known as the “father” of western medicine) promoted the therapeutic benefits of garlic.

It was used by the original Olympic athletes in Ancient Greece as a performance enhancing agent for their competitions; this is possibly the earliest example of anything being used to boost physical performance.

Garlic has been proven to treat fevers, coughs, headaches, stomach aches,congestion, gout, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, asthma, bronchitis, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, blood sugar problems and is also used for fighting stress and fatigue. There are even people that apply garlic topically to their skin to treat fungal infections, warts and corns, and whilst there is some evidence garlic can be used for fungal infections such as ringworm, jock itch and athletes’ foot, the effectiveness of garlic against warts and corns has not yet been confirmed.

In a 2001 study scientists and medical professionals compared the effects of a garlic supplement which contained Allicin (an organosulfur compound obtained from garlic, which has been studied and proven to have antibacterial and antiviral activities, and has even shown promise in the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)) and a placebo on the common cold, study participants in the supplement group were less likely to develop the symptoms of the common cold, and those that did were quicker to recover.

Garlic is also a fantastic source of vitamin B6, which is required for a healthy immune system and is used to make the growth of new cells more efficient, a Vit b6 deficiency can lead to several conditions including; Skin discomfort, breathing problems, fatigue, fluctuations in appetite to name a few. It also aids the nerve cells within the brain, allowing for memories to be formed more easily, helping combat the effects of insomnia,numbness and forgetfulness.

However, large doses of garlic can be detrimental to your health, as a result it is recommended that adults consume no more than one clove two or three times a day and children no more than a quarter to a half clove, once or twice a day. As medicinal levels of garlic, fresh garlic in particular, has blood thinning effects, which may exacerbate bleeding disorders and too high levels of garlic can actually irritate the gastrointestinal tract.

All in all Garlic has the potential to be a wonderful medicine provided it is used with a certain level of common sense and intelligence, and can be easily incorporated into your diet on a day to day basis to reap its benefits more easily than sitting down and eating a whole clove of raw garlic. Why not give it a go for the coming winter months and see how you feel, what have you got to lose?

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allicin

www.livestrong.com/article/531976-does-garlic-help-boost-your-immune-system/

http://www.naturalblaze.com/2013/04/10-amazing-health-benefits-of-garlic.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265853.php

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-300-GARLIC.aspx?activeIngredientId=300&activeIngredientName=GARLIC

http://www.beta-glucan-info.com/immune_system_support_winter_season.htm

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2312916/Prolonged-winter-helps-Strepsil-Nurofen-maker-2-5bn-revenue-growh.html

http://vitaminb6benefits.com/benefits-of-vitamin-b6

http://www.naturalnews.com/036286_blood_thinners_natural_remedies_alternatives.html

Talk to frank makes me angry

Was scouring the internet for treatments of cancer for my oncology module for 2013 and stumbled onto a website called "talk to frank" which is a website that supposedly "discusses" the effects of narcotics and is supposed to be there to educate young people on drugs:
its bullshit like this that makes this country ignorant about narcotics:
http://www.talktofrank.com/faq/what-long-term-damage-does-cannabis-cause

here are the truths behind the lies on that one page:

1) cannabis will only increase your likelihood of developing schizophrenia if you're genetically predisposed to it (i.e it runs in your family) other than that, it is actually proven to help protect brain cells, increase their number, and will help you forget adverse memories (such as in PTSD)

2) while yes when you're stoned you can lack motivation, this doesn't last, as soon as the effects wear off your motivation will return, and why is this? because its pure mind set, cannabis will effect you in WHATEVER WAY YOU EXPECT, if you expect to have a bad experience, you will, if you expect it to make you sleepy, it will, if you expect it to just calm you down, relax you and focus your mind, guess what? it'll do that too! Cannabis affects EVERYONE slightly differently, because everyone has a slightly different expectation of the narcotic.

3) this one makes me sick the most - CANNABIS REDUCES THE RISK OF CANCER! and PURE cannabis smoke is actually GOOD for asthma (in a joint, yes, you risk an attack (small risk) from the tobacco smoke, but how many asthmatics smoke normal cigs? my guess is a fair few (a good chunk of my mams family are asthmatic and most of them smoke at LEAST cigs) if you smoked it through a bong/vaporizer the smoke would actually REDUCE your symptoms, as the ecannabinoid system (how many of you knew that the body naturally produces cannabinoids? molecules of the same structure of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis)  is used to CONTROL INFLAMMATION!

4) the only truth on the whole page, if you're smoking cannabis in a joint, yes there is tobacco, yes tobacco IS bad for you, but the filters in your cigarettes are MUCH worse for you than the tobacco itself (every time you drag on a filter, little bits of glass fiber break off and go into your lungs, causing lacerations, which either scar, or allow more tobacco carcinogens into the lung tissue, when these carcinogens are trapped inside by the healing process, the damage they can cause increases, as the bodies immune response struggles to detect it , causing a "broken glass" appearance on chest x-rays

Not saying everyone should smoke cannabis, but those that want to, providing it doesn't effect anyone, SHOULD be allowed, if someone makes an informed choice to sit in their room surrounded by smoke filling their body with chemicals, why does anyone have a right to stop them, just because its going to take money away from government?  We, as a country, let people pump themselves full of alcohol and nicotine legally, and these are 2 of the most harmful drugs known to man, so why not let people add a little bit of goodness to their system?

Aiming to educate on the real effects of Cannabis.

And, for the record, discussing the true effects/risks/legality of cannabis when compared to bullshit government propaganda is my academic and philosophical right, I think its plain wrong that the general public are allowed to be mislead so blatantly.

If cannabis and hemp were to be legalized world over, we'd sort this planet out SO quickly (although, i'd rather just hemp become legalized if that was the only option, we'd still fix the planet, but loads of people would still be taking man made chemicals as medicine which do more harm than good)

Liam
OUT!