The Lilac Naturopathic Clinic
Progressive Health Care Through Traditional Medicine
Garlic for Circulatory Health
How to take garlic: Take a minimum of 1 clove three times a day
1. Take Fresh garlic with:
- either a quantity of warm water or milk
- fruit, such as apples and pears
- vegetable juices or soups
- green salads such as lettuce and parsley (green leafy vegetables, especially parsley, will also reduce the subsequent familiar aroma)
* These will help to eliminate the burning sensation in the mouth or stomach.
* It is still effective if eaten with food but the body may not be able to absorb all the garlic if it is taken with a full meal. Thus it may be advisable to increase the amount with meals
2. Other ways of taking fresh garlic:
- Garlic in milk or yogourt : crush 1 clove in half a cup of warm milk or yogourt. Add honey to taste.
- Garlic syrup : put 250 g (about 10 heads or 80 cloves) of crushed garlic in a 1 liter jar. Almost fill with cider vinegar and water in equal amounts, cover and leave for a few days, shaking occasionally. Strain through a cloth, add 1 cup of honey, stir and keep in refrigerator. This syrup will keep for up to 1 year. (This is also useful for coughs, nasal and bronchial problems, and sore throats.) 1 tablespoon 3 times a day is the correct dose.
- Garlic and miso (Japanese soybean extract) soup : Dissolve a teaspoon of miso in just-boiled water. Add a couple drops of soy sauce, a good squeeze of lemon, some grated onion and 1-2 crushed cloves of garlic. This is also good during the convalescent period of an infection, as it brings strength as well as healing.
3. Fried and cooked garlic:
- frying and cooking garlic does not destroy its effectiveness
- however, some of the useful compounds (sulfur compounds) do vaporize during cooking and are thus, lost. Therefore, add garlic at the END of the cooking time and remember that after the process, the amount of garlic you may be getting in your plate might be small.
How to deal with the odour:
- reduce the mouth odor by swallowing ready-crushed garlic quickly without chewing it, by washing it down with liquid, or by making a “pill” with lettuce or parsley
- lettuce, parsley and aromatic seeds (ex. anise seed, mint and cloves) all reduce and disguise the odors from the stomach – these should be eaten WITH and AFTER the garlic