Medicinal Properties of Garlic against Microbes, Harmful Organisms, Bacteria, Fungi, Parasites and Viruses

The medicinal properties of garlic against harmful and disease-causing microbes and organisms make garlic truly a wonder herb.

Garlic is an astonishingly effective antibacterial, antifungal, anti-parasitic and antiviral agent. It literally destroys many of these unwanted and harmful microorganisms, thereby getting rid of the diseases and conditions which they cause. This is probably one of the best known and most potent garlic health benefits.

The compound allicin in garlic is not just an excellent antibacterial, antifungal, anti-parasitic and antiviral substance, but it is also effective at killing off harmful microorganisms which have become drug-resistant. It is usual for microbes to mutate and become resistant to pharmaceutical drugs.

Better still, garlic is broad-based - meaning, it is effective against a wide range of these microorganisms. The medicinal properties of garlic are thus totally unlike those of chemical drugs, which usually only target one or a selected group of 'enemies'. And, compared to drugs, garlic practically has no side effects.

And, even better still, garlic selectively destroys harmful and bad organisms, leaving the good ones untouched; in fact, garlic even promotes their growth. Again, this is a great advantage over chemical drugs, which ends up destroying a lot of the good and friendly bacteria in the body.

This is a very important difference because prescribed drug antibiotics, by wiping out a lot of the good bacteria in the body, causes a person to become susceptible to issues such as digestive ailments, infections, candida albicans overgrowth, etc.

Its ability to destroy microorganisms makes garlic an excellent remedy for various health ailments, including the common cold, coughs and sore throats. For these purposes, garlic syrup can be prepared and consumed. Garlic syrup is made by boiling cloves of garlic in water for about half a day.

The health benefits of garlic also extend to being an expectorant remedy for respiratory conditions and infections.

Because of the medicinal properties of garlic against harmful microbes and organisms, it is able to regulate the overgrowth of candida albicans in the body. It also destroys viral infections such as chicken pox, measles, mumps, rabies and scarlet fever.

Further, garlic has proven useful for helping to deal with some serious microorganism-related conditions, such as cholera, dysentery, intestinal worms, smallpox, tetanus, tuberculosis and typhoid fever.

Make no mistake, this is one of the most powerful health medicinal benefits of garlic, the amazing herb. Often, you will find that garlic cures and treats many stubborn and serious diseases which are caused by strong and resistant harmful organisms.

A closer look at garlic health benefits and medicinal properties of garlic against harmful organisms

So, how do the health and medicinal properties of garlic against microbes actually work? A study published in the American Society for Microbiology's Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy might give us an idea.

The study explained how allicin, one of the foremost compounds in garlic, fights infection. The study also supported the fact that garlic can be used to deal with a very wide array of different infectious organisms.

The research found that allicin disables amoebas which cause dysentery by blocking two groups of enzymes, namely cysteine proteinases and alcohol dehydrogenases. The former group is one of the main culprits in infections, as they provide infectious organisms with the means to invade tissues and cause damage to them. The latter group, on the other hand, plays a big part in the metabolism and survival of these organisms.

Garlic the broad-spectrum natural antibiotic

As these enzymes are found in a large variety of different infectious organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, it becomes clear why allicin is such a broad-spectrum microbial agent which is capable of treating so many kinds of infections.

The authors of the study stated that "it has long been argued that garlic can fight a wide range of infections and now we have provided biochemical evidence for this claim". Indeed, it has been known for centuries that the medicinal properties of garlic extend to a wide range of infectious organisms.

Harmful and infectious organisms do not become resistant or immune to garlic

The study also found that allicin blocks the two groups of enzymes by reacting with sulfhydryl (SH) groups, or thiols, which is an important component of these enzymes.

And, because the organisms are unlikely to change or modify the enzymes which play a critical part in their activity, it is thus very unlikely that they would become resistant to allicin; this is totally in contrast to pharmaceutical drugs and antibiotics. Increasingly, there is a big problem with harmful and infectious organisms adapting and mutating to become drug-resistant, dangerous strains which do even more damage to us and animals.

Conclusion

This piece of research reported in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy certainly provides some interesting insights into the health medicinal benefits of garlic against microbes and organisms.

Over the coming years, I am sure more information regarding the medicinal properties of garlic against harmful and infectious organisms will surface. In the meantime, garlic, both for culinary and medicinal purpose, makes a wonder food and herb, and at the same time also acts as a natural antibiotic against illnesses.

For more information on the other health benefits of garlic, read the other related garlic articles.

Garlic Pages | Summary Article | Health Benefits of Garlic | Information | History and Facts of Garlic | Planting, Harvesting, Storing and Preserving Garlic | Eating Garlic | How to Make Garlic Butter - a simple garlic butter recipe | An Easy Garlic Bread Recipe - Making Homemade Garlic Bread | Consuming the Garlic Plant - various ways to do so | Benefits | An Overview of Health Medicinal Benefits of Garlic | Garlic Health Benefits - Some Research and Studies | Garlic for Acne Treatment | Garlic and Blood Pressure | Garlic and Cancer - Is Garlic Anti Cancer? | Garlic to Lower Cholesterol | Garlic for Heart Health | Medicinal Properties of Garlic against Microbes, Harmful Organisms, Bacteria, Fungi, Parasites and Viruses | Side Effects | Possible Garlic Side Effects, Caution and Contraindications

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