In everyday life, garlic is regularly used as a seasoning in the preparation of traditional dishes from different countries. It has a strong aroma and pungent taste. A wide range of beneficial properties justifies its therapeutic benefits; garlic has a beneficial composition of 400 compounds and elements.
Interesting to know! Garlic is one of the sweetest vegetables, although the sweetness is not felt at all due to the bitterness of the pungent substances. It contains a considerable amount of essential vitamins and minerals, but since it is consumed in minute quantities, it cannot be a source of these substances for the human body.
Garlic is an effective folk remedy for the treatment of ARVI.
What dishes can you add garlic to?
Garlic bulbs are most often eaten, but in early spring the young leaves are especially valuable; you can also prepare a side dish of garlic bulbs.
- Add garlic to hot chicken dishes, meat cutlets (lamb goes best with garlic), and gravy.
- Suitable for adding to cheese and sour cream sauces, salty cottage cheese snacks.
- Garlic goes especially well with borscht and bean soup (add at the end of cooking).
- For older children, add to mushroom dishes.
- Garlic arrows can be stewed and fried as a side dish on their own, or with the addition of zucchini, onions, potatoes and carrots.
- Garlic and vegetables. Garlic is good when added to zucchini, eggplant, and bell pepper. Can be added to tomato salads, tomato snacks, sun-dried tomatoes. Perfectly complements bean side dishes.
- It is recommended to use garlic with seafood, scallops, squid, and shrimp.
- Garlic can be combined with any other spices and seasonings.
About the properties of garlic in the program “Live Healthy!”:
The best natural immunomodulator is garlic.
Today's fashionable nutritional supplements promise to cure all diseases. We offer you a product whose multifunctionality has already been proven over the centuries.
And the time for its use is most suitable - the cold weather has arrived. It is found in every home and is called garlic.
10 magical (useful) properties of garlic
1. To avoid diseases, you need to increase your immunity, because even the strongest antibiotics often do not save you from viruses - the causes of colds. The best natural immunomodulator is garlic. Today it is the only effective drug. Eating a couple of cloves of garlic a day will give excellent results.
2. If you are sick, breathe garlic. It is capable of destroying viruses and microbes, killing all types of pathogenic bacteria at a distance of up to 20 cm. It does not have a toxic effect.
To overcome the disease at the initial stage, cure chronic cough and pneumonia, prepare the following drink: pour a glass of milk over 4 cloves of garlic, which must first be cut into thin slices. Bring the milk to a boil, strain through a sieve, add honey or butter to taste. Drink hot 3-4 times a day in small sips. 
3. To free the body from deposits of harmful substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, it is enough to eat 1 clove of garlic. This gift of nature is also able to cleanse blood vessels and prevent the development of atherosclerosis. Up to 20 percent of cholesterol plaques can be eliminated by eating garlic for 3 months.
4. To stay in shape, eat a couple of cloves of garlic every day. Due to its rich content of microelements and vitamins, garlic is the best natural multivitamin complex. It contains rare substances, for example, germanium and sulfur.
5. To prevent blood clots from forming in the blood or to strengthen the veins, it is necessary to take the following medicine: chop 250 g of garlic and pour the resulting mass into 350 g of liquid fresh honey. Mix the ingredients and hide in a dark place for 7 days. Thanks to the substance adenosine, the number of platelets in the blood is normalized, and its coagulability does not increase. This is especially true for people suffering from hemorrhoids, thrombophlebitis, varicose veins, and also taking birth control pills. The medicine is drunk for one and a half months three times a day, 30 minutes before meals, 1 tablespoon.
6. To always show interest in life, consume garlic regularly. This will increase the overall tone of the body, efficiency, sharpness of perception of reality, and interest in life. And when a clove of garlic is crushed, a special substance is released from it - allixin, which increases stress resistance and protects against cancer.
7. In order to concentrate attention, a surge of creative strength began, thought processes intensified, memory improved, you also need to eat garlic. It supplies brain cells with necessary substances and cleanses its blood vessels.
8. Garlic will also help preserve youth. This is the best antioxidant that slows down the aging process, improves metabolism, and keeps tissues elastic. Since ancient times, a recipe has been known that was taken according to a certain scheme and was able to rejuvenate by 5-15 years. The “elixir of youth” included garlic, alcohol, honey and propolis tincture.
9. To have a beautiful complexion, healthy and clean skin, you need to use garlic tincture: take a head of garlic and boil it in a glass of wine (fortified) for half an hour. Cool, strain, put in some dark place. Attention: treatment should begin on the new moon and be followed very strictly. The tincture is taken for 3 or 4 days, 3 times a day, 1 tsp. For the best effect, squeeze the juice from 3 lemons and mix it with 50 g of chopped or crushed garlic. This mixture is taken in the morning, diluted with 1 tsp. in a glass of water. This treatment can remove toxins, improve blood circulation at the capillary level, and increase the amount of hemoglobin in the blood.
10. To lose weight, you need to eat garlic. It burns sugar, reduces cravings for sweets, prolongs the feeling of fullness, and helps maintain normal weight while quitting smoking.
A cold always takes a person by surprise. A runny nose, watery eyes, a slightly elevated temperature, and slight malaise are signs that force urgent measures to be taken to restore poor health. Each sick person chooses his own path of treatment. A certain percentage gives preference to traditional medicine and its methods, proven by time and people. Does garlic help with colds?
Garlic as a natural medicine
An ingredient in many restaurant dishes and home cooking, it doubles as a home doctor, always on hand and ready to help at any moment. This product has antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic and restorative effects.
It can increase the body’s resistance to colds and infectious diseases, so it is recommended to use it without waiting for the outbreak of mass epidemics. A few cloves of garlic a day will easily destroy bacteria in the mouth and prevent them from spreading further throughout the body.
Composition of garlic
Garlic helps with colds, as it contains a lot of useful microelements that have a positive effect on improving human health. This:
- Phytoncides are active biological compounds that suppress the spread of pathogenic microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, microbes). In a short time they are able to destroy any viruses dangerous to humans. For example, garlic phytoncides can kill the tuberculosis bacillus in 5 minutes, while sulfur will do it in a day, and sulfur in half an hour.
- Volatile substances (terpenoids, metabolites and others). Thanks to them, garlic esters are extracted and used, which have a strengthening effect on the immune system.
- Allicin is a sulfur compound, a powerful antioxidant released during the grinding of garlic cloves and has antibacterial properties. An ardent opponent of cancer cells and microbes. It has the property of thinning mucus, and therefore can easily cope with the problem of its accumulation in the pharynx and bronchi. During heat treatment, allicin evaporates, so it is advisable to take the product fresh.
Useful properties of garlic
The unique composition of garlic, appreciated by man since ancient times, has made it popular in folk medicine. The product has many beneficial properties for the body:
- normalizes the functioning of the respiratory system;
- stimulates digestion;
- reduces the amount of sugar in the blood;
- effectively heals wounds;
- relieves fatigue;
- has vasodilating, choleretic and diuretic effects;
- has high activity against herpes and influenza viruses;
- strengthens small vessels and capillaries.
Garlic will help with colds
How to properly treat with garlic? When using it for medicinal purposes, you need to know that the slices should first be crushed and left in this form for 10-15 minutes.
During this time, allicin will be released, which is capable of maximizing its healing properties at this stage. Chopped garlic must be chewed thoroughly; In general, you will have to wait a long time for recovery from swallowing cloves. In crushed form, garlic will exhibit its healing properties for colds, even if it is sprinkled on a sandwich with butter or added to a vegetable salad. If you are confused by the specific aroma coming from your mouth, you can chew a slice of lemon, a sprig of parsley, cinnamon, dry tea or cardamom, and then rinse your mouth with water.
When you have a runny nose, it is recommended to place a few cloves of garlic in a saucepan with a thick bottom, add a glass of water, and keep on low heat for 20 minutes. Add 1 tsp to cooled garlic tea. lemon juice and stir. Breathe over this steam until the infusion cools down.
Honey-garlic medicine
There are a large number of garlic-based medicines, but the product exhibits its beneficial properties most fully when combined with other natural ingredients.
So, a garlic-honey mixture can easily get rid of a cold; to prepare it, you need to grate a few cloves of garlic and combine them with a teaspoon of honey. Mix the components thoroughly. Before going to bed, eat a spoonful of the prepared product and wash it down with warm water.
Warming garlic compress
In combination with pork fat, chopped garlic will serve as an excellent remedy for a cold. To do this, stir a few chopped cloves of a garden product and a couple of tablespoons of unsalted pork fat. Apply the resulting mass to the soles of your feet, rub thoroughly into the skin, wrap in polyethylene, and put on woolen socks on top. This procedure is recommended to be done at night. Instead of fat, you can use mustard powder, taken with garlic in equal parts. At elevated temperatures, such a compress is not recommended.
Effective inhalations
Garlic inhalations are quite effective in treating colds. You need to pour hot water into an enamel container, put in it a few chopped cloves of garlic and a spoonful of soda for a softening effect. Or brew 3 tablespoons of oregano, chamomile and mint. Before carrying out the procedure, you need to add a chopped clove of garlic to the hot herbal decoction.
It is recommended to breathe garlic vapors, the effect of which is aimed at reducing the intensity of cold symptoms, for 10-15 minutes. Then you need to wrap yourself in a blanket and go to bed.
We treat ourselves with garlic
What to do if a cold suddenly strikes? Recipe: garlic in the amount of several crushed cloves should be placed in a glass and poured with vegetable oil (preferably olive oil). Leave for an hour. Take small portions internally (a teaspoon) or externally, lubricating the wings of the nose. When treating bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, and colds, rub the shoulders and chest with an ointment made from garlic gruel, butter or melted lard.
Treatment of colds with garlic is effective when using the following recipe: you need to make small tampons from cotton wool, moisten them in an oil-garlic mixture and insert them into the nose for 20 minutes, into each nasal passage alternately.
If you feel weak or unwell, garlic can be placed in your ears. Adults are recommended to chew the natural product and wash it down with juniper infusion. This will have an anti-cold, bactericidal and restorative effect on the body.
Garlic bath
A garlic-based medicinal bath will relieve the signs of a cold and speed up the healing process. To prepare it, several heads of the product should be crushed, placed in a large saucepan and filled with 10 liters of water. Cover with a lid and leave to steep for about 6-7 hours. Before bath procedures, warm up to a comfortable temperature, pour into the bath and add hot water to the required volume. The duration of the procedure is 20-30 minutes.
For colds - a good immunostimulant. Warm drinks based on these two components are considered an effective remedy that kills pathogenic microbes and increases the body's defenses.
Use 1 clove of garlic per glass of liquid. Although this drink does not have a pleasant taste, it has a quite powerful effect on the body: it softens the respiratory tract, reduces coughing attacks, and relieves inflammation of the mucous membranes. If the malaise is accompanied by a cough, add a teaspoon of honey to a warm drink.
Garlic for colds during pregnancy
Colds do not bypass expectant mothers and overshadow their troublesome life with worries about a speedy cure that would not harm the baby. Garlic is considered a product that can increase uterine activity, which in some cases poses a threat to the fetus. Also, treatment with garden crops can cause allergic reactions, which is not a good sign for pregnant women. Garlic intolerance may also occur, resulting in stomach pain, belching, and heartburn. Treatment with natural remedies is especially dangerous in the last stages of pregnancy.
According to doctors, the use of garlic while expecting a child should be very dosed, no more than 1-2 cloves from time to time.
Garlic for preventing colds
You can enhance the effect of garlic by combining it with onions. When carrying out inhalations, the ingredients should be used in equal proportions. For preventive purposes during an epidemic, it is recommended to add chopped garlic and onions to water and place them indoors. Inhaled phytoncides will represent a barrier to the penetration of pathogenic bacteria into the body.
Garlic combined with honey, ginger and lemon has a high preventive effect.
Lemon is a natural source of ascorbic acid and a universal cure for colds. It needs to be doused with boiling water and the zest removed; Cut the fruit itself into small pieces, removing the seeds. Combine with pre-peeled and finely chopped ginger root (weighing about 150 grams) and 5 chopped garlic cloves. These components can be mixed using a blender. Add 5 tablespoons of honey to the resulting mixture. The finished composition, characterized by a rather sharp, specific odor, must be placed in a dry, hermetically sealed container and stored in the refrigerator. Take a teaspoon twice a day before meals. Drink with warm water. The prepared mixture lasts for about a week. It is advisable to prepare the medicine more often, since in fresh form it exhibits its properties much better.
Like any product, garlic has a number of contraindications for colds. We are talking about diseases and conditions in which treating a cold with this product is harmful. These are epileptic seizures, cholelithiasis, hemorrhoids, and disorders of the digestive system. It is also important to observe moderation.
Traditional medicine successfully uses garlic preparations to treat colds. Garlic is rich in phytoncides that can kill pathogenic viruses during colds. The high content of vitamin C helps maintain immunity.
A runny nose, whether from a cold or an allergic origin, causes a lot of inconvenience. No wonder people want to get rid of it as quickly as possible. Alternative medicine, based on many years of experience, offers many effective recipes from folk remedies for the treatment of the common cold. Simple and affordable garlic recipes are widely used by the population, especially during periods of influenza epidemics and other viral respiratory diseases.
Massage biological active points on the face: double ones near the wings of the nose, above the bridge of the nose in the “third eye” area, double ones near the “tragus” of the ear, double ones on the temples. Carry out the massage at intervals of 2 hours by pressing each point 10-15 times. At night, lubricate these points with garlic juice. The irritating effect of this folk remedy will replace massage during sleep. A runny nose goes away within two days.
Nasal drops
Prepare: take 2 dessert spoons of freshly prepared carrot juice and unrefined sunflower oil, add the juice of one clove of garlic. Mix. Place 1-2 warm drops into each nostril up to 8 times a day.
Mix garlic juice in equal proportions with sea buckthorn oil. Place 2 drops into the nasal passages at least 4 times a day. In case of severe runny nose, increase the frequency of procedures.
Sinus rinsing solutions
With the help of garlic water, the healing process is significantly accelerated. Preparation: finely chop a small head of peeled garlic, add 1 liter of cold water, leave, covered with a dark cloth, for 4-8 hours. Keep refrigerated.
For colds, rinsing the nasopharynx is effective. You need to squeeze the juice from one medium onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic, add 1/2 cup of warm / room temperature / boiled water. Pour the resulting mixture into a shallow bowl and, closing one nostril with your finger, slowly draw in the liquid through the free nostril. After removing your finger, you should wait until the medicine flows out.
Do the same with the other nostril. Repeat the procedure at least 3-4 times for each nostril. During the day, wash at least four times.
Garlic inhalations
For chronic runny nose without fever, inhalations with the addition of garlic help well. Take 3 dessert spoons of dried herbs chamomile, mint and oregano. Crush the herbs into powder and brew with a liter of boiling water. Finely chop a small head of peeled garlic. Immediately before inhalation, add the ground product to the liquid. Cover your head with a thick cloth and breathe over the infusion for 10 minutes. It is advisable to carry out the procedure at night.
Cut the garlic into pieces and place them on plates. Volatile folk remedies will destroy viruses in the air and help get rid of a runny nose faster. Mix finely grated garlic, 2-3 cloves, with two tablespoons of dry mustard powder. Add enough warm water to create a thick sour cream mixture. Apply the resulting mixture to your heels and feet, and put on warm woolen socks. Do it at night.
Expert opinion
Almost everyone knows about the bactericidal properties of garlic, but not everyone can answer the question: how to properly use this vegetable to treat a common runny nose. Before preparing a solution for inhalation or nasal drops, think about whether you are allergic to garlic. If the answer is no, remember the following rules:
— Garlic should not be instilled (or inhaled) by small children - it can cause a burn to the mucous membrane and bronchospasm.
— The juice of this vegetable must be diluted with clean water both before instillation and before inhalation (prevention of burns to the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract).
— Sinus rinsing should not be performed without a doctor’s permission.
When using garlic, you should remember that such treatment is not primary, but auxiliary. People who value their health, if they feel unwell, consult a doctor and follow all his recommendations.
Common colds with insufficient or improper self-medication can lead to life-threatening complications. It is advisable to undergo examination at least once a year to prevent serious and dangerous diseases.
Adherents of traditional medicine are sure that garlic for a runny nose is the best remedy, because the history of its use goes back many hundreds of years.
Therefore, it is used unreasonably often and for any form of rhinitis.
Meanwhile, garlic, like onions, is a medicine. Its juice can burn the epithelial layer, dry out the mucous membrane, and complicate any form of runny nose, so in order not to cause harm to the nasal mucosa, garlic must be used very carefully.
For what form of rhinitis can garlic be used?
Since the action of phytoncides is aimed at infectious microflora, treatment of a runny nose with garlic is justified only in cases of bacterial inflammation. Neither allergic, nor fungal (mycotic), nor vasomotor rhinitis requires the use of garlic drops in the nose. Moreover, they are contraindicated.
You can recognize an infectious runny nose yourself by abundant mucous discharge from the nose mixed with pus, by the presence of congestion, impaired sense of smell and intoxication syndrome (malaise, weakness, poor appetite, elevated body temperature). However, consultation with a doctor is still advisable.
The doctor will conduct a differential diagnosis of a runny nose of an infectious nature and other forms of the disease, and recommend the use of medications or traditional medicine recipes, including garlic.
How to use garlic for a runny nose
There are many recipes for using garlic, but they all come down to three forms: nasal drops, solutions for rinsing the nasal cavity and inhalation. The use of garlic in the form of nasal drops is the most common and popular method of treating infectious rhinitis.
However, there is a main rule: never use garlic juice in concentrated form. It must either be diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio, or mixed with other ingredients.
Here are the most commonly used nasal drop recipes.
The combination of fresh garlic juice with sea buckthorn oil has an excellent healing effect. Thanks to this recipe, you can reduce the duration of rhinitis by almost half. Garlic phytoncides block foreign microorganisms, preventing them from multiplying and producing toxins and pyrogenic substances, and natural vegetable oil “smoothes out” the drying effect.
It protects the nasal mucosa from drying out, creating a thin film on its surface, under which the epithelium is restored more quickly. Instead of sea buckthorn oil, you can also use sunflower or olive oil.
To prepare these nasal drops, you need to squeeze the juice from one medium-sized garlic bulb and mix it with 8-10 drops (about half a teaspoon) of sea buckthorn oil. Use 2 drops in each nostril 3-4 times a day and more often if the runny nose is very severe. Do not forget to clean the nasal passages by carefully blowing your nose before instillation. This product should be stored in the refrigerator and shaken before each use.
Another effective recipe for nasal drops is more complex in composition and preparation. One lemon is squeezed, and aloe juice is added to the resulting juice in the same volume. Then juice squeezed from half a garlic bulb and the same amount of chilled mint infusion are poured into this mixture. Everything mixes well and use 2 drops in each nostril up to 8 times a day. The bottle with the product is stored in the refrigerator.
Nasal rinsing is a very effective way to treat an infectious runny nose. It allows you to quickly cleanse the nasal cavity of mucopurulent contents and accelerate the regeneration of the epithelium. This method will become even more effective if during its implementation there is an impact on pathogenic microflora. To do this, you can successfully use a rinse solution containing garlic and onion juice.
You need to take one medium onion and 4 cloves of garlic, then squeeze the juice out of them and dilute with half a glass of boiled water. The nasal cavity is washed with this solution using a regular teapot with a long spout. But, since there is not much solution, you can simply suck in the solution from a tea saucer with one nostril, holding the other nostril.
Then you need to open the first nostril, and pinch the second and wait for the liquid to pour out. This procedure must be repeated up to 3-4 times a day until recovery.
Garlic inhalations are even easier to do. Two cloves of garlic are crushed, placed on a plate, and the patient, bending low over them, inhales the smell. You need to try to breathe through your nose and deeply, and already during the procedure you will notice a decrease in swelling of the nasal mucosa and the feeling of stuffiness disappears.
At the same time, the flow of mucopurulent contents increases, which must be periodically blown out during the session. The entire inhalation procedure should last at least 10 minutes. The next day and for several days thereafter, a fresh portion of garlic medicine is prepared.
It is recommended to use garlic in the treatment of runny nose only in adults and older children. Garlic nasal drops or rinses should not be used in children under 5 years of age. But in any case, you should consult with your doctor.