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gtarman

How do you consume raw garlic for antibiotic purposes?

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Hey all. Was hoping for some tips on how to consume raw garlic for its antibiotic properties, without it being too unpleasant. Due to the rather fragile nature of the active compounds such as allicin, cooking is not an option unfortunately. I also doubt that capsules you can buy at the shops would work either for similar reasons, right?

Previously I've tried to find smaller cloves and just swallow them whole like capsules, or cut big ones into smaller sizes to swallow, but I stopped doing that after I nearly choked on a couple. Eating a clove of raw garlic by itself is also something I tried, and will probably never try again lol...that was an experience.

I was reading some research about the use of an aqueous extract of garlic...would anybody know how to go about making an effective one of those?

Cheers,

Gman

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EDIT: found a method for the extract from a research paper here:

Preparation of aqueous garlic extract:

Garlic (Allium sativum) species were purchased from local market.

50g of peeled garlic was weighed and washed with sterile distilled water by soaking for 5 minutes and then it was soaked in 95%ethanol for 3 minutes to make the species sterile.

Then the garlic was dried for 10 minutes to evaporate the ethanol. Then the dried garlic was crushed in sterile mortar and pestle by adding 0.5ml of distilled water.

After mashing the garlic will be in a paste form, it is filtered using Whatman no. 1 filter paper and the extract collected was 15 ml. This extract was considered to be 100%.

Different concentrations of the extract (50% and 20%) were prepared by diluting with appropriate volume of distilled water. The prepared different concentration of the extract was stored in the refrigerator till use.

Edited by gtarman
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Gazpacho, my partner puts in half a clove and forces me to drink it day and night. The garlic is the challenge but the Gazpacho itself is pretty good.

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how to consume raw garlic for its antibiotic properties

my dinner is usually a big bowl of garden salad, in which a peeled clove is diced & tossed in.

Or just munch a peeled clove. I usually will do that just before going to see the dentist.

Instead of a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, try peanut butter & garlic spread. Very tasty, Yum! :wink:

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post-3765-0-07756400-1432139634_thumb.jpg

post-3765-0-07756400-1432139634_thumb.jpg

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i crush a couple of cloves & mix it with a tiny bit of honey. put the dollop in my mouth & down it with a mouthful of water like i would a large pill.

but i'm all for zelly's method too. i bloody love garlic

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Thanks for the interesting journal article gtarman.

I have found that dicing 1 or 2 cloves up nice and small is enough to avoid choking, then washing it back with a mouthful of orange juice gets rid of the taste and potential gag reflex. I generally tend not to get sick all that often and it is only when I sense the body getting a little 'run-down' that I use garlic like this and it always alleviates that feeling by the next day. I avoided taking it at night as it seems to disturb sleep.

1/2 a lemon/lime juice diluted in a glass of water helps too.

I don't know how much truth there is in it but I think this is based on the idea of consuming foods that create an atmosphere of alkalinity in the body so that it becomes difficult for bacteria to survive.

Some comparisons in this list: http://www.billschoolcraft.com/ph.jpg

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You can get garlic extract pills pretty cheap nowadays, or even just buy dry garlic then powder and capsulate?

Edit; add cheap link http://www.epharmacy.com.au/product.asp?id=64823&source=GS&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4fCqBRDM1ZKhk5jfo6IBEiQAZQ97OA0LnSVRJ0kZ76psWSezdUxDEe7ax33Ha7MaKFu97PkaArSY8P8HAQ

Edited by theuserformallyknownasd00d
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Try munching zinc tablets every week. Zinc is awesome at shafting colds among other things. Highly underated stuff it is.

Edited by wert
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You could try an infusion of crushed garlic in oil. Many people do it with olive but if you use coconut oil you will get the benefit of the antibiotic properties of the MCT's in the coconut oil. Some heat is needed just to melt the coconut oil in cool weather, so it I don't know if that will be a problem for you.

You could then cook with it, use it topically or just scoff a spoon of it every now and then.

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I've seen my old man bite in cloves of garlic, he doesn't mind it haha

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If I'm remembering right, the stuff you're after is highest in freshly-crushed garlic (although the alcohol step in ur extraction there might stop the reaction which breaks it down), and crushing worked better than chopping at releasing it.

Be careful with garlic oils - you're supposed to use acids or keep in the fridge to reduce botulism risk, probably better to just crush fresh.

How to consume? Well, it helps if you like garlic :P - I'm not even sure what this "unpleasant" flavour you mention is - so I may not be the best one to ask. But my favourite ways to consume a bunch of raw garlic are:

*in fresh vinagrette salad dressing (for a bowl of salad, crush one clove of garlic, mix with salt/pepper & one tblsp @ oil & balsamic vinegar) - not as macho as just munching a whole garlic clove, but it still gets eaten.

*in honey (crush a clove of garlic into a spoon of honey) - I rarely bother with this one as I prefer to just use garlic in my food, but I've tried it and it isn't bad. I know it sounds weird, but think of caramelised onions - some similar flavours here.

*in mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes) - I know heat destroys the goodness, so eat quick! Add whatever else you like - butter/ghee/oil, minced herbs/jalapenos/bacon, etc, etc.

*crushed into pasta sauce or vege stew in the last few minutes of cooking - I just do this for flavour (good way to get max garlic flavour in dishes if you have a limited supply), the heat probably still destroys most of the goodness but some may survive?

I'm sure you could also make up some crackin pesto & chimichurri type sauces to help disguise the raw garlic flavour, but you would have to make them fresh with each meal.

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I'm not even sure what this "unpleasant" flavour you mention is - so I may not be the best one to ask. But my

i know right! i've never understood this whole garlic stinks like crap thing. firstly it smells that way because it is fucking awesome, secondly, it makes everything taste better & thirdly, it's one of the best medicinals ever!

everyone should be eating more garlic, that way they won't be able to whinge when they smell me sinking of it. They'd be a lot healthier too

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Botulism can't grow in coconut oil because of the MCT's mainly the lauric acid. Coconut oil is an excellent antibiotic on it's own and will even kill many antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. It also kills yeast,fungus and encapsulates viruses preventing them from multiplying.

Botulism sp. die at or below PH 4.5 so if you were still concerned a few drops of citric acid would finish it off.

Coconut oil is stable at room temperature and won't go rancid for over a year.

The medium chain triglycerides in coconut oil are also absorbed directly into the liver and can be used as carrier for rapid absorption into the bloodstream for many substances, possibly allicin too I've never investigated that specifically.

I wouldn't do it with other oils though, as Anodyne said above botulism is a real concern.

Edited by Sally
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Boyz I eat the Things whole! Especially round winter keep the lurgy away or just mash it and eat with butter lovin tha shit

Edited by El presidente Hillbillios
keeping it civil

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nothing wrong with the taste...but I reckon "good stuff " should burn the tongue.

There is a lot of difference between some varities,

I grow heaps, loves my climate and its easy to grow.

After havest I pick the best heads, slice them up fairly thinly and dehydrate them. Then into the freezer.

lol...then it packs a punch. Always there in its prime, prepared for cooking. Will pull a bit out and munch on it every now and then.

EDIT - smells good when drying...lol

Edited by waterboy 2.0

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I heard a story years ago about French gravediggers during the plague who would crush up raw garlic and put it in their wine, apparently they were a healthy bunch. Some red and a tsp of crushed garlic isn't the worst thing in the world.

It didn't fix my winter colds, oregano oil works much better for that.

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I used to feed my dog garlic to keep the fleas away.

i just peeled a clove, bit it in half, swallowed my half and gave him his. Kept us both healthy.

But i love garlic, and was single then so the was no one to object to any smells...

My brother near choked and tore the lining of his throat when he tried to swallow and then forced a clove down tho, so YMMV.

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How to consume? Well, it helps if you like garlic :P - I'm not even sure what this "unpleasant" flavour you mention is

I actually love garlic...it revs my engine. The unpleasantness I've experienced was when chewing it raw/whole cloves by itself - I found that to be really overpowering to the point of being unpleasant, and it made me feel a bit nauseous. But in food I'm know to add minced garlic by the tablespoon.

Some great suggestions folks, thanks. The reason I haven't really looked into the capsules thing is because I heard the active ingredient allicin is only found in freshly crushed garlic and breaks down quite quickly into other compounds that are less useful with heat, age or drying.

Also of interest from my readings is that apparently stomach acid (and I'll assume to an extent most acids, like those found in citrus or tomato or vinegars) is also bad news for allicin, so it's apparently best to have garlic raw, freshly crushed, and after/with food...as taking it on an empty stomach is basically just going to be nothing but stomach acid.

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Oh and apparently garlic also thins blood I think, so can be no good for certain people. And I thought dogs couldn't have onions or garlic? Or is that just onions?

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I'm about to plant some garlic, big fat Russian purple ones, maybe the leafy green parts of the plant can be used in salad to get some health benefits?

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Id heard about garlic being used to keep the fleas away years ago, and back in the day i was too broke to buy him real flea treatments, so i gave it a shot and it worked. Truth be known i was to broke to afford a dog, but he had been so mistreated i couldnt not take him in.

He got his half a clove every day for ages and it never did him any harm that i know of. He lived to about 14 years. Came along way from the starved beaten pup I started with. Was an awesome dog, and i cant begin to tell you how much he did to improve my life. Still miss the old boy.

Onions are defiantly not good for dogs tho.

Thats getting off topic tho, but on a related note, i also found that when i used to consume lots of garlic i didnt get bitten by mozzies and insects nearly as much. (Part of the reason i tried it on the dog as a flea preventative) These days my other half is gets crook from garlic or onion, amongst other things, so i dont cook with them anymore, and get bitten by mozzies a lot more than i used to!

Just googled out of curiosity and found this... http://www.petguide.com/health/dog/the-shocking-truth-about-dogs-and-garlic/

seems like i was on the right track afterall, might be something to consider for anyone that likes to avoid costly chemicals. Its not a total solution but i can tell you from experience it realky makes a big differene.

Edited by FragmentedSanity
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I'm a big fan of the nibble method, though I get that individual dosage is important. It's like surfing maybe - you don't want to get in over your head, but in the right way it can be quite a ride. oh, and healthy too.

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I remember watching and episode of chopped or one of those cooking competition shows and the judge complained that too much garlic was used. I stopped watching right there, obviously the judges had no credibility. "Too much garlic" WTH?

Edited by Kykeion

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i know right! i've never understood this whole garlic stinks like crap thing. firstly it smells that way because it is fucking awesome,

Bwahaha, I might have to use that next time someone objects to my garlic breath..."that's just the smell of... awesomeness"

Anyway back to topic I figure a good method would be to make up pesto/chimichurri kinds of oils, without the garlic, then mixed a spoonful with freshly-crushed garlic just before eating - you could slather this on bread, pasta, meat, baked veges, whatever. I know I mentioned these before, but this way you wouldn't need to make something from scratch each time...just add garlic!

And it turns out that allicin isn't quite as delicate as I thought it was:

Sulfenic acids spontaneously react with each other to form unstable compounds called thiosulfinates. In the case of alliin, the resulting sulfenic acids react with each other to form a thiosulfinate known as allicin (half-life in crushed garlic at 23°C is 2.5 days). The formation of thiosulfinates is very rapid and has been found to be complete within 10-60 seconds of crushing garlic.(source)

Nor is at as heat-sensitive as I expected, provided you let the crushed garlic sit for a few minutes before heating to allow the allicin to form:

Microwaving uncrushed garlic for 60 s completely blocked the ability of garlic to suppress the adduct formation. Crushing and immediately microwaving for 60 s similarly blocked the protection offered by garlic. However, maintaining crushed garlic at room temperature for 10 min before 60 s of microwave heating partially restored the anticarcinogenic properties, although the protection was 30% less than that for unmicrowaved garlic. Similarly, oven-heated whole garlic (garlic without cutting the top) for 45 min thoroughly obstructed the anticarcinogenic benefit of garlic. If intact garlic was cut at the top and allowed to “stand” for 10 min before oven heating, it still maintained partial protection compared with unheated garlic. (source)

Also of interest from my readings is that apparently stomach acid (and I'll assume to an extent most acids, like those found in citrus or tomato or vinegars) is also bad news for allicin, so it's apparently best to have garlic raw, freshly crushed, and after/with food...as taking it on an empty stomach is basically just going to be nothing but stomach acid.

I'm not sure how sensitive allicin itself is. I've seen some studies (like this one) which say that the enzyme reaction which produces allicin stops at low pH. But these seem to be studies looking at dried extracts/pills which rely on that reaction because they don't actually contain allicin - they need a more neutral environment for that reaction to oocur. I couldn't see any which had looked at fresh garlic using the "rest for 10min after crushing" method before exposing to highly-acidic conditions... I think it's possible that this would allow allicin formation before the enzymes were destroyed by stomach acid.

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The way I consume raw garlic is to dice it up real fine, mix it with raw HOT chilli peppers, and put that on a pice of bread with some food smeared on top. Garlic provides garlicy goodness, chilli peppers drain the sinuses and release phlegm from the lungs, both stimulate the appetite, and the bread... well thats an edible plate.

"Too much garlic" WTH?

It really is possible to put too much garlic in food

I shit you not!

....but only if you regard coffee as 'food'

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