How do you consume raw garlic for antibiotic purposes?

[cactuscarl]

I just cut a clove into 4 bits and swallow it like a pill... my x used to eat a tablespoon of crushed garlic... she liked the taste hahaha

[nothinghead]

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.

Yeah you want to crush it fresh to convert the alliin to allicin, they reckon it takes from a few seconds to several minutes after crushing. I used to pulverise it then mix it into some liquid and down the trap. Can be a devil on the stomach, though, and the article I link to below suggests cooking it briefly (after crushing and letting stand for 10 minutes) could be ok. If you don't want to swallow it raw, I reckon Anodyne's idea of mixing it through some mashed potatoes right before you eat them is a good idea.

Another easy one is garlic toast/bread: Crush the garlic and let it sit for a bit, mix it through a bit of butter/marge/oil and spread onto toast. Quick and delicious.

Don't know whether an extract would be useful for the antibacterial properties. The extracts I've seen in shops are marketed for cardiovascular and circulatory health, rather than antibacterial activity. But, if I'm reading this (http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/food-beverages/garlic) correctly, allicin will break down into organosulfur compounds (which you want it to) in oil, but I'm not sure whether they are then stable? Either way, botulism does seem like a risk.

[Tripyamine]

Ahhh kinda unrelated but good story none the less

I was traveling in the philippines last year with my girlfriend and we were scuba diving around this little rock island a few km out from the mainland, we came back to the island for some lunch and to relax and we were eating some BBQ'd pork the guide had cooked for us while we were diving.

Anyway my missus saw the guide feeding bits of pork to some of the little local puppys on the island so she immediately decided she was going to feed the dogs to... she held a bone up and one of the little puppys latched onto it and then jumped over a bit and bit her on the hand just the slightest bit but still drew a little blood.

So at this point everyone on the island started freaking out about the possibility of one of the puppies carrying rabies, so one of the old pinoys minced up a few garlic cloves between his fingers and raked it into the bite then rubbed it off and rubbed more fresh garlic on, this went on for 20min and she was not happy about the stinging, he then taped a piece of garlic to her finger and sent us on the boat back to the mainland.

In the proceeding 2 months she had about 15 needles just to make sure

But when I looked on good old wiki, apparently it is the first port of call for a rabid bite

[tangled]

When I had a cold recently I diced 2 cloves very finely and mixed it in a salad with tuna, tomato, basil. mint, coriander, cucumber, rocket, beetroot, olives, lemon and balsamic vinegar and then put the salad in between bread. Much less overpowering and seemed to work in getting rid of the cold. I've got Italian and Greek heritage in me though so of course I love the stuff hehe.

[Francois le Danque]

... crushing worked better than chopping at releasing (the juice).

- The Half Blood Prince

Here's what i do. When i am sick, i make a Potion of Cure Disease. I put into hottish water (should be touchable) the following if i have them available:

garlic, ginger, chilli, black pepper, lemon juice, lemon balm, mint, plantain, sage, catnip...any other herbs with supposed cold fighting powers. i really need to get some echinacea plants. Apparently there is good evidence that whilst they don't prevent colds, they do significantly shorten their duration.

edit: honey! der

Edited June 18, 2015 by Francois le Danque