Garlic loses its antibiotic properties when you cook or dry it, so you need to eat it raw and the commercial capsules do not preserve the full activity like of the fresh organic bulb.

Garlic has an awesome reputation. In recent years, health professionals have discovered the value of this natural herb. In 1944, a chemist, Dr. Cavallito reported that eating it raw could be more powerful than penicillin and tetracycline as an antibiotic. And since it is a food it is very unlikely to cause any side effects.

In just one small bulb’s cell there are many properly balanced vitamins: A, B1, C and E. Also contains minerals such as sulfur, calcium, potassium, zinc, selenium and iron.

It is antifungal, antiviral, antibiotic and antibacterial.

More Healing Powers:

Anatomy

It is a member of the lily family and a close relative of the onion. The plants have flat, grayish-green leaves, which grow to be a foot or two tall. During their bloom period, the plants send up slender stalks which produce delicate flowers in a around, snowy-white head. A single bulb is composed of eight to 12 sections called cloves, which are held together by a parchment-like covering.

Confused about buying garlic?

It’s easy with these guidelines:

Select fresh, plump, firm heads with cloves that have not pulled away from their paperlike coverings. Look for clean, unbroken skins. Bulbs should be pump and hard, not soft, spongy or shriveled. The average bulb has about eight cloves. A few varieties have as many as 15 or 20.

Where to store?

It is best stored for short periods to time. Keep it out of the sun. The best place to store it in the home is a cool, dry area where air can circulate freely. An open mesh basket is a good storage container.

If sprouts develop, do not discard. It is still useful even though it may be somewhat milder in flavor.

How to peel?

To peel a clove, hit it with the flat side of a large knife or drop it in boiled water for a few minutes, then put it in cold water. Then cut across the root end and peel the skin upward toward the other end for easy removal. Sometimes I just cut each ends and the skins falls off by itself and when you start slicing it the skin also falls off.

To crush a clove, use the flat side of a knife, or use a garlic press (available in most stores). The press will yield the oil and meat of the bulb while retaining the pulp. Crushed cloves releases an essential oil which produces a more robust flavor than you would get by slicing the clove or leaving it while.

Garlic Breath

But what about the smell it leaves in your mouth? I know why does something so good have to smell so bad?

A component called allicin is responsible for the unique smell. Its smell is dormant until it is bruised, cut or crushed. That is why fresh garlic on the shelf has no odor.

But if you are afraid that it makes you a social outcast…here are a several things you can do: