Garlic (allium sativum) is a member of the onion genus.
For over 5,000 years garlic has been used as food, medicine, an aphrodisiac, as money, and in magic potions. Garlic is one of the oldest known food flavoring and seasoning plants that managed to infuse itself into the culinary traditions of many civilizations across the world.
At a time when antibiotics and other pharmacy products did not exist, a bulb of garlic itself represented a whole pharmacy industry due to its broad spectrum of effects. Garlic has been utilized as a remedy during the various epidemics such as typhus, dysentery, cholera, influenza, and whenever an epidemic has emerged, garlic has been the first preventive and curative remedy.
Sumerians (2600–2100 BC) were actively utilizing the garlic healing qualities, and there is a belief that they brought the garlic to China, from where it was later spread to Japan and Korea.
Use of Garlic in the Indian Medicine
In ancient Indian medicine, garlic was a valuable remedy used as a tonic, roborans, to cure a lack of appetite, common weakness, cough, skin disease, rheumatism, hemorrhoids etc.
The Egyptians were familiar with many medicinal, aromatic, spicy and poisonous plants. In the beginning, when they were still minor and impoverished, they were satisfied with their own medicinal plants from their flora, around the Nile River. It was garlic that was used most.
The Ancient Israelis made use of garlic as a blood pressure enhancer, body heater, parasite-killer etc.
The Ancient Greeks also valued garlic although those who had eaten garlic were forbidden entry into the temples (they were called ‘rank roses’).
Garlic was brought into Great Britain in 1548, from the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, where it was present in abundance.
As you can see the incredible journey of garlic through our history touched every major civilization of the ancient world.
Garlic is the plant necessary in everyday life from the past until the present days. It contains active compounds that are responsible for its effect on almost every part of the human body. Garlic is an excellent tonic for the human organism. It has been used for medical treatment of everything, from ancient civilizations to date.*
Summary
Currently, garlic is widely used for several conditions linked to the blood system and heart, including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high cholesterol, heart attack, coronary heart disease, and hypertension.
Herbal Roots uses only organic whole bulb garlic, grown in the USA. Our garlic is not chemically processed and has no additives or fillers.
*This article is intended for informational purposes. The statements above have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
